The Voice Finalist Returns To Blissfest As Headliner

July 1, 2016

One highlight of this year’s Blissfest is sure to be the return performance of Ann Arbor musician Laith Al-Saadi. The singer is a newly minted, first-time Bliss headliner, fresh from his appearance on the most recent season of The Voice, the NBC-TV singing competition on which he became one of the top four finalists under his coach, Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine.

Al-Saadi proved to be what he himself called “an oddball” on the show by focusing his performances on blues-rock music; and people have been making a big deal out of the fact that he said in a post-show interview that he didn’t actually want to win The Voice. But what they’re not understanding is that he’s not being flippant about the whole experience. As a matter of fact, he said he found it “life-altering” and very valuable to his music career. He was simply being realistic.

“I knew going in that it was a show that focused on pop and country music,” Al- Saadi said. “So to me, coming out of left field as I did, I didn’t need to win. It was enough that I got all of that great exposure and that I got to play B.B. King and the blues on live television.” Over 46,000 people auditioned for The Voice; that field was narrowed to only 100 who made it to the first blind audition rounds that aired on television. Then, after weeks of on-air “battle rounds” and other competitions between the vocalists, four remaining talents advanced to the finals: Al- Saadi, Hannah Huston, Adam Wakefield, and Alisan Porter. Porter was crowned the winner.

The process of the show was fun but also arduous, Al-Saadi explained. Shooting each series of The Voice takes around four months, with everything carefully overseen by the show’s producers. “From song choice to wardrobe,” he said. “But we get more input as the show progresses, and there’s a lot of great extra publicity with social media and press interviews.” The massive exposure to TV viewers, plus the friends that Al-Saadi made during the show (fellow contestants Owen Danoff and Ryan Quinn in particular) made it worthwhile, he said. “Even doing one performance on The Voice with 15 million people watching is more people than I’ve been in front of for the entire span of my career to date,” Al-Saadi said. “So I figured it would be good.”

For more information on Laith Al-Saadi, visit his official website at laithmusic.com. Al-Saadi will close out Blissfest on Sunday, July 10, and is also performing at this year’s National Cherry Festival in Traverse City.