16-year-old Treeva Gibson is fluent in American Sign Language (ASL), as both of her parents are deaf. Her mother is a teacher at the Maryland School for the Deaf and her father is a teacher at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, of which VITAC is a proud supporter. Our Director of Pre-recorded Operations Dina Smith, also fluent in ASL, verified that the ASL in some of the segments matched onscreen subtitles.
Newly-returned judge Christina Aguilera (also a connection – she is from Pittsburgh) was blown away by Treeva’s rendition of Lana Del Rey’s “Young and Beautiful.” Christina said that she was “captivated” by her performance. Blake Shelton was surprised when he learned that Treeva didn’t have many musical influence since both her parents are deaf. “I feel like I just heard something that I’ve never heard before,” said Shelton. Treeva spoke and signed her choice of Christina to be her coach during her “Voice” experience.
There’s so much wonderful talent already this season, so there’s no doubt the competition will be fierce! Check out the full first episode with captions here and make sure to tune in on Monday at 8:00 PM on NBC as the blind auditions continue!