Christopher High Singer in Competition for “The Voice”

Christopher High School student Iseph de la Merced, was shocked when he got the news that he’d been selected over some 20,000 people to be one of the top contenders for the TV singing competition, “The Voice.”
Iseph, 17, who uses the nickname “Boogie” for his last name, submitted a video online through the show’s Snapchat app. Judge Gwen Stefani selected him, comparing him to Bruno Mars, whose song “Billionaire,” he covered. She and judge Blake Shelton were shocked he was only 17.
Fans will vote for the snapchat contenders starting March 26 and one of them will land a coveted slot on the popular NBC TV show.
“My friend suggested it to me. She heard about it and told me. That morning, it was a Wednesday, I got home and I was like, ‘let’s go for it.’ It’s just been one of my favorite songs. I tried to pick one that showed my range. You get only 10 seconds and that one did it in that amount of time.”
He was among 16 people selected by each judge. The show sent him a text message asking for a longer video. Then, they called his mother, Maria de la Merced, and asked her to record his reaction when he found out he was picked.
“I had just woken up from a nap. I looked really disinterested but I was disoriented,” he recalled. “On the inside, I was super excited and pumped because I didn’t actually think it would go anywhere. It’s just crazy to me. It was really exciting.”
Boogie has participated in student government since he was in middle school and plays basketball and volleyball at Christopher.