Art Minister commends Trini Voice singer Payge Turner

Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts Randall Mitchell says he’s excited to see the journey of singer and musician Paige “Payge Turner” Roopchan, as she continues on US network NBC’s The Voice. He said he'll be keeping an eye on her progress

The Trinidad-born Roopchan, who is being mentored by pop singer Gwen Stefani, won her initial battle round on the show on Monday against fellow Team Gwen member Lauren Frihauf. The duo performed the song If the World Was Ending by JP Saxe and Julian Michaels. Michaels was also the coach for the Team Gwen contestants. Turner said preparing for the battle was a great experience.

Responding to questions from Newsday via e-mail, she said,

“Honestly, I had no idea about my mentor, so it was even more shocking to have sung a song she worked on, in front of her! It was truly surreal. And I feel like because of that, we got to really appreciate and connect with our song better, because the artist literally told us her mindset. Imagine covering a song and getting help from the artist themselves, TOO STINKING COOL! Gwen was a pleasure, but I already knew that! I always want to show her that I’m doing a good job.

The Trinidadian-born 27-year-old said she enjoyed performing with her teammate.

“Performing with Lauren was beautiful. It really didn’t feel like a performance completely. But being able to show her all the work we did, was well worth it. Winning still has yet to hit me. But it did feel great!”

In an emotional Instagram Live video on Tuesday evening, Turner admitted to initially being insecure about performing against Frihauf because her talent was "unreal," but her "artist persona" took over when she began to sing. She said she and Frihauf worked out that they didn’t want to battle each other, but to create something together.

“It’s essential for me to become a human instrument when I sing, and my partner was up to that. We wanted to support each other. I’ve watched the performance at least 60 times since then, and I’m so proud of what we put on stage and what we put into the performance. We learned in the battle process to allow ourselves to be different and this allowed us to come together in this insane fusion.”

Turner said she felt Stefani was proud of both singers. She expressed her appreciation for being on Stefani’s team.

“I knew we made her proud. Her actions spoke more than her words and I think it’s evident by the way she even looked at us. The coolest thing about being on the show is being around people who are different, and Gwen and her team accept eccentric artists. I’ve had a constant of rejection in my life and I know what it’s like to feel different in this world. I’ll always relentlessly pursue something I want and nobody will take away my dreams.”