Payge Turner needs your votes

PAULA LINDO

As competition intensifies on US network NBC's The Voice, Trinidadian Payge Turner is still holding her own against fierce competition. Moving forward to the next round on Tuesday requires help from her fans in the US if she is to make it into the top nine.

Methods of voting include downloading The Voice app or on The Voice’s Vote & Save page on the NBC website. Unfortunately, people outside the US aren't eligible to vote, so locals need to encourage their friends and family in the US to vote for Turner.

Before the show, Turner's coach Gwen Stefani said the singer was one to watch.

"Payge is my alt-punk soul girl. She has a really cool juxtaposition of being strong and vulnerable. She has so much range and variety in her voice, so she's definitely going to be one that everyone has an eye on."

The live round on Monday saw Turner singing a slowed-down, funky version of N'Sync's It's Gonna Be Me. Dressed in a sequinned silver pantsuit, she began the song playing guitar before stalking across the stage and falling to her knees at the final note.

Host Carson Daly said the song felt like a James Bond opening sequence, while Stefani said,

"From a distance, I was seeing Prince standing there, just because it's you with the guitar and the outfit and just your whole vibe. I think you did a really great job of making this song your own but also be familiar at the same time – you didn't go too far. It was so familiar and so beautiful and so cool and I'm so proud to be your coach."

While public voting begins on Tuesday, singers who don't get enough support can be saved by their coaches. Turner already has an enthusiastic following on social media but the support of the diaspora will be welcome as the competition goes on.

Turner, who moved to the US with her father as a teenager, is the daughter of well-known contralto Jackie Johnson. Turner has been building a music career first in Kansas City and then in Seattle.