We have a tendency to bemoan reality television, and sometimes with good reason. But, just like most everything in life, it’s a mixed bag: For every Jersey Shore there’s an Undercover Boss. For every duplicitous act on Big Brother there’s a feel-good story on American Idol. And let’s face it: If it weren’t for reality television, we might never have connected with Anthony Evans.
Evans, son of popular pastor and author Tony Evans, has been a well-known worship leader and gospel singer for years now with six albums to his credit. But when he appeared on NBC’s blockbuster The Voice this year, a new audience discovered the singer, his powerhouse voice and his foundational faith. Though he was sent home after a riveting showdown with fellow gospel artist Jessie Campbell earlier this month, he walked away with no regrets—and some interesting insights.
We had a chance to chat with Evans for the Official Plugged In Podcast earlier this month. He spoke about his faith, the difference between performing and leading worship, and staying real on reality television.
Plugged In: Why did you decide to make a run at The Voice?
Anthony Evans: It was a year ago, and as random as this is, I blame all this on Jeremy Camp. He came over to my house, and we were talking about ways to broaden what we do and create that spark of something different. And The Voice was going into Season One at that point. The casting director saw a video of me and called me in. I couldn’t come out for the first season, so I thought it was all over until they called me back in July for Season Two. So I jumped in head first to try something different, and that’s exactly what it is. It’s a very different world from leading worship.
PI: You have a beautiful voice, but sometimes solo voices aren’t as conducive to having people follow along. Do you have to throttle back when you’re singing for worship?
AE: Very much so, and that’s been different. I’ve had to train myself over the last 10 years because you can’t ask people to sing with you and then sing like a performer in worship. But my coach [on The Voice], Christina [Aguilera], is obviously the opposite of that. She’s like, “Anthony, this is a different platform, and you have to sing to impress and entertain on this stage. I know you’ve trained yourself over these past few years to do it this way, but we need you to turn that off, and turn back on the whole sing-to-impress thing here.” So it’s a very interesting dichotomy, and that was the hardest thing about being on The Voice: turning into a performer. Jewel said the same thing to me. Some of the things that didn’t air that Jewel said was, “Anthony, I need that fire in your eyes. I need you to grab me with your eyes like you grab me with your vocal.” When I’m leading worship I’m really trying not to do that stuff so people aren’t going, “Oh, look at Anthony!” You know what I mean? So it was a challenge being in that environment.
PI: Your showdown with fellow gospel singer Jesse Campbell was really dramatic—it was even pitched on the show as a clash of the titans. That’s when you left the show. I know you must have been disappointed, but it must’ve been fun to sing up there.
AE: At some point, everybody except for one person is going to be “leaving the show.” My goal was to leave the show in that way. I performed with all of me and didn’t feel as if there was a clear winner. In reality, it took Christina about three-and-a-half minutes to make that decision. Obviously they couldn’t air all of that, but we just stood there as the audience was screaming names. So there’s no “loser” feeling because that wasn’t a losing scenario. My objective, whenever I left the show, was to leave in a way that let everybody get to see everything I have. And it’s a privilege to sing in front of 20 million people. I know that the people who pay to advertise on this show pay millions of dollars for 30 seconds, and The Voice and NBC have given me a lot of exposure to America. It’s cost me nothing, and actually they’ve given me a lot of advice.
PI: You’ve always been very outspoken about your faith. And yet you told Christianity Today that being on The Voice gave you “a welcome break from being a professional Christian.” What, exactly, did you mean by that?
AE: Yeah, that sounds controversial until you know what’s behind it. What I meant is that my job is to go lead people in worship. And a lot of times that becomes your job, your occupation. It’s a ‘have to’ rather than a ‘want to,’ because you have to go catch a plane, be on stage, even if you’re not it a good mood or feel like worshipping. Nobody wanted to hear me lead worship at The Voice. They wanted to get to know me as a person. I thought, “Wow, they don’t need me in 30 minutes to get up on stage and sing ‘How He Loves.'” In any profession, the lines can get a little blurry. By taking a few months off, it reignited my passion and now it’s a want to in front of the have to.
PI: Sometimes we see Christians who get into show business and seem to move away from their faith a bit. The temptations can be pretty overwhelming. Do you think it’s harder to be famous, to be part of something like The Voice, and live out your faith?
AE: I think it can be if you’re not well rooted. Right now I’m in Hollywood and I feel that pull to worship yourself. It’s all about your looks and your image and what you’re putting off to people. You can get lost in that. I’m unashamed to say that my counselor out here has been saying, “Anthony, as much time as you’ve been spending on you in Hollywood, I want you to spend time with the Lord before you go into this acting thing or that music thing or whatever. Make sure you don’t get lost, because this is an easy town to get lost in.” And you’re investing in things that are really futile. They’re really glossy and pretty and sexy, for lack of a better way to say it. The lights, the cameras and all that stuff. That’s great, but it’s futile, because at the end of the day, they all turn off and The Voice studio looks like your bedroom when you turn off the lights. It doesn’t look like what you see on TV. That is the reality, not what we see through the screen.
PI: For Christians who might be inclined to try out for shows like The Voice, do you have any advice on how to succeed and stay centered?
AE: My experience, obviously, is limited to The Voice, but what they wanted from me is me. And that’s what made me so excited about being there. When you try to put on a persona or be a character, that’s not what works. They want to see you. They wanted to know about church singing. They wanted to know about worship and my family. They aired a lot of who my dad is, and wanted to know it without it being plastic. So yeah, whatever your story is. There are so many of my friends on the show who are still there who have what we would consider to be dramatic stories, but all they really want is for you to be authentic and honest in the way that you’re communicating. That’s what translates. That’s what the culture is hungry for, whether it’s a one-on-one conversation at a restaurant or singing to 20 million people, they want you to be honest and transparent, and they want to feel like they’re getting something real.
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