Anthony Ramos reveals he once auditioned for “The Voice” but didn't make it — now he's a Playoff Mentor

He even sang a John Legend song.

There’s lots of stories out there about people getting rejected from reality singing competitions only to go on to become superstars — let us never forgive American Idol for what it did to Jennifer Hudson — and tonight, thanks to The Voice, we have a new one to add to the list: Hamilton and In The Heights star Anthony Ramos.

The Grammy winner joins season 25 of the big red chair singing competition as a Playoff Mentor for Team Reba. Last week, we watched as mentors Maluma and Saweetie assisted teams Legend and Dan + Shay, respectively. The mentors are there not only to help the artists perform their best, but to assist the coaches as they cut two of their five team members, resulting in a final three from each team going to the Live Rounds. This week, it’s Chance the Rapper and Reba McEntire’s turn to make some gutting decisions, and they, too, each have a professional at their side to help make the process a little easier. Joining Chance the Rapper is Meghan Trainor, who was a coach on The Voice U.K. and a mentor for Team Blake during The Voice season 8.

Ramos, meanwhile, is helping out Team Reba. He seems thrilled; he was a huge fan of her sitcom, and even sings the country star a little bit of the theme song. But mostly, he loves to be able to assist up-and-coming artists by drawing on lessons from his career — which, coincidentally, happens to include a rejection from The Voice. While chatting with McEntire, Ramos tells her that he actually auditioned for the show back in the day. “[I] waited in the cold in New York for, like, hours,” he says, also revealing that his audition song was one from “one of his favorite artists of all time,” John Legend’s “Green Light.” “Oh, he’ll love to hear that,” Reba responds.

But a stint on The Voice was not to be for Ramos. The producer he performed for advised him to “work on [his] breath for a year and then come back.” Ramos can’t deny that his “dreams were just crushed” in that moment, but clearly things worked out in other ways. From auditioning for the show to being a Playoff Mentor, the whole thing has “been a journey,” he says. He hopes it all means that he has “something that [he] can say that’s helpful” to the aspiring artists on Team Reba.

It turns out he does: Ramos is very involved in tweaking all five of Team Reba’s remaining artists’ performances ahead of the Playoffs, and never hesitates to provide some positive reinforcement. In the end, McEntire selects Asher Havon, L. Rodgers, and Josh Sanders as the three team members who will be competing for America’s votes when The Voice enters the Live Rounds.

The Voice airs Mondays and Tuesdays on NBC.

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