Last week, season three of NBC’s hit show “The Voice” continued with its blind auditions. The episode featured Collin McLoughlin ’10 who sang Cat Stevens’s “Wild World.”

Judges Cee Lo Green, Blake Shelton and Adam Levine turned their chairs around during his performance to offer him a position on their respective teams. Levine praised McLoughlin and recognized his voice as “one of the best tones in terms of pitch.” McLoughlin accepted Levine’s offer to join his team and is slated to begin the competitive singing battles once the show finishes airing the remainder of the blind auditions.

The beginning of Collin’s musical career was rooted in his middle school guitar lessons, and he continued to study music throughout high school. While at Colgate, McLoughlin performed individually and was also a member of the band “Nautical Young,” which was comprised of fellow students Ty Henry ’10, Uzoma Idah ’10 and producer Garrington Spence ’10. The band was successful and garnered a large fan base at Colgate. They went on to win a battle of the bands competition and opened for Lupe Fiasco during the 2009 Spring Party Weekend concert. After graduation, McLoughlin went on to attend New York University’s Music Business Graduate Program, but left after a semester to pursue his dream of becoming a professional musician. He has become quite the YouTube sensation, with his videos col-lectively touting over 10 million views to date.

His exposure on “The Voice” is sure to gain him even more recognition than be-fore, as he establishes himself even further in the music industry. His initial acoustic rendition of Swedish House Mafia’s “Save the World Tonight” gained him recognition in New York City’s music scene, and he has continued to produce more acoustic covers and original creations with Jon Kilmer Stu-dios. His involvement with music at Col-gate was significant and, as he pursues his musical aspirations, we will undoubtedly see great contributions to the industry from this recent alumnus.

Contact Lauren Casella at [email protected].