A group of five Russian Orthodox seminarians from a school in Paris appeared on the French version of The Voice, where they shocked and wowed the judges.
At the start, two of the judges can be seen wondering how many voices are really singing, as the five men’s timbres mixed beautifully to ring throughout the auditorium. When the low rumbling bass notes are added, one of the judges drops her jaw, marveling at the exquisite sound.
The Union of Orthodox Journalists notes that the song they performed was “My soul, rise up, why are you sleeping?” It is a hymn that is normally performed before and after the season of Lent. It is customary for believers to pray on their knees for the duration of the song.
Although the judges seemed to be very impressed by the singing — one of them clearly motions that she’s getting goosebumps — not one of them reached out and pressed the button. They later said that they were so enraptured in the beauty of the song that they just forgot to press the button. This explanation, unfortunately, would not help the seminarians in their quest to compete on The Voice, as they were not chosen.
While the pop stars could not remember to press the button, they were not too busy to talk among themselves for the duration of the performance. One of the judges could not stop laughing for some reason. Although it was one of the most beautiful performances to date on any of these vocal competition shows, the group was only afforded one televised song.
While some may be disappointed, it is worth pointing out that the beauty and religious significance was perhaps too good for television. After all, as Christ cautions his followers in Matthew 7:6:
“Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.”
To be fair, it is quite possible that none of the pop singers assembled on the judges’ panel would have been able to give the seminarians any guidance that would help them with their musical careers.
And today we celebrate...