Ben Taub: From Princeton to NBC's "The Voice"

When Ben Taub auditioned for NBC's "The Voice," he not only beat out tens of thousands of competitors, but he also had two music legends vying to mentor him.   

County music singer Blake Shelton and singer/ rapper CeeLo Green both wanted 21-year-old Taub.

"I love classic music and I would love to work with you and have you on my team," Green told him.

Now the 2009 Princeton High School graduate is sharing his talents each week with a national television audience, but his success is no surprise to Joe Bongiovi, director of Princeton High School's Studio Band who has known Taub for years. 

"I was surprised that he went for "The Voice," but I wasn't surprised that he made it," Bongiovi said. "He is so demure and so soft spoken and he will not take any accolades at all, so for him to take that step and go there was surprising. I was nervous for him, but I was pretty sure he was going to make it." 

Taub remembers being a bit nervous during the audition.

“Actually I became much more nervous after CeeLo turned around,” said Taub, who sang an arrangement of Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good." “I’m a big fan of his (Green's) and in a very small way he pressed my button and showed that he was a fan of mine. It was suddenly very shocking and surprising. And then Blake turned around and having two people turn around made it feel like it was less of a fluke.”

Taub chose Green as his musical mentor.

Not bad for someone who never had a vocal lesson until last week.

But Taub has always been musical, playing oboe in the PHS orchestra and serving as orchestra president. The summer after his senior year, he toured Europe with the Philadelphia Jazz Orchestra as a tenor vocalist, entertaining audiences with songs by Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darrin and Michael Bubble. 

"As soon as we got him in front of an audience, especially in Italy, they loved him," said Bongiovi, who also directs the Philadelphia Jazz Orchestra. "He's a good looking guy and he's got a great voice."

Taub hasn't forgotten about his PHS roots. Last week, home from a trip to Morocco, he dropped by the high school to sing with the Studio Band and invited some freshman from the men's choir to join him.

While at PHS, Taub performed in multiple drama productions and played the lead in the musicals “Anything Goes” and “Into the Woods.”

“PHS has a strong music program, I think that's apparent by its record and various competitions,” Taub said. “I played in orchestra for four years which was paramount to me learning a lot about music and blending and balance as well as reading music. And with the Philadelphia Jazz Orchestra, suddenly I was switching instruments to something I’d never had lessons in."

Taub attends Princeton University, although he is currently taking what would have been his senior year off to see where his singing career takes him.

He is under contract with NBC and unable to disclose if he will make it to the live shows of “The Voice,” slated for November. Of the 64 contestants chosen out of a nearly 100,000 in person and online auditions, only 20 will make it to the live television competition, which begins in November.

At some point, Bongiovi expects the show's producers will showcase Taub's history and journey to "The Voice," just as the show does with other contestants. But he jokes that Taub's background might not be exciting enough for television.  

"He grew up too normal," Bongiovi laughed. "He wasn't destitute and he wasn't addicted to anything. He's just a typical great kid, humble and soft-spoken."

Want to follow Taub's journey? “The Voice” airs on NBC every Monday and Tuesday at 8 p.m.