Harriman singer advances to the semifinals of ‘The Voice"

LOS ANGELES — Fans of Harriman resident Jermaine Paul must have screamed in delight on Tuesday night when Carson Daly, host of the NBC hit reality show, “The Voice,” uttered five important words:

“America’s save is Jermaine Paul.”

Paul survived the quarterfinal competition with a powerful rendition of Phil Collins’ “Against All Odds,” and now advances to the semifinals, allowing himself to get closer to being recognized as “The Voice.”

Paul earned enough viewer votes to immediately advance to the semifinal round. But his teammates were challenged in a post-vote “sing off” to woe their coach, country star Blake Shelton, to keep them on the team and advance into the next round.

With the instant elimination of Jordis Unga on Monday night as part of the coaches’ mandate to immediately cut a performer, and Shelton’s eventual elimination of country singer RaeLynn on Tuesday night, “Team Blake” now consists of Paul and Erin Willett.

Now, Paul will compete against Willett, the two singers from Christina Aguilera’s team and the singers who perform (the same voting and elimination process applies) from Adam Levine’s and Cee Lo Green’s teams on April 23.

“We’ve been doing this for years,” Paul said in the segment preceding his performance, after Shelton asked him how he’s doing being separated from his family. “There’s been ups and downs. For me, this is just my way of sayin’ ‘Daddy’s gonna make it alright.”

Shelton said the song choice would show a softer side of Paul, and equally felt Paul’s performance would be the event of the evening.

“This is your shot,” he told Paul. “I think things happen for a reason. For me, it wasn’t until the last couple of years that all the right things happened at all the right moments and I think this is that for you.”

Smartly dressed in a dark suit, Paul belted out the lyrics before a standing crowd.

“This song pulls from so many different places,” he said. “It really encompasses the whole feeling of ‘against all odds.’”

Viewers will next see Paul on April 30 in the semifinals.

“I’m just trying to do right by my family, and take care of them the best I know how and that’s through singing,” said Paul on the show Monday night. “It’s the only thing I feel like I can do.”

Paul has said the preparations and rehearsals are grueling, made survivable only through the support of his family and his fans from the Monroe, Harriman, Central Valley and Highland Mills areas as well as his hometown of Spring Valley in Rockland County.

He also said he remains grateful for everyone’s votes and asked for their continuing voting support and iTunes purchases.

The show airs locally on WNBC/Channel 4 at 8 p.m. on Monday; with the results show airing at 9 p.m. on Tuesday.

To learn more, visit: http://www.nbc.com/the-voice/ , https://www.facebook.com/#!/MusicByJermainePaul and http://twitter.com/jermainepaul.

- Nancy Kriz