'The Voice' gives West Dundee teen a taste of fame
When Riley Elmore walked down the hall Tuesday morning at Dundee-Crown High School in Carpentersville, one of his friends started screaming, "Oh my God! You're famous!"
"They were just doing it to embarrass me, but then everyone in the hallway surrounded me and started clapping. It was crazy," Elmore said. "And that was just before first period."
The 16-year-old's star treatment follows his successful audition, which aired Monday, on NBC's "The Voice."
The celebrity judges swooned over Elmore's rendition of "The Way You Look Tonight" by Frank Sinatra, and the West Dundee teen ended up on Adam Levine's team.
At one point during the audition, Levine joined Elmore on stage for a duet.
"That was spontaneous. I had no idea he was going to do that. He came on stage and I was like, 'Oh gosh,' and then I got nervous," Elmore said. "But from the minute I walked out there, I was numb. I think I partly blocked out half the audition because I was so nervous."
Elmore wore a special lapel pin, given to him by his grandparents for Christmas, which says "It's Sinatra's world and we just live in it." The producers made him hide it from the cameras, he said.
"It's like having Frank with me," he said, laughing. "I don't know if it's a good-luck charm. I don't know if I believe in luck. I just believe in God."
At school Tuesday, teachers and students came up to Elmore to say "Good job!" "Congrats" and "My mom loved you," he said.
Elmore is not allowed to talk about how he did on the show beyond his audition, and it will be a couple weeks before he appears again.
Still, the number of people following him on social media increased 10-fold overnight. He refuses to read the comments on the YouTube video of his audition, not wanting to see mean remarks. But he did spot hundreds of sweet, complimentary posts from people around the world on Instagram and Twitter.
"I've never been in a position where I've felt so much support," Elmore said. "I really hope all of them know that I see that and I appreciate it. It means a lot."
As exciting as all of this has been, it almost didn't happen. Elmore said he thought about skipping the open call for "The Voice" because it was held at Navy Pier on a cold February morning. He knew he'd have to drive downtown and wait in line for hours.
"I had to wake up at 5 a.m., and I wasn't sure I wanted to do it," he said. "I was just so lazy about getting up ... I didn't realize how much of an impact it could have. It's worth it now."
"The Voice" airs at 7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday on NBC. Auditions will continue through Oct. 4.