A 'Voice' from the past: Contestant Lauren Hall visits her Mundelein middle school

"The Voice" contestant Lauren Hall enjoyed a happy homecoming Friday afternoon in Mundelein.

Hall, a 2008 graduate of Fremont Middle School, returned to perform in the school gymnasium where her love of music began.

Hall starred in the lead role of "Polly" in the musical "Charleston" when she was a middle schooler. On Friday, she spoke to a small group of students in a classroom Q-and-A session before taking the gymnasium stage to perform four songs for the student body.

"This is where I kind of found my love for music, and being in the musical here really started all this for me," she said.

Fremont music and drama teacher Stacey Begg posed more student-generated questions between songs in the gymnasium.

Swooning and swaying to the music, several hundred students welcomed Hall with ear-piercing cheers as she crooned an Adele number in addition to the song "Titanium."

"Being here with the kids and feeling like I'm a celebrity or feeling like I can inspire them to follow their dreams is kind of a surreal feeling," said Hall, adding that "to be someone that they are looking up to is an incredible amazing feeling, and it makes it all seem worth it"

Hall's parents, Karin and Hilton, beamed from their spot on the gymnasium floor, with Karin recording the scene with her cellphone.