DRAPER, Utah (ABC4) — A Draper man who performed on season 23 of The Voice said he was grateful after he didn’t make it to the fourth round.

EJ Michels, 31, performed on April 24 in the third round of The Voice, the knockout round. Michels was up against fellow Team Niall contestant, Michael B, 29. At the end of the round, Michels’ team coach Niall Horan has to decide which contestant advances in the competition.

Michels sang “Trip Switch” by Nothing But Thieves for his last performance on April 24. According to Michels, he chose this song because it gave off “frontman vibes.” Michels is the lead singer of the alternative pop-rock band Foreign Figures.

“Being the frontman, in the beginning, was terrifying, but then I got more confidence to be like, ‘I deserve to be right here in the spotlight,'” Michels said. For his final performance, he worked with The Voice coach Niall Horan and show mentor Reba McEntire.

McEntire told Michels he needed to get into the emotion of a song. Mcentire said she does this by visualizing the story in her head as she performs. “[It] really flipped a switch,” Michels said. “If you’re not feeling it, how are you gonna make anyone else feel it?”

Michels performed the song while wearing a sparkly black jacket. According to one of The Voice coaches Chance the Rapper, while EJ didn’t perform perfectly, he gave a personal feeling.

“I do think because you were so into it, there were moments where the pitch wasn’t all the way right,” Chance said. “But you enjoying it so much gave us the feeling that we were looking for.”

One of the other coaches, Kelly Clarkson, said he made a smart decision to perform “Trip Switch” because it separated him from the other singers in the competition.

Michels own coach, Horan, praised his artistic diversity.

“Everything he puts his hand to, it seems to turn to gold,” Horan said.

And although Horan chose to advance Michael B., who he said was a “dark horse” of the competition, Michels said his time on The Voice was the fulfillment of a dream for him.

“Grateful is an understatement,” Michels said in an Instagram post. “I began this journey so nervous yet excited to be finally accomplishing one of my biggest dreams to be performing on the @nbcthevoice stage. I can now say that with no doubt I did it and gave it my very all.”

Michels will be performing with his band Foreign Figures in a local concert series on May 27 to help raise awareness of mental health issues. For more details on that concert, read this article.