The search is on for the next superstar for the hit NBC show “The Voice” and local singing sensation Josh Issac is in the running for a special VIP audition.
Issac is among a number of singers who recently recorded a performance of the National Anthem in an audition in Nashville at the Music City Center. Now through November 17, viewers can go on-line and vote for their favorite audition. One winner will have a VIP audition for a future season of “The Voice”
(Click the link below to register and cast your vote. Josh Issac is contestant #13)
Issac said if he wins VIP status, it will guarantee him an audition for the show. “Basically, it’s just a chance to win a ticket to skip the initial rounds of having to wait in long lines. This gives you a chance to sit down and actually talk to a producer and tell them, not only your ability of singing but also your story of how you got there,” said Issac in an interview Friday with WJLE.
“What a lot of people don’t know, on the show it looks like you are just automatically there but you go through about four or five rounds before you get to the national show. This (VIP Status) would let me skip two rounds so I would be about three rounds away,” said Issac.
This is by no means Issac’s first try for stardom on the national stage. “Six years ago I did participate in American Idol. I made it pretty far. I was on two different episodes which showed me on there. I decided after that time in my life to hang that up. But in the last couple of months different people have contacted me and I am able now to do some things I wasn’t able to do then,” he said
In order to secure a VIP audition, Issac needs votes. “Everybody has been asking, can we only vote once? No. You can actually vote once a day. So you get on the link. You have to register to vote. You will then go to your email. Confirm it and then you can vote every day. It’s not that hard. Once you get through the initial process you just get on there and vote. People need to know that when you vote, each vote counts. Right now I’m in second place,” said Issac.
“One question everyone likes to ask is which coach I would pick if selected on the show. I always tell them that while everyone loves Blake (Shelton) because he’s from around here (Tennessee), I probably wouldn’t pick him just because he likes country (music) and I am more R&B. I would probably pick Adam Levine,” he said.
“The Voice”, NBC’s blockbuster vocal competition show, features some of the strongest vocalists from across the country . Celebrity musician coaches include Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera, and Ceelo Green along with Carson Daly as host. The show’s innovative format features four stages of competition: the first begins with the blind audition, then the battle round, the brand new knockouts and finally, the live performance shows.
During the blind auditions, the decisions from the musician coaches are based solely on voice and not on looks. The coaches hear the artists perform, but they don’t get to see them — thanks to rotating chairs. If a coach is impressed by the artist’s voice, he/she pushes a button to select the artist for his/her team. At this point, the coach’s chair will swivel so that he/she can face the artist he/she has selected. If more than one coach pushes their button, the power then shifts to the artist to choose which coach they want to work with. If no coach pushes their button, the artist is eliminated from the competition.
Once the teams are set, the battle is on. Coaches will dedicate themselves to developing their team of artists, giving them advice, and sharing the secrets of their success along with the help from their celebrity advisers. During the battle rounds the coaches will pit two of their own team members against each other to sing the same song together in front of a studio audience.
After the vocal battle, the coach must choose which of his/her singers will advance to the next round of competition, while the losing artist is available to be stolen by another coach. Each coach has two steals during the battle rounds.
At the end of the battles, only the strongest members of each coach’s roster remain and proceed to the new knockout rounds. The artists will be paired again with a member of their team, but this time they find out only minutes before performing who they are being compared against. The artists each select their own song to perform individually, while their direct competitor watches and waits. They are vying for their coach’s confidence and decision to take them to the live shows. Their coach will choose the winner and the artist not selected will be sent home.
In the final live performance phase of the competition, the top artists from each team will compete each week against each other during a live broadcast. The television audience will vote to save their favorite artists and the two artists with the lowest number of votes will be sent home each week. In the end, one will be named “The Voice” and will receive the grand prize of a recording contract.

State Fire Marshal Julie Mix McPeak reminds Tennesseans to change the batteries in their smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors this weekend when they set back their clocks Saturday night for central standard time.
“Alarms, even those that are hard-wired, should have their batteries replaced regularly and should be tested monthly to ensure they are providing the proper protection,” McPeak says. “Use the extra hour we gain this weekend to make sure your home and family are fire-safe.”
Many fatal fires occur at night while the victims are sleeping. The smoke and toxic gases generated by a fire can cause people to sleep more deeply narrowing the chances of surviving a fire. A working smoke alarm can double the chances of survival by increasing the amount of time a person has to escape a fire in their home.
It is critical to install smoke alarms and replace batteries regularly. Twice a year is recommended. This reduces the chance of alarms chirping to indicate low batteries. All too often, a battery is removed and not replaced, putting a home’s occupants at risk. There’s no way to predict when a fire will occur, so even one night without an operational smoke alarm can be dangerous.
Here are some other helpful hints on the importance of smoke alarms:
•Install at least one smoke alarm on every level of the home, including the basement. For best protection, smoke alarms should be installed inside and outside sleeping rooms. Make sure everyone can hear the alarm and knows what it sounds like.
•For the best protection, equip your home with a combination of ionization and photoelectric smoke alarms or dual-sensor alarms.
•Smoke alarms with nonreplaceable (long-life) batteries are available and are designed to remain effective for up to 10 years. If the alarm chirps on these units, warning that the battery is low, replace the entire smoke alarm right away.
•Test alarms once a month using the test button. Replace the entire alarm if it’s more than 10 years old or doesn’t work properly when tested.
•Devise a fire escape plan with two ways out of every room and a common meeting place. Share and practice the plan with all who live in the home, including children.
•When a smoke alarm sounds, get out of the home immediately and go to your pre-planned meeting place to call 911.
For more information on making your home fire-safe, download and print the State Fire Marshal’s home fire safety checklist (http://tn.gov/fire/fsk/documents/checklist.pdf).
The State Fire Marshal’s Office is a division of The Department of Commerce and Insurance works to protect consumers while ensuring fair competition for industries and professionals who do business in Tennessee. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube for daily fire prevention tips!

Former NFL punter Herman “Thunderfoot” Weaver hopes to help students make positive choices in their lives and he shared that message with students at DeKalb County High School Wednesday.
Weaver was introduced to the assembly by State Representative Terri Lynn Weaver.
Having spent the last 20 plus years speaking all over the country, Weaver is committed to helping youth make significant change in their own lives. He has had the opportunity to speak in more than 3000 schools to over 1 million students. As Weaver shares his personal faith in God, he is able to challenge students to make positive decisions in their own lives. Decisions between such things as:
•Drug & Alcohol abuse vs. freedom from chemical control.
•Dropping out of school vs. academic leadership.
•Giving into peer pressure vs. establishing positive personal values.
•Aimlessness and suicide vs. purposeful living .
Weaver is a former punter with a 11 year career in the National Football League from 1970 to 1980. He spent 11 years punting in the National Football League for the Detroit Lions and the Seattle Seahawks. During his career, Weaver punted 693 times for 27,897 total yards. In 1975, Weaver was named the NFC Punter of the Year and in 1988 the Sporting News called him “One of the Top 20 Punters of all Time”. Weaver shares the all-time NFL record for the most punts had blocked in a career at 14.
Weaver played college football for the University of Tennessee Volunteers. While at Tennessee, he had a punt of 71 yards. He also had the best hang-time ever of 5.7 seconds.
He got his nickname from the late Sportscaster Howard Cosell. As the Detroit Lions were preparing for their game on Monday Night Football, Weaver stepped back to punt as the special teams took the field. Cosell was watching practice and at the highest point of the ball flight, a blast of thunder let out of the sky. The next night on Monday Night Football, Cosell referred to Weaver as “Thunderfoot”.

Monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for nearly 63 million Americans will increase 1.5 percent in 2014, the Social Security Administration announced Wednesday.
The 1.5 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits that more than 57 million Social Security beneficiaries receive in January 2014. Increased payments to more than 8 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on December 31, 2013.
Some other changes that take effect in January of each year are based on the increase in average wages. Based on that increase, the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax (taxable maximum) will increase to $117,000 from $113,700. Of the estimated 165 million workers who will pay Social Security taxes in 2014, about 10 million will pay higher taxes as a result of the increase in the taxable maximum. Information about Medicare changes for 2014 is available at www.Medicare.gov.
The Social Security Act provides for how the COLA is calculated. To read more, please visit www.socialsecurity.gov/cola.