| Khaya Cohen | |
| |
| Information | |
|---|---|
| Names | Khaya Cohen |
| Age(s) | 18 |
| Hometown | New York City, New York |
| Category | Girls |
| Mentor | Demi Lovato |
| Elimination Information | |
| Place | 10th Place |
Khaya Cohen (born June 22, 1997) is an American pop/soul singer from New York City who finished in 10th place on season 3 of the X Factor USA. She was a part of the Girls catagory, mentored by Demi Lovato.
Background
Born and raised in New York City, Khaya is a high school student. Her mom is a midwife, and her dad works for New York's Department of Education. She has an older brother who is in college.
The X Factor
Khaya tried out for the show first by singing "Love You I Do" from the movie Dreamgirls, which the judges didn't like, and then by singing the Nina Simone version of "I Put A Spell on You" by Screaming Jay Hawkins, which helped her make it to the next round where she got Demi Lovato as her mentor.
Four Chair Challenge
For this part, Khaya sang a slowed-down version of "Locked Out of Heaven" by Bruno Mars. Her performance earned her well-deserved praise. She made her mentor's decision an easy one when Demi picked her to go to the live shows.
Live shows
For the first live show, Khaya sang "Mercy" by Duffy. Kelly Rowland encouraged her to have fun when she sings while Simon Cowell questioned her likability. However, Demi had to make the ultimate decision and picked Khaya to be a part of the top 12(later top 13).
For Motown Night, Khaya sang "My Girl" by the Temptations. She earned praise from the judges. Simon Cowell even compared her to the great Amy Winehouse. Despite the great performance, a graphics error nullified the votes, resulting in Khaya having to sing her "Save Me" song, "Distant Dreamer" by Duffy, for the re-vote show.
For 80s Night, Khaya sang "Borderline" by Madonna, adding a soulfulness to it. She got praise for the performance with Simon Cowell in particular calling it her best. However, she ended up in the bottom 2 with Rachel Potter, who ended up eliminated.
For British Invasion night, Khaya took on the Beatles classic "Let It Be", which had been previously covered by Fifth Harmony on season 2. Adding a bit of a soulful touch to it, Khaya sang her heart out on the song. Kelly Rowland, Paulina Rubio, and Simon Cowell all told her that she needed to work on her vocals a little bit, but all three enjoyed her performance. Khaya even thanked Demi Lovato for picking out the song for her because she loved it. However, it ended up being her last performance as she received the fewest votes and was eliminated on November 21, 2013, finishing in 10th place.
Post X Factor
Khaya collabrated with Rachel Potter on a video of the two singing the holiday classic "Silent Night". The video is posted on Rachel's YouTube channel. She also collabrated with Carlos Guevara on a duet version of the Imagine Dragons hit "Demons", which is on her YouTube channel. She also got to perform at the Live @ 54 show in New York on February 24, 2014. The show also featured Rachel Potter.
First single
Khaya released her first single. "Sky Might Fall", on iTunes on March 28, 2014. She is also working on an album and even released a second single, "Be There for Me", on June 16, 2015.
Discography
Singles:
- "Sky Might Fall" (2014)
- "Be There for Me" (2015)
Trivia
- Cohen’s celebrity crush is rapper Macklemore.
- In Week 3, Potter received more votes than Cohen which meant that if the result went to deadlock, Potter would have been saved.
