Residents Cheer On Javier Colon, aka 'The Voice' of Stratford

After a heart-stopping performance of an original song called “Stitch by Stitch,” Stratford native Javier Colon awaited the words of three-time Grammy Award-winning songwriter Adam Levine.

“Everyone knows you’re an amazing singer,” said Levine at Tuesday night's finale of NBC's national singing competition, “The Voice.” “But what they may not know is that you’re such an amazing guy.”

“We do,” said one voice in a crowd of about 40 Colon supporters gathered last night at Stratford’s .

“He genuinely gives himself to people,” said Shelton resident Justine Labate, whose nephew, Andy Zychek, is a longtime best friend of Colon’s. Colon, 34, is the godfather of Zychek’s son and the two friends were each other’s best man. Colon has two children of his own.

“He was just a good dude, a class act all the way around,” said Paradise Pizza owner Andy Tsichlas, remembering when he went to middle and high school with Colon. “He was always into music. Hearing him stop [pursuing a musical career] would be more shocking than hearing him succeed.”  

“He’s awesome,” said 17-year-old Marisa Boras, of Stratford, who didn’t know Colon was a Stratford native when she started rooting for him during the audition period of the contest. “It was icing on the cake,” she said of when she found out he was from town.

“We who love Javier wanted to have a community outpouring of love and support,” said Rosemary Martin, a former theater arts teacher at Bunnell High School who worked on productions with Colon before he graduated in 1995. Martin spearheaded the event and said she was happy with the turnout – as well as Colon’s performance, which, with the final note, spurred the crammed barroom into immediate applause.

“He smoked it,” she said, as the applause died down and people began to take out their phones to text or call in their votes for Colon.

“I felt like he was singing to me,” said Boras’ 67-year-old grandmother, Carole Profeta.

Colon competed against three other singers in “The Voice” finale. Out of eight contestants, Maroon 5 frontman Levine chose Colon – a memorable rendition of Coldplay’s “Fix You” gained him entry into the final four – to go head-to-head with the top contestants as picked by fellow team leaders and music superstars, Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton.

A little before midnight Tuesday, Colon tweeted (@Javstwtr): “Sitting with my family on the way back to the hotel. I’ve done all I can do. Now we vote like there’s no tomorrow. Thank you guys!!”

Votes can still be made online until 10 a.m. today by clicking here. The winner of “The Voice” scores a recording contract and a $100,000 prize.

Many music industry people have Colon as the odds-on favorite, including Wall Street Journal blogger Julie Steinberg, who posted during a live blog last night: “…a fan favorite, one with arguably the most technical skill, Javier’s been a draw for the show all season long.”

New York Magazine also says the title belongs to Colon, putting the odds of the Stratford native winning at 2:1.

The results will be announced Wednesday at 8 p.m. on NBC. Many locals, including Martin, plan to watch the show at nearby , located at 946 Ferry Blvd., Stratford.

If you missed Colon’s performance – or want to see it again – click here for the video.