'Voice' winner plays Tanger at Deer Park

Javier Colon's path to stardom seemingly reached a happy ending last month when he won NBC's "The Voice," and Saturday, on the second stop of a national solo tour, he visited Tanger Outlets at The Arches.

Colon methodically plucked his way through an hour and 45 minutes of his own hits, such as "Stitch by Stitch," and cover songs that he sang on "The Voice," such as Coldplay's "Fix You."

Mandy Gellis, 26, of Levittown, who has seen the performer several times, said: "I thought [his performance] was wonderful. Each time, he gets better and better than the time before."

Gellis added that her favorite Colon original from the set was "Meant to Be," but "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" was the song she liked most.

Colon, who is familiar with playing outdoors from his time in the Derek Trucks Band, surprised some of the crowd -- which numbered more than 2,000 -- by doing his own sound check in Deer Park, showing that his reputation as a "regular guy" with an exceptional voice is not unfounded.

The Connecticut singer was also taken aback at the large, excited audience, which had gathered an hour before the scheduled 6 p.m. show was set to begin.

"I wasn't expecting so many people just to listen to a sound check," he said. "But people started coming in, and it was really cool."

Once Colon, 34, took the stage for real, children were hoisted onto shoulders and camera phones were lifted into the air so small children could catch a glimpse of the singer who, as part of Adam Levine's team on the NBC hit, captured the nation's ears.

SiobhanDonegan and Ashley Simone, 12-year-olds from Seaford, said that Colon was their favorite contestant from the beginning of "The Voice" and that they were thrilled to see him live.