The Voice – Battles Finale

By starrymag | October 25, 2014

Q) Mia and Beth, obviously we don’t know what happens in the knockouts and we know that the two of you can’t tell us but both of you continue to look like front runners in this competition. I’m wondering what can you tell us about your performance and sort of how it all came together as well as what we saw last night?

Mia Pfirrman: Last night was super fun but it was also a really fun experience to just experience it with Beth. She’s a really great battle partner and we had just like a lot of fun together and I’m really happy that they kind of like saved ours for last because – I don’t know. I mean we all worked really hard on our battles but me and Beth were just like so determined to make sure that we both stayed. And I don’t know it was really, really fun.

Beth Spangler: Going into the battle, Mia and I had decided from the very beginning that we want to just put on this stellar performance for America and for the crowd that we were in front of and for our coach. And our goal from the very beginning was for us to both stay and get a steal. I think that we challenged each other; I think that we worked well together. Mia was an incredible partner, she’s an incredible friend and we really helped each other throughout this round. And I think that’s what gave us the upper hand going into this and our hopes of getting a steal is because we really work together on it and we took what each of us were strong – our strengths and apply that to put on the best performance possible.

Q) Allison and Bryana, since we didn’t see your battles last night, I was hoping each of you could tell me a little bit about how it went, what you think happened that allowed you to prevail?

Allison Bray: I think going into the battle, Fernanda and I were both very, very uncomfortable with the song that we had received and the two of us together working on it in the beginning was very, very tough and we both were kind of clouded about what we were going to do, how we were going to sing it and everything. And we went to our first rehearsal with Blake and Little Big Town. We were very nervous and we really just knew the words to the song. We never worked out how we were going to sing it. And we went in there and sung it together and they kind of told us who should take what part and everything like that and that really helped out. And once we spent more time together, learned a little bit more about each other and we got a little more comfortable with the song, a little more comfortable with each other. And on stage we had a blast. We were just feeding off of each other and I think it ultimately came down to whoever counted harmonies better and whoever performed a little better. I think when the two of us got out on stage she got a little more nervous and I spent a lot of my attention on her trying to get her up and into it and everything like that and I think it ultimately boiled down to who had a better time and who you could tell worked a little more on it. So I think Blake felt that I did a little better job on it, but I mean for the both of us it was difficult because neither one of us come from a music background where we perform Taylor Swift a lot. So it was a little curveball for us. But we worked on it and I think we both did a great job. I really wish that I could watch the whole thing.

Bryana Salaz: And when we first got our song “Boom Clap,” me and Gianna both were just kind of – we didn’t even know what the song was. So we were thrown off guard a little bit. We were even thrown off guard that we were going against each other just because our voices are so completely different. And I think we learned it together and I didn’t know her as well at the beginning. So, we just went into the rehearsal with Gavin and with Gwen and they really helped like they helped us connect to the song, break down the song more. And I think Gwen stressed so much that this performance, listening to the song it’s a super fun song, that this performance is more about having fun and looking natural onstage and not so much about vocal ability. And in the rehearsal we ended up taking it up a whole step and a half and that was hard because I wanted to take it up and Gianna wanted to actually make it lower because her low registers that’s just where she’s comfortable. And so after going on stage, I think what happened was – for me it was more about having a good time and just enjoying the song, it’s a fun song. And for Gianna it was more, let me hit this note because it’s high it’s the higher part of my range. And it was kind of hard because I felt at some times our connection got lost on stage because I would try to make eye contact with her and it got a little complicated because she got more lost in the song than she did performing it. And so I guess when it came down to it, it was really up to Gwen whether she wanted – for all notes it was that if you want somebody who’s ready, go with Bryana, if you want somebody you can mold and grow with go with Gianna it was right down the middle. So we really didn’t know who she was going to go with. But I’m very, very excited and blessed to move on and I just hope to take all of Gwen’s notes to having fun on stage and hopefully apply that to my knockout round.

Q) Beth, what was it like to have Gwen use her steal on you?

Beth SPangler: Absolutely indescribable. To be completely honest with you, they do a really good job of trying to keep us from knowing how many steals are left, who’s gone home, who stays, so that we’re really focused on just going out there and putting on the best performance possible. And so when I went out there at first I thought there was a steal left and so I’m thinking that’s what Mia and I came here to do. We’re both going to stay, we’re going to make this work, put on some incredible performance. And then somewhere in the mix of that I was like, you know what? I don’t think there’s a steal. So I didn’t hear Carson say that a steal was available so when Mia had won the battle, which was well deserved, I honestly thought I was going home and so I spoke from my heart, I thanked Adam, I went down to hug everybody genuinely thinking that there was no opportunity for me to stay. So I was completely flabbergasted when I heard that button push. I’m still very incredibly thankful for her taking a chance on me and I’m excited to have the opportunity to learn from two outstanding artists; two people that I’ve looked up to for so long and whose music I’ve grown up on, that honestly I’m without words and full of gratitude for the steal.

Q) How have you grown as an artist during this process?

Reagan James: Since the beginning of this process I feel like I’ve had five years of life experience just from everything. Being around experienced, successful artists for weeks at a time and just taking in all of that talent and ability I feel like strengthened my own to extreme extents. And I’ve made some incredible friendships throughout this whole process and I’m completely and utterly speechless and could never thank everybody more just to be around such an amazing group of people. And I feel like I’ve grown and improved as an artist and as a person. And I’m so blessed to be where I am.

Beth Spangler: I couldn’t agree with Reagan more. Just in the time that we get to spend with one another and just really kind of vibe off of each other and learn from each other for musical experience and personal experience it has definitely grown me as a person and as an artist. I also tended in my past to shy away from those who challenged me the most because I had a fear of failure already and I also feared not being the very best. And being put in this situation challenged me, I think, more than I was actually ready for but I’m thankful for that because you just figure it out as you go along and you learn how to thrive off of one another. And everybody on this show is just so loving and we all help each other out and strengthen each other as we go along. And I’m just incredibly thankful for the experience from the coaches as well as advice and experience that we have gotten from them thus far is completely invaluable. There’s absolutely no price that you could put on it. So it’s an experience of a lifetime.

Q) Mia and for Allison, can you talk a bit about what the reaction has been like from your family and your friends and fans on social media to you being on the show?

Mia Pfirrman: I think it’s been really fun, I think it’s been a really great experience to see just how everybody reacts to certain people advancing on the show. I would have never ever imagined in my life that I would ever have fan pages or fan accounts that just dedicate time into making sure that – I don’t know people are just up to date with what’s going on with me. And aside from that having all of that going on, my family is just so supportive. And every time they’ve been on the show recently it’s just been an event. They make sure just like the funnest experience inviting a bunch of our friends and family to watch and support me and it’s just such a good feeling because being a part of a show like this is – it’s mind boggling. It’s like how could I have gotten so lucky and how could I have gotten so lucky to advance this far at this point? And it’s just really cool to see everybody participating in this excitement with me and it’s just a blessing, really.

Allison Bray: Well doing this for the second time I think a lot of my family and well actually have surprisingly been very reluctant to support me. At my viewing party last night actually there was like – there wasn’t any like news outlets or anything and they keep asking me questions about moving on and stuff like that and obviously I can’t share information. But I think last season I had a lot more people kind of come forward during the audition because it was my first time doing it and everything. And then coming back this season it was like a lot of family and friends that kind of like popped their head up and had anything to say. But I think as I’ve progressed in the competition, there’s obviously a little more people coming out and saying things. But I mean it’s just a blessing anyways to even have the opportunity once, let alone two times and more than anything I take back so much from the competition. We meet the most incredible celebrities and we meet the most incredible people just in general and I’ve made friends on the show that I will have for the rest of my life. And very humbling to go out to a restaurant and have little girls run up to you and be like we’re such big fans; like can we have your autograph? We want a picture with you and everything. It’s really interesting to see the fan pages, like Mia said. But I mean more than anything it’s a very, very humbling experience and to know that people that you’ve never even met before so interested in knowing about you and so interested in following your career and listening to you. It’s just really cool that people take the time out of their day to send me a message, write something about me positive and things like that. I wish more than anything that I could just pull out my Twitter and just say thank you to everyone, but I’m not going to do that for every single thing. But it’s been an experience nonetheless and I’m just very, very fortunate that I’ve had the opportunity to have the experience twice.

Q) Reagan, the performance really was terrific and I think it was Adam who said that you looked like you had been doing this for 20 years. I’m wondering what can you tell us about who you are as a performer and how much performing had you actually done prior to The Voice?

Reagan James: I honestly haven’t performed on a stage as big as that one and in front of an audience as big as that one ever up until this point. And I’ve always had a lot of confidence and I guess security in myself. But leading up to actually performing in front of such a big audience, plus, I mean on TV, like it was nerve wrecking for the actual audience there, but that was nothing compared to all of the people who were going to see it. And leading up to it I was kind of anxious and – because it was a completely new experience. All my life I’ve just sat in restaurants and on a stool in front of a couple tens of people. And I mean the biggest thing I’d done up until this was probably at talent shows or church stuff. And I’ve never really done something this big before. But when I did my blind audition I completely let go and I have never felt more at home than I do on a stage like that. I think that’s why they talked about – the coaches talked about my stage presence and I look like I’ve been doing this for I think you said 20 years, 25 years, and I think that’s because that’s where I feel at home. And it doesn’t matter how old you are, if you’re at home you’re at home. And you can let go and experience to the best of your ability for me performing. And I couldn’t tell you a place I love to be more than on a stage and I think that’s why I feel so comfortable and confident up there.

Q) Mia, you’ve had an opportunity to work with Adam and with Stevie Nicks and with Taylor Swift. These are things that obviously the average singer doesn’t get the opportunity to do. Will you talk a little bit about what this whole Voice experience has done for your career as you move forward?

Mia Pfirrman: Absolutely. I don’t know if a lot of you know, but I actually auditioned for the show season five and six and I wasn’t able to actually get on stage to audition because teams had filled. So this being my first season actually being able to do my blind audition and then continuing on to the point that I’m at now is so just like indescribable. I just went from thinking wow I’m never going to have my chance. I’m never going to be able to get to where I’ve always wanted to be and then to be where I am now is just so humbling. And it’s been a crazy experience. It’s been almost a year and a half now of me dedicating my time in my life to trying to be on the show. And now that I’m actually here I’ve just been so excited and being able to work with Adam is just a dream come true. To be honest, I just never thought that I would pick him because I always had different thoughts of who I’d go with since every season the coaches were different. But being up there and seeing all of the amazing options I had to go with I don’t know I just like – he spoke to me and I just really, I’ve never been happier with a decision I’ve made then going with him. Because ever since them I’ve had the chance – the opportunities that I’ve had to work with him has just been golden. And I’ve been so thankful and just – it’s just a crazy experience. I sometimes feel like I’m at a loss for words and I don’t really know how to explain how great it feels to finally be a part of this. But it’s really great and I feel really blessed.

Q) Bryana, we didn’t get to see much of your performance last night. Talk just a little bit of your battle round and hearing Gwen’s comments. So could you sort of sum it up a little bit better and also talk about the other judges, how they responded to you?

Bryana Salaz: Sure of course, hi this is Bryana and so for the beginning when we found out what song we were doing, Gianna and I, we had no idea what the song was, we had to learn it really quick obviously. And it was just weird because it was kind of out of each of our genres, although we want to go pop it was like Gianna was more pop/R&B and although I do pop/R&B as well I don’t know that song is just like it’s very, very it’s like its own version of pop. And so it was actually really exciting hearing what Gwen had to say and why she chose the song and she stressed so much that it’s not – this song is obviously not just about vocal ability, not to focus and stress so hard. It’s more about letting loose and having fun on stage and just performing. And seeing Gwen Stefani she’s an amazing performer so it made total sense and during our rehearsal she picked out who was going to sing what and what they wear. And it just came down to who was having more fun I think. And we took the song up higher than the original key and that’s what helped me get into the song more. It was more my range. However, I felt kind of bad because Gianna, she wanted to make it lower instead of higher because we have just completely different ranges. And so I think that what happened was the song was high for her so she focused really hard on just hitting the notes and instead of getting lost in the audience and the crowd she got more lost in the song. And performing it to the best vocal ability that she could. Where I focused more on having fun and just having a good time feeding off the crowd. And I do think that there were certain times where we lost connection on stage because I would try to feed off of her but she would have her eyes closed because she’s trying to hit a note. And so it was really hard. And the coaches feedback, it was all very helpful. Adam and Pharrell both said that if you want someone they’re helping one, if you want someone who’s ready to go and ready to go make albums and recording go with Bryana, but if you want someone who’s going to grow with you and who you want to mold and work with then go with Gianna. And so it really came down to we had no idea who Gwen was going to pick, we were both standing there for what felt like an eternity and it was so hard Gwen ended up choosing me and I just I was so thankful and so blessed just because I had no idea it was going to happen. And at that time, it was just really hard because I got so, so close with Gianna and we still keep in contact. So yes that’s pretty much what happened and I’m very thankful for this opportunity and working with Gwen was just one of the greatest experiences ever.

Q) Could you talk about how your performances at Sea World may have helped you with your stage presence? She was like oohing and awing over your stage presence.

Bryana Salaz: Yes, of course. I mean Sea World – well Sea World was my first job and I had auditioned and they had hired me as the performer one which is like the live actors who do the singing, acting and dancing. And I was in seven different shows and I would just switch on and off between going to them on weekends and week days and it definitely helped me. It was just the neatest experience ever. I was on a huge stage, I mean Sea World, it’s a very popular tourist area and I was in two kiddy shows the Elmo shows and then I was in six different shows. And I think the kiddy shows actually ended up helping me most out of all the shows because we would perform at (Nala) Stadium which is absolutely gigantic. It’s a huge outdoors stadium and it’s just hard because it’s just me, the live actor on stage with everyone in costume. So everyone’s in this giant costumes and you have to make yourself stand out when you’re not in costume and you’re just a live actor. And so performing every single day, hours and hours and hours a day, it definitely helps with your performance skills. I learned so much, I got good vocal training, and dance training. And it was always packed and the kids would just run down the front of the stage and it really felt like I was putting on a concert for the kids, they were so cute. And just getting that experience especially when I went on The Voice, it was the best first job I could ever ask for. And if nothing ever happens I’m definitely going to work at Sea World again.

Q) Did you get to work with Gwen’s husband as the mentor?

Bryana Salaz: Yes. We worked with Gavin Rossdale and he is just absolutely brilliant and intelligent. I mean he knows so much about music and I think he really pulled out something in me that I have struggled with. And the struggle with me is that I have a hard time connecting to the songs all the time. I mean I’m still very young and I still have a lot to learn and a lot of life experience that I just haven’t experienced yet. And so especially for a song like Boom Clap it was very hard for me to relate and to connect to it and he could see that there was kind of a disconnection to me in the song. And he was able to like just pull out this emotion in me and something that I really never experienced and I think that really, really helped me with just letting loose and having a good time. Because if I wouldn’t have felt a connection to the song that I did I think that it would have come across on stage and I would possibly not be in this position right now. So I’m very, very thankful and he’s awesome.

Q) Beth, could you talk a little bit more about your background and how you made the transition from a healthcare career into a maybe possible music career?

Beth Spangler: I’ve been singing my entire life. I grew up in a family of musicians both on mom and dad’s side so it’s something that has been a great part of my life from the very beginning. It’s something that I’ve been incredibly passionate about since I was old enough to talk. However, being from a small town and being from a family of musicians who have never really done a significant amount with their gifts I just didn’t have the opportunity kind of fall into place for me to grow into a career in music. Not only did I not really know where to start, my family didn’t know where to start. But the place that I lived just didn’t have a whole lot of opportunity for performance and music and so I was really kind of limited most of my life to performing at local – small local events, weddings and funerals and mostly in church. Which I was fine with and enjoyed greatly but I always just felt like my calling was in the industry and that there was something more for me, something bigger out there that I needed to be doing with my gift. Then actually being in that small town with very realistic parents almost too realistic they encouraged me to go the route that I guess was more realistic and that I have something to fall back on. And this journey was a long one me figuring out what it is that I wanted to do for the rest of my life. And in the back of my mind and in my heart knowing it was music I was trying to find a way to deliver my passion for people and for helping people in another way. So I found that in healthcare. And while it was incredibly rewarding and I love being a part of the improvement of lives of others, after my dad’s accident I realized that while I am gifted in that area where I really felt like I’m meant to be is improving the lives of others in music and through performance. And through allowing my light to shine in those places and through those opportunities. So that transition really started about a year and a half ago. I woke up one day and I decided what am I waiting for? Obviously I’m 30-year-old and I’m not getting any younger, it’s now or never. So I took that leap of faith and within that first year I released two singles on iTunes and started performing a little bit more on, I wouldn’t say a grander scale but more so than weddings and funerals and church. That through getting myself out there and getting my music out there I have this incredible opportunity with The Voice. And things just really started to fall into place for me. I worked really hard on the weekends after working a 40 hour week job at the hospital. And I knew at that point I knew this is what I wanted so much that I was willing to drive myself to the point of complete exhaustion to get to where I wanted to be. And so The Voice has been just an absolutely outstanding opportunity for me simply because being 30 and getting a late start in this industry and having the passion and drive that I have and the work ethic that I have, they’re giving me an opportunity to have my voice heard by so many in such a short period of time. And they allow me to stand on this stage and allow to hear my voice, hear my story and give them the choice to believe in me and to follow me even beyond this opportunity. And I’m so glad I took that chance and now that I’m out there I don’t think I’ll go back to the hospital so soon no matter what happens in this journey. I have had that taste of waking up doing what I love and falling asleep knowing that the next day I get to wake up and do what I love. I can think it constantly, I can breathe it, that’s what my mind is consumed with and I love that. So I’ve decided that I’m going to continue on this journey, I’m not going to look back and I’m very excited about it.

Q) Mia and Beth, you talked at the start of this call about a little bit about your performance. There was a Christina Aguilera song and Adam had talked to you about controlling your voice to kind of make it your own and not to be like her, like Christina. Was that difficult at all to do that?

Mia Pfirrman: Honestly, it is really hard to sing a Christina Aguilera song without trying to sound like her because I don’t know it’s just kind of like an instant. But something that we were really lucky to hear from Adam and Stevie was well obviously nothing but the truth, no one will ever sound like Christina. She’s Christina – no one will ever sound like her, no one will ever sing like her unfortunately. So it was just like really cool to hear them tell us that we have our own sound and our sound is just as good – well I mean just as good to sign it as our own. And I don’t know I think it was really – it was a wakeup call for me especially because something that I’ve always done is sing a song from a specific artist and try my best to sound just like that or sound similar to them or however they sing it. And I think it was really cool for me personally to learn, I’m sure Beth too, to just, do you. Mia-fi it, Beth-fi it and then make it your own. And something definitely hard to do with a Christina song but just the fact that he trusted us with such a sacred artist and a sacred song was really cool, it was awesome.

Beth Spangler: I completely agree with Mia. It was a challenging song, very, very challenging song. This is a song that I have grown up on and have grown to love. And just like Mia I found myself throughout life being an imitator of the artist that I love. And that’s something that I have learned so much through The Voice and that I’m still struggling to learn is what is my sound? What is my voice? What do my voice to sound like? Who am I as an artist? And so it’s forced me just like her to separate myself from the way I’ve always sang the song which is imitating Christina and finding my own voice. However, Christina is perfection and the way she sings the song it couldn’t be any better. So we had to find a balance between not imitating her and not coming off karaoke yet putting our own spin on the song without A; watering it down or insulting the perfect melody and a perfect song. And I think that’s where we found ourselves the most challenged. In addition to that making sure that we both had opportunities to shine and do ourselves justice in the song at the very same time. So it was a challenge, it was one that we both overcame and we overcame it together and I couldn’t be more proud. And I’m very thankful that Adam challenged us in that way.

 

 

*CONFERENCE CALL*