Idol Chatter & Voice Views

On making the finals: “I’m a country singer, but I have a lot of soul in me too,” says Audra McLaughlin of Philadelphia. “So I think that I’m versatile. I think that’s kind of how I might be a little different, by being able to do a lot of different songs. I think my main strategy is always just focusing on that performance and not looking ahead. I never thought I’d make it this far.”

Her audition: Audra, 21 at the time, auditioned for The Voice with “Angel from Montgomery.” She sounded great from the word go, prompting Adam Levine to turn around almost immediately. Her powerful, passionate vocals eventually enticed all three of the other coaches to follow. Shakira called her voice “out of this world,” but Audra joined Team Blake.

Since then: She defeated the duo of Alaska and Madi in the first battle round; they sang Linda Ronstadt’s “When Will I Be Loved.” In the second battle round, she defeated Megan Ruger as they performed “The Climb.” In the Team Blake playoffs, she sang “A Broken Wing” to earn a spot in the finals. The song cracked the Top 150 on the iTunes’ country chart the next day.

Her background: Audra says she “had a really tough time growing up.” She had a learning disability that caused her to be put in special classes in school. Because of that, a lot of other kids bullied her, she said. Now she’s studying to be a medical assistant and is getting a 3.5 GPA in college. But, of course, she’d prefer to sing.

What the show didn’t show: Audra says she’s known she wanted to be a singer since she was a little girl. As a teenager, she was a member of a band called The Fallen that released a pair of albums — “Between The Devil And The Blue Sea” and “Between The Angels And The Deep Dark Sky.” The first came out when she was just 16. On Twitter, she describes herself as a “county / blues / soul singer-songwriter, guitarist.” On her website, she writes: “In my opinion, what separates the flash in the pans from the artists that have real staying power, is songwriting,” adding that she considers writing a song like creating a mini-movie, the best of which “emotionally grips the listener.” And, of course, she’s also hoping to inspire with her anti-bullying message.

Quote: “Just thinking about being live and 50 million people are watching is crazy. I’m excited. This is such a huge step for me for my career.”

On iTunes: Just her four songs from The Voice, but you can check out originals on her YouTube channel, including some of her work with The Fallen. I’ve embedded one original below. And you can listen to lots more of Audra’s music on her ReverbNation and Soundcloud pages.

Keeping up with Audra:
Twitter: @AudraLynn21
Facebook
YouTube
Website

Editor’s Note: For links to profiles of all the Season 6 artists on The Voice, go here. And check back for live blogging during every episode of Season 6.

“Better Off Without You”

“Better Dig Two” (The Band Perry cover)

“Strawberry Wine” (Deana Carter cover)