Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Her audition: Nicolette Mare, 20, of Staten Island, N.Y., performed Taylor Swift’s “Everything Has Changed” in an audition that was part of a montage. Only Adam Levine turned around, calling her performance “awesome” and complimenting her on her potential.

Her background: According to her Voice bio, Nicolette comes from a big Italian family. She started singing for her grandfather at age 8, but suffered from stage fright and didn’t start performing in public until she turned 12. She’s performed around New York, but also works as a hostess at a pizza restaurant. Carson Daly introduced her as an indie-pop singer.

What the show didn’t show: When Nicolette was growing up, her grandfather lived next door. “We would get together every night and just sing on his front porch. I never thought I was any good at it. It was just something fun we would do — me and my cousins.” But her grandfather was impressed and encouraged her to keep singing. She started taking lessons, got her first guitar and started writing songs. “From that point on, I’ve been singing,” though she admits she doesn’t play out all that often. “Nerves get the best of me,” she says. She attended LaGuardia High School of Music & Art for about four months when she was in high school. She also won a fametube.com video contest in 2012, was featured in a national TV spot for IHop and recorded a single called “Perfect Day.” She describes her music as singer-songwriter indie-pop though she says she has a touch of country in her voice and can sing country-pop as well.

On landing on Team Adam: “The music started. I was really, really nervous. Adam turned 20 seconds into the song. I was just like, ‘Oh, my goodness.’ You’d think the nerves would go away and you’d be relieved. But I was staring straight into Adam Levine’s face, and I was so much more nervous. I’m so grateful he turned his chair.”

On iTunes: Just her Voice performances.

Update: She was pitted against DeAnna Johnson in the battle round. They sang “Love Me Like You Do” in a performance that was part of a montage. Adam declared DeAnna the winner; Nicolette was eliminated.

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Twitter: @nicolettemare

Unconditionally (cover)

Skyscraper (cover)

Perfect Day (original)