Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Her audition: Davina Leone, 24, of Miami, Fla., auditioned with Sia’s “Cheap Thrills.” She was well into her performance, and pouring on the frills, when Gwen Stefani turned around. She was the only coach to do so, meaning Davina landed a spot on Team Gwen. Gwen praised Davina’s voice and her personality.

Her background: Since her performance was montaged, we learned nothing about Davina on Monday’s show. But her Voice bio indicates she’s been performing since age 10 when she earned the starring role in “Annie” and writes music on piano and guitar. She was also bullied as a child, forcing her to switch schools several times. As a result, she looked to music as an outlet.

What the show didn’t show:

* She was raised in Florida and grew up in a family of singers and musicians, according to her Facebook bio.

* At age 14, she began posting cover videos on her YouTube channel. She now has more than 38,000 subscribers and more than 5.2 million views on her videos.

* She teamed up with songwriter Richie Supa and producer George Noriega to create a debut album called “Awake” that was released in 2013. The 12-track album includes two songs in Spanish.

* “Up All Night” from that album was featured on the Hallmark Movie “The Sweeter Side of Life.” It’s absolutely one of the best pre-Voice pop tunes released by any of the Season 12 contestants. I’ve embedded it below.

* The Spanish version of “Up All Night” and three other songs from the album — “For the Haters,” “Circles” and “Smile for Me” — were also released as singles.

* Davina has released two cover singles — “Royals” and “Heartbreaker.” Both came out in 2013. You can find another cover, “King,” on Spotify.

* Her other original singles include “Flashback” (2012), “Perfectly” (2013) and “Falling” (2016). You can check out “Falling” below.

* She describes her original music as “alternative pop,” along the lines of Coldplay.

* Davina and her band once opened for One Republic at a show in Park City, Utah. She also appeared on E!’s “Hello Ross.”

* At one point, she was also an ambassador for an anti-bullying campaign and took part in a tour of local schools to teach students the dangers of bullying and the importance of self-esteem.

* She was studying psychology in college when she decided to focus on music and go back to college later. She says her mom was the inspiration for that, having gone back to school at age 40.

* It wasn’t shown this way on air, but in a Social News XYZ interview, Davina says she auditioned on the last day of blinds, when all the teams were full except Gwen Stefani’s. Oh, the magic of pre-taped television.

* She was bullied because she liked to perform and hopes to boost her confidence through Season 12 of The Voice.

Keeping up with Davina:
Twitter: @davinaleone (12,300 followers)
Facebook
Instagram(12,00 followers)
YouTube

“Up All Night” (music video)

“Dangerous Woman” (cover)