Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Kyla Jade of The Voice Season 14. (NBC Photo)

Her background: Kyla told The Voice she’s from a Pentecostal background, which meant lots of school, lots of church and lots of church choir growing up. She became a background singer, worked with Carrie Underwood and went on her first tour with Wynonna Judd. But when her mother experienced health problems, Kyla had to put music to the side for a while. Her mother recovered, Kyla got a chance to audition for Jennifer Hudson and has been a background singer for the Season 13 Voice coach for the last three years.

What the show didn’t show:

* She grew up in Topeka, Kansas, where sang in school choirs and at the Greater St. Paul Church of God in Christ.

* Kyla moved to Nashville to attend Fisk University and eventually found herself doing studio session work and singing background vocals for Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle and many others.

* She also headlined her own classical jazz tour in Europe, according to her Facebook bio.

* Her bio on The Voice website says her big break came when she joined the Nashville Super Choir on “Bobby Jones Gospel,” the longest running gospel show on BET. She traveled with the show for nine years.

* During a 2015 interview for a hometown show in Topeka, Kyla said she actually hung up on Dr. Jones when he called to offer her that job, thinking she was being pranked by one of her friends. When she called back, she realized the offer was real, apologized and accepted.

* She’s a featured vocalist on several tracks you can find on iTunes but has released just one song as a solo artist, a 2014 cover of “Hello Sunshine.”

* During a conference call with the media, Kyla called working with Jennifer an “amazing” experience. “Jennifer has the ability to wake up at 4 a.m. and sing the same way she sings at 7 p.m. and at 11 p.m. and at 2 a.m. That is – she’s an anomaly,” Kyla says.

* The Voice, apparently oblivious or uncaring about perceptions of favoritism, calls Jennifer — a current coach on The Voice U.K. — a “huge motivator” in Kyla’s decision to audition for the show. Kayla addresses the perception in a blog I’ve posted here.

On picking Blake: “It was actually a very difficult decision, but I wanted to challenge myself. I think Kelly would have picked very similar songs. I think actually we would have worked very well together. But again, Blake has a known track record and I’m all about picking a winning team. So I wanted to challenge myself vocally. I wanted to put myself possibly in an uncomfortable situation to bring out the best.”

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