Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Her audition: Mercedes Ferreira-Dias, 17, of Miami, Fla., auditioned with “She Used to Be Mine” by Sara Bareilles. Blake Shelton and Kelly Clarkson turned near the end of her performance. Blake praised “the heart” in Mercede’s voice. She decided to join Team Blake.

Her background: Mercedes had auditioned in Season 14 with Adele’s “All I Ask” and had nearly gotten a chair turn from Kelly, but left empty-handed. Adam Levine’s encouragement to try again convinced her to do just that, but not until doing a lot of performing to get better. She returned determined to “kick butt.” As a youth, Mercedes said she struggled with insecurities about her body and her personality. Her mother would videotape her performing and though Mercedes loved the way her voice sounded, she wouldn’t watch the videos because of those insecurities.

On picking Blake as her coach: She admits the decision marked a change of heart from her pre-audition thinking. “I said if Kelly turned around, I would 100 percent pick her.” But then, while she was on stage, “he (Blake) said all the right things, and my gut decision was just to go with Blake.”

What the show didn’t show:

* Her parents immigrated from Venezuela seeking a better life.

* Academically, Mercedes ranks at the top of her class, but she wants to see if music is a viable option before applying to colleges.

* As a result of performing more following her Season 14 Voice audition, Mercedes says “in the past couple of months, I think I definitely have developed my artistic style a lot more and have gotten to find out who I want to be as an artist.”

* As for her decision to return, she said this during a conference call with the media: “When I got the chance to come back, I leaped into it. I always say — this is kind of my mantra — that your chances go totally down to zero if you don’t try.”

* Sara Bareilles tweeted about the performance of her song by Mercedes on The Voice. That prompted this response from Mercedes: “I cannot believe this is my life right now :,) I would’ve never thought, not in a million years, that my biggest musical inspiration would even know who I was, let alone NOTICE me!!!! I AM BEYOND HAPPY, CRYING TEARS OF JOY!”

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