Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Her audition: Marina Chello, 37, Plainview, N.Y., auditioned with Pink’s “Walk Me Home.” Marina displayed a really nice vocal tone from the opening note. But it wasn’t until she displayed her vocal firepower that Blake Shelton turned his chair. Kelly Clarkson turned as well. Blake said he was drawn to the power in her voice and how connected Marina was to her performance. Marina joined Team Blake.

Here’s more about Marina.

* She’s a New York-based singer-songwriter whose genres include pop, R&B, classical and dance music, according to her Facebook bio.

* She hails from the central Asian country of Uzbekistan — her family moved to the U.S. when she was 11. “When we came here, it was awesome,” she told The Voice.

* Marina learned English partly by listening to singers such as Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and Celine Dion. Her musical tastes eventually grew to a long list of U.S. artists that include Maroon 5 and “the big hair bands of the 1980s,” she writes on Facebook.

* Marina she sings in five languages, including Russian, Spanish and Italian. That’s according to the bios released back in 2009, when she was signed to CrazyJoint, a company headed by Bad Boy Records music executive Harve Pierre.

* Marina released a pair of pop singles that year — “Sideline” and “What’s Done is Done” — as well as remixes of those songs. Check out the catchy “Sideline” below. Just keep in mind it’s from 10 years ago.

* She also posted a third song — “Not Myself” — to social media. Today, “Sideline” and “What’s Done is Done” are still available on Apple Music, but there’s no sign of the then-promised debut album.

* On her time with Crazy Joint, Marina told The Voice: “I thought that was it. I thought I was finally going to make it. It just didn’t happen.”

* She told Voice Views she wound up taking a break from music, partly to start a family. She’s married and has a five-year-old son, who plays ice hockey judging from Marina’s Instagram page.

* Marina also started working in her father’s business, a catering hall. She manages the hall.

* She told Voice Views: “I started to sing again little by little and that drove me to wanna do music again. Music will always be a part of me, my passion. When I got contacted for The Voice, it was a no brainer, I was super stoked!”

On social media:
Website
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter: @marinachello
YouTube

See also
Marina Chello talks about her blind audition