Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Her audition: Amber Sauer, 35, of Paradise, Calif., auditioned with “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran. A huge ending, filled with glory notes, prompted Kelly Clarkson to turn, and earned Amber the final spot on Season 14 of The Voice.

Her background: Growing up, Amber says she was moved by the musical divas — “the Whitneys, the Mariahs,” etc. But she grew up in a tiny California country town. In August of 2009, “I packed up everything I could and moved to L.A.” Within a week, she had a gig to sing with Natalie Cole. She’s also performed with Angie Stone, Kelly Price and others. Turns out, 2009 was a big year for Amber. She’s adopted, and that’s also the year she met her biological mother and sister for the first time. The Voice marks Amber’s first attempt to really break out as a solo artist.

What the show didn’t show:

* On Twitter, Amber describes herself as a singer, songwriter, actress, aspiring model and body positive activist.

* Her love of music was influenced by her adoptive father, who played drums for country music legend Merle Haggard. The biological father she never met was also a musician, she said.

* According to her Facebook bio, as a young R&B / soul artist, Amber competed in regional competitions such as “So You Think You Wanna Be a Star” and “Northern California Idol,” a regional version of American Idol.

* She’s also worked as a background vocalist for Anthony Hamilton and Faith Evans and performed at “The Conga Room” in L.A.

* Around 2013, she branched out into acting, performing one of the lead roles in the national tour of “Emerge: 7 Women, 7 Stools,” a gospel stage play sharing the story of seven women of varying backgrounds.

* In 2014, she released a single called “That’s OK,” her only solo music release to date. You can check it out below.

* Amber is also a featured vocalists on a couple of Christmas songs, including the catchy “Christmas Crush,” on Suite 10’s “*5 at Christmas” EP, released in 2015.

* During a conference call with the media, Amber said she had no idea only one spot remained on the show when she took the stage. She auditioned on day four, by which time spots are typically scarce. “But that thought never entered my mind, I was so laser focused on what I was doing,” she said.

* As for that remarkably big ending, here’s what Amber told Voice Views: “I remember thinking midway through my song, ‘Oh, shoot, I’m going to be that girl on television who doesn’t get a chair turn.’ And I remember thinking to myself, ‘Okay, girl, you’ve got like 20 seconds left. Anything you have left in you, you’ve got to give it your all.’ I laid my heart and soul out there, and I’m just glad she (Kelly Clarkson) saw it.”

* Amber says she loves all types of music, but adds that her post-show music will likely fall in the pop-soul realm.

* Her triumph on The Voice came in her fifth time auditioning for the show.

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