Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Her audition: Ashley Marina, 18, of Pittsburgh, Pa., performed “Tonight I Wanna Cry” by Keith Urban. She immediately displayed impressive range. And she almost immediately enticed a three-chair turn. She also performed with lots of emotion. Kelly Clarkson said she has a really killer voice, but showed some nerves after all the chairs turned. Adam Levine called her voice “really special.” John Legend called her performance “beautiful and tasteful.” Ashley joined Team John.

Here’s more about Ashley:

* She’s Ashley Marina Yankello, a young woman from Pittsburgh, Pa. who has already created one viral singing show moment.

* That came back in 2020 when she was just 12, stepped on the stage of America’s Got Talent and was forced to sing three times by judge Simon Cowell.

* For her third song, she chose an original song she’d written for her father called “You’ll Always be My Hero.” Ashley soared vocally and emotionally, earning a spot on the show. That, however, was short-lived because she had the misfortune of auditioning just before the pandemic forced TV talent shows to significantly scale back their productions.

* The song, however, has lived on. It has more than 3 million streams on Spotify alone. And Billboard included it on its list of best original songs ever performed on AGT.

* As a singer, Ashley went viral again in 2021 with a cover of Bruno Mars’ “Talking to the Moon.” That song has more than 4 million streams on Spotify. The music video Ashley and her mom made on their front porch has been viewed more than 2.3 million times on YouTube.

* The next year, she won the Rising Star contest at the Women Who Rock benefit concert in Pittsburgh, got to open for former American Idol champ Jordin Sparks and wound up being named the organization’s Rising Star winner for 2022.

* And Ashley’s still releasing her own music at an impressive pace — five singles in 2025, including four songs she wrote (“Take Us Back,” “Trouble Never Looks So Good,” “Stolen” and “Names”).

* She’s already released her first single of 2026, the incredibly catchy “8Teen,” celebrating the arrival of adulthood. Check it out below.

* Ashley has also performed in musical theater, had non-speaking roles on two TV shows and a movie and performed the national anthem at a number of profession sporting events.

Ashley on social media:
Instagram
TikTok
Facebook
YouTube

@iamashleymarina My new original 8Teen out now! listen today 💖 #ashleymarina #iamashlymarina #singersongwriter #newmusic #fyp Thank you to @Tom Yankello WorldClassBoxing ♬ original sound – Ashley Marina