Meet DaNica Shirey of Team Pharrell on The Voice

The Voice

Meet DaNica Shirey of Team Pharrell on The Voice

September 28, 2014 By Mark Franklin 0

Her audition: DaNica Shirey, 25, of York, Pa., auditioned with Jessie J’s “Big White Room.” A perfectly executed run early in the song entices Adam Levine to turn his chair. Pretty soon, Gwen Stefani and Pharrell Williams are facing in DaNica’s direction as well. Gwen calls her voice “gorgeous;” Pharrell calls her a “snake charmer” because of her vocal delivery. DaNica opts to join Team Pharrell.

Her background: DaNica tells us she grew up listening to Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey and likes to sing “anything with soul.” She sang at the Apollo Theatre in New York at age 15 and won a singing competition in the adult division; she also recorded a five-track demo. But making it in music proved difficult, she says, and it became more difficult after her father was diagnosed with cancer and passed away. “My dad was pushing so hard for me my whole life to do music, but since then, I haven’t been performing. It’s harder without him.” DaNica is a stay-at-home mom with a 4-year-old daughter and told The Voice she hadn’t stepped on a stage in three and a half years prior to her blind audition.

What the show didn’t show: The singing competition at the Apollo wasn’t her only early claim to fame. She performed with the David Foster & Friends International Tour at Madison Square Garden and in Canada. And, at age 19, she won an online competition called Total Pop Star, though the album the winner was supposed to make never came to fruition. DaNica, in fact, hasn’t recorded since making a five-song demo when she was 15, but says she’s continued to write music a variety of music. “It’s funny because I have very R&B soulful songs that I’ve written, but I’ve also written a couple of country tunes and some more dance, upbeat pop stuff. So when I say that I enjoy singing everything, it comes from the heart. Not only do I like to sing everything, but I like to write everything.” As for picking Pharrell, DaNica says she sensed a that he was genuine in his post-performance comments and felt he could provide the same type of support she used to get from her father. Note: Keeping checking back for more on York County’s first-ever contestant on The Voice, including a full interview about the blind audition experience.

Update:
Blind audition: Turned three chairs with her performance of Jessie J’s “Big White Room.”
Battle round: Defeated Toia Jones in one of Season 7’s most celebrated battle round matches; they sang Beyonce’s “Halo.”
Knockout round: Sang Whitney Houston’s “Saving All My Love for You” and defeated young Katriz Trinidad.
Live playoffs: She sang “Help Me” by Joni Mitchell. The song landed at 120 on the iTunes singles chart and 52 on the pop chart. She was voted into the finals.
Top 12: She sang Radiohead’s “Creep.” The song landed at number 59 on the iTunes singles chart and number 30 on the pop chart. She was voted into the Top 10.
Top 10: She sang Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing.” The song landed at number 49 on the iTunes overall singles chart and number 23 on the pop chart.
Top 8: She sang Heart’s “These Dreams.” The song hit 39 on the iTunes singles chart and 18 on the site’s pop chart. But DaNica still found herself in the bottom four on results night. She sang “I’d Rather Be Blind” in her quest for the instant save, but it went to Chris Jamison.
Wild Card round: She performed “Without You.” The song landed at number 64 on iTunes, third best among the wild card performances. The wild card spot went to Damien.