Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Her audition: Ddendyl, 25, of Washington, D.C., sang “Stand By Me” for her blind audition on The Voice. Her unique tone was immediately apparent. It enticed Shakira to turn her chair early in the performance. Despite a solid performance from Ddendyl, Shakira wound up being the only coach to turn around. Shakira complimented her on having a “very different” sound.

Her background: Ddendyl grew up in a very small town of Castle, New York. In one of the more adorable scenes during the blind auditions, she and her father debate by how much the cows outnumbered people where she grew up. Suffice to say, by a lot. Her dad plays lots of instruments, including the bagpipes. When Ddendyl was 5, her dad realized she had singing talent. By age 8, she was taking operatic singing lessons. She has now moved toward more blues, jazz and folk music and is a lounge singer five to six days a week in Washington, D.C. “It’s great that I get to play music for a living. I’m very blessed for that,” she told The Voice. “But it’s not what I want to do forever. When you’re a lounge singer, you only sing for a few people at a time. They say you’re great. Then they leave and forget who you are.”

On having Shakira as a coach: “I thought my voice would be more suited to Adam’s taste, so I kind of went in thinking if anyone turned around it would be Adam. He didn’t turn around. But Shakira was the one who recognized the uniqueness of my voice. I’m really excited. Shakira’s a producer and an international superstar. You’re always looking for development as an artist. There’s no finished to singing. I’m just really looking forward to her input.”

What the show didn’t show: Her father, Larry Hoyt, was executive director of the Arts Council in Wyoming County, New York; her mother, Jacqueline, holds that position now. So Ddendyl grew up around the arts. She learned to play piano and violin by age 10, then was selected for the internationally-acclaimed Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan where she studied opera at 15. According to her Facebook bio, she attended college in Miami and explored acting and modeling in Los Angeles. She also signed a record deal that took her to New York, but told The Daily News she and the label parted ways after a year and a half “because it wasn’t a good fit.” That might explain the rap single “Bite You” that’s available on iTunes. These days Ddendyl describes her music this way: “I’m more of a folk, blues, soul singer. And I’m very Norah Jones-ey. I would like to have (Shakira) develop me into a wider range singer.” During a conference call with the media, Ddendyl said her audition song “is very near and dear to my heart. It’s a song that my mom taught me. We used to sing it in the car a lot.”

On iTunes: Her audition song, plus that “Bite You” single from 2010. For a better sample of her music, head to ReverbNation. And be sure to check out a wonderfully, sultry number called “Under the Covers”

Update: She defeated Lindsay Pagano in the first battle round; they sang “I Feel the Earth Move.” She was eliminated in a round two battle with Deja Hall; they sang “Say Something.”

Keeping up with Ddendyl:
Twitter: @ddendyl
Facebook
YouTube

Editor’s Note: For links to profiles of all the Season 6 artists on The Voice, go here.

“Let Her Go”

“At Last”

“Your Song”