Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Emily Randolph chose to join Team Blake Shelton on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

Her background: The Voice website tells us that Emily is still just a sophomore in high school but started performing at a young age with her grandmother’s help. She’s from a small town in Washington State and lives on her family’s farm.

On choosing Blake: “It’s funny, because going into this competition, I always said that I wanted Adam or Cee Lo. And for some reason, when you’re up there and have two people fighting over you, everything that you thought before goes completely out the window … I felt like Blake knew where I wanted to go as an artist. And I know he’s helped a lot of young artists get on their feet.”

What the show didn’t show: She entered and won her first singing competition — South Hill Mall Idol — at age 8, singing and yodeling Leann Rimes’ version of “Cowboy Sweetheart,” according to her Facebook bio. After her blind audition, Blake said he heard country in her voice, but Emily says she’s “kind of ventured away from that. I mean, it’s really cool that he could tell that. You know, that’s where I came from. Now I’m going more kind of towards blues/rock, which still has a big country influence in it.” Emily has also performed in musical theater and appeared on a regional TV competition called “You’ve Got Talent.” Oh, and at the young age of 15, she already has an EP to her credit — a four-track effort called “Here We Go Again” that was recorded in Nashville when she was 13 and released last year.

Quote: “I was always too young to try out for any kind of show like this. So once I was (15), I tried out. I’m really excited to be on this one, because unlike any other show, it really focuses just on your voice and really focuses on helping you improve.”

On iTunes: The full studio version of her audition song, plus that 2012 EP.

Keeping up with Emily: On Twitter — @EmRaldolphMusic — Facebook — YouTube — Website

For profiles of other Season 5 contestants, go here.

Emily Randolph, “Forever With You” from her 2012 EP

Emily Randolph, “Parachute” (an original)