Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Her audition: Jamella, 21, of Mission Viejo, Calif., performed “Dive” by Ed Sheeran. Kelly Clarkson and Blake Shelton turned during a blind audition that was montaged, meaning we saw only a few seconds of it. Jamella joined Team Kelly.

Her background: Jamella says she was raised by a single mom who was a dancer and recorded music. “I pretty much grew up into it,” Jamella says of her love for entertaining. Her mom moved a lot for jobs before they settled in California, mostly so Jamella could pursue her own music. Now Jamella says her goal is to make her mom proud.

What the show didn’t show:

* Her full name is Jamella Marie Perkins and the fact that she was raised in inner city Chicago by a single mother taught her “the true meaning of determination, leadership, and perseverance through struggle,” according to her Facebook bio.

* She started performing at age 5 and has participated in lots of music competitions over the years.

* Her mother was a Jennifer Lopez impersonator and Jamella lived with her in Las Vegas at one point.

* A year ago at this time, Jamella was competing in the open mic competition at Mozambique in Laguna Beach, Calif. She won!

* In 2006, she became the youngest singer to perform the national anthem at an NBC playoff game, performing the honor prior to a Sacramento Kings contest. She would have been about 10 at the time.

* In an interview at age 17 on her ReverbNation page, she declines to pigeonhole herself into a genre, saying to hopes to create “universal music that makes people feel good.” Below, you can check out Jamella covering Chris Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey.”

* At one point, she recorded a duet of “Take Me Away” with Timbaland, describing the experience as “mind-blowing.” According to her Voice bio, she was signed to a development deal with Timbaland’s manager at one point and recorded music, but none of it was released before the deal ended.

* During that same interview she reveals that she sings in French and Spanish as well as English.

* Among her musical influences, she lists Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding and John Legend.

* According to her Voice bio, while working toward a career in music, Jamella has been working as a mortgage loan processor and as a part-time princess impersonator at parties.

On picking Team Kelly: “Kelly has been on a show very similar to something like this, so I wanted someone who had personal experience doing the same thing and could really coach me and help me perfect my craft while being on the show.”

On social media:
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Twitter: @JmpSings
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