Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Kaylee Shimizu from The Voice Season 24

The Voice kicked off Season 24 Monday with a coaching quartet of Reba McEntire, Gwen Stefani, John Legend and Niall Horan.

Here’s more about Kaylee.

* She’s a 17-year-old singer from Oahu, Hawaii, who certainly doesn’t shy away from tackling big songs.

* In fact, she went viral last December singing Mariah Carey whistle notes on a cover of “Emotions.”

* Why did she try that? Because she was preparing for her first time behind the wheel with her driving instructor and was nervous about the session. “Usually singing helps calm my nerves,” she says in the video.

* She’s unlikely to be nervous about appearing on TV. At age 11, she joined the KITV meteorologist back home. He happened to be an American Idol contestant at the time. They sang the weather forecast together on air to the tune of “My Girl.”

* Speaking of Idol, Kaylee auditioned for that show last year and made it to the Hollywood round. A fellow Hawaiian, Iam Tongi, wound up winning the show.

* Kaylee has been singing since she was 4, saying she was inspired by the musical ability of her mother’s family.

* She started taking singing lessons at age 6 and had her first public performance at a local mall later that year, singing Miley Cyrus’ “When I Look At You.”

* She’s racked up lots of accomplishments since, including winning a statewide singing competition at age 10 and being named Miss Teen Ewa Beach American Scholar in 2022.

* Kaylee graduated from Hawaii Technology Academy this spring and, in an interview with Hawaii News Now says she can see herself relocating to L.A. at some point in the future because of all the opportunities there.

* Expect a diva number when her audition airs. Her social media is filled with covers of songs by Adele, Whitney Houston, Beyonce, Christina Aguilera and, of course, Mariah.

* And Kaylee has developed a substantial social media following with more than 3,000 followers and more than 130,000 likes on her TikTok.

Kaylee on social media:
Instagram
TikTok
Facebook
YouTube

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A post shared by Kaylee Shimizu ꨄ︎ (@kayleeshimizu_)