Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Her audition: Kennedy Holmes, 13, of St. Louis, Missouri, auditioned with Adele’s “Turning Tables.” Adam Levine turned about two lines into the song. By the time Kennedy completed the chorus, she had a four-chair turn, the first of Season 15. Jennifer called her “amazing” and took the stage to sing a bit of “I am Changing” with Kennedy. Kennedy decided to join Team Jennifer.

Her background: Kennedy says she started dancing when she was 10. She did all types of dance and says it helped her get comfortable with being on stage. Her first musical performance was a cover of Jennifer’s “I am Changing,” her mother recalls. Kennedy also enjoys playing volleyball and running track. Voice host Carson Daly referred to her as the youngest singer in this year’s competition.

On picking Jennifer: Because her first performance ever was a Jennifer Hudson song, Kennedy said she was leaning that way when she auditioned. Watching video of Jennifer coaching during Season 13 reinforced her decision because of the good advice she provided and the way she took contestants “under her wing,” Kennedy said in a conference call with the media. “I was like, ‘That’s what I want in a coach.’ I want to know that my coach believes in me, no matter what, and I want to know that, maybe — even if I don’t go as far as I probably would have liked (on the show) — that Jennifer will still be there and she’ll still try to help me be successful in my career.”

What the show didn’t show:

* She’s from Florissant, a suburb of St. Louis and turned 13 in December, judging from a video on her YouTube channel.

* She made her professional debut at age 10 as Little Inez in a production of “Hairspray” at The Muny, an outdoor theater, in St. Louis. She’s participated in a number of other performances at that venue as well.

* At the time, Kennedy said auditioning for her first performance was her mother’s idea, but added that it didn’t take much to convince her to try out. “My mother says that when I started to talk, I started to sing,” Kennedy told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

* Her YouTube channel has video to back up that statement, with performances of Kennedy singing starting at age 7. By age 9, she was tackling “Halo.”

* She’s had other noteworthy performances. For instance, last summer she performed the national anthem before a St. Louis Cardinals game.

* On trying out for The Voice at such a young age, she said: “Why not? It could jump start my career at a young age. I can learn from all the adults in the competition because they are all amazing.

* She says she once considered dancing as a career, but at this point prefers singing. But she notes that the dancing comes in handy as a performer. “It’s very useful when it comes to your singing career because you can always use it when you’re singing and dancing on stage. But dancing, I keep it in my back pocket because, you know, it’s a little advantage.

Kennedy’s social media links:
Instagram
Twitter: @imkennedyholmes
Facebook
YouTube