Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Blind audition: Khaliya Kimberlie, 16, of Mescalero, N.M., auditioned with “Dibs” by Kelsea Ballerini. Her performance prompted chair turns from Miley Cyrus and Blake Shelton at the midway mark. At Blake’s prompting, Khaliya said she loves singing country music, but would like to give it an indie / alternative twist. Miley said Khaliya’s too young to be boxed into a genre and vowed to put in extra work with all her artists. Khaliya chose Team Miley.

Her background: She lives on the Mescalero Apache reservation in New Mexico and says she’s half Native American. She says she thinks it’s amazing “out here” with all the wide open spaces, but the reservation doesn’t offer many places to perform, so her parents take her outside the reservation for those opportunities. She’s also gay and said she appreciates how accepting her parents have been when it comes to her sexuality.

What the show didn’t show:
* Khaliya says she got interested in music in the fifth-grade singing — guess what? — a Miley Cyrus song at a school talent show. The song was “Hoedown Throwdown” from the Hannah Montana movie.
* She says she started taking music more seriously after that, auditioning for the all-state choir in sixth grade and making the cut.
* Those trips outside the reservation include singing at local pubs and restaurants and at benefits raising awareness and funds for battered women and children. Khaliya says she also sings at weddings of family and friends.
* She previously auditioned for The X Factor, came in second place in an Alamogordo Idol competition in 2013 and, last year, was named karaoke champion at the New Mexico State Fair.
* Prior to The Voice, she says her biggest performance was opening for the country band Gloriana at a Cinco de Mayo festival in Rockwell, N.M., called Party on the River. She was 13 at the time.
* At this point, Khaliya says she performs mostly covers, but is working on writing music and, of course, hopes to one day record an album of her originals.
* Khaliya says she thought “Dibs” was a perfect blind audition song for her because “it showed that I am fun and young. It represents the kind of artist that I want to be. Plus Kelsea Ballerini is awesome!”
* On auditioning for The Voice at such a young age and going up against more seasoned performers — “I am a true believer that there is no better time than the present,” Khaliya says. “I wanted to prove myself as an artist. So going up against more experienced musicians was definitely nerve wrecking. But I want to show everybody that no matter the lack of experience, or my age, that I can stand toe-to-toe with some of the best and hold my own. It is amazing to be around this group of extremely talented musicians and they don’t look at me as a 16 year old; they looked at me with respect as an artist.”
* And on picking Miley as her coach — “She was saying the right things. Like how she understands how I want to put my own twist on country music. And she has made music, from country to pop. So I really think she can help me find my sound. Plus she knows what it’s like to be young girl in the industry, and I hope to learn from her experience.”

Keeping up with Khaliya:
Twitter: @therealkhaliyak
Facebook
YouTube

Singing “Girl Crush”