Selkii has made it to the live Top 24 round of the competition, and South Africa could not be prouder!
The United States of America – South Africa’s favourite Voice USA contestant has made it through the “Live Cross Battles” and will be featured next in the “Top 24” round of the competition.
Selkii is an indie folk musician originally from Durban but is now based in Florida. The talented artist is a Live-Looping-Singer-Guitarist, and her love for adventure and the ocean come through in her narrative and thoughtful lyrics. Her hypnotic voice has a reputation for stopping people cold in their tracks.
The 31-year-old first took to The Voice stage in the “blind auditions” phase singing Macy Gray’s hit ‘I Try’. She immediately caught the attention of Adam Levine, followed by Blake Shelton who she eventually picked.
The talented singer moved on to the next round of the competition and performed a cover of Avril Lavigne’s “Head Above Water” against 16-year-old Cecily Hennigan during the “battle round”. Blake chose her again, eliminating Cecily and sending Selkii to the new “Live Cross Battle” show.
The new Live Cross Battles round begins with 32 artists remaining in the competition. Over two weeks, eight pairs of artists perform each Monday. Coaches then select artists from their team to compete against artists from another team. On the Tuesday results shows, the winner of each Cross Battle is revealed, for a total of 16 artists advancing to the next round based on America’s votes.
Additionally, the coaches will have one save, and one steal to use throughout the Cross Battles, so a total of 24 artists advance to the next round of competition.
During Selkii’s round, Adam Levine picked Mari as his artist and Shelton as his warring coach. Shelton picked Selkii for the battle. Mari got things started with a performance of “My My My” by Troye Sivan, showcasing a smooth pop sound. She made the song her own and belted out some powerful notes. Selkii followed with “Torn” by Natalie Imbruglia, putting her own twists on it and excelling at ad-libs. John Legend thought Mari had the edge due to her style and confidence.
Watch her performance below:
The results on who stayed on the singing competition were announced during Tuesday’s show.
Voters saved Team Levine’s Mari over Team Shelton’s Selkii, but Shelton had the final say, using his save.
“The only chance that I have of keeping my team together is to use this save right now,” Shelton told Selkii. “I believe in every single one of y’all. If I got this card to play then, you’re coming with us.”
Back home her family and South African fans keep rooting for her!
“Her performance yesterday wasn’t her best, and we were stressed… Blake saved her. Apparently, it was his song choice, and she wasn’t comfortable with it. So happy she’s going to get another chance to showcase her talent,” her brother Matt Raven explained.
The other sixteen singers will battle it out during the next Cross Battles on April 22 and Selkii will be back on the 29 April for the “Live Tope 24 performance”!
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