Montezuma-Cortez High School sophomore Hannah Fish will be headed to Hollywood to sing in a blind audition on NBC’s “The Voice.”
Fish, a 16-year-old Cortez native, made it through three rounds of online auditions to earn her invitation to Los Angeles for the blind audition component of the show. The show was set to resume in July, but was temporarily postponed because of the coronavirus.
Fish told The Journal that she had “fallen in love” with the show a while back and saw no reason that she couldn’t try it out herself. She did research on how to get an audition and watched vigilantly over the show’s casting list.
Fish did a total of three virtual auditions, with the last one being on a Zoom call with behind-the-scenes staff from the show. These auditions earned her an invite to the set in Hollywood where she will sing in front of a national television audience.
Most of her singing experience came from performing with school choirs, at church and with her father.
“I’ve pretty much been singing all my life,” Fish said.
Though Fish does like to mix it up, she focuses on country music. She likes performing songs by classic artists like Reba McEntire and Waylon Jennings.
When asked which artists she most resembles, Fish told The Journal that she matches up well with the country music duo Maddie & Tae.
“Their range is just like perfect with my voice, and it’s really easy to match their levels,” Fish said.
During the initial auditions, Fish went a little bit outside of her comfort zone, singing “Arms” by Christina Perri and “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” by Elvis Presley.
Cole McKinney, Fish’s guardian, is looking forward to seeing her on the big stage.
“I think it’s great,” McKinney said. “I’ve never heard her sing on something like this, so I think it’ll be exciting.”
“The Voice” is the No. 1 series on NBC, where previously unknown singers perform for and get coached by famous recording artists. John Legend, Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson and Nick Jonas are judges on the show.
Fish said she is itching for the opportunity to work with Blake Shelton.
During the blind auditions, the decisions from the musician coaches are based solely on voice and not on looks. The coaches hear the artists perform, but they don’t get to see them, thanks to rotating chairs. If a coach is impressed by the artist’s voice, he or she pushes a button to select the artist for his or her team. At this point, the coach’s chair will swivel to face the artist. If more than one coach pushes their button, the power then shifts to the artist to choose which coach they want to work with. If no coach pushes their button, the artist is eliminated from the competition.
While she’s not certain yet, Fish said she’s considering performing “More Hearts Than Mine,” by Ingrid Andress or “Take Me To Church,” by Hozier.
The Journal learned of Fish’s advancement to the blind audition via Montezuma-Cortez High School’s daily announcements newsletter.
Fish follows in the footsteps of Chevel Shepherd of Farmington, who was invited as a high school junior to a blind audition for Season 15 of “The Voice” in 2018. She trained with Clarkson and went on to win $100,000 and a recording contract with Universal Music Group.
Shepherd shares with Fish a love for country music.
“I’m wanting to bring the classic sound and style – I’m wanting to incorporate that in my own version,” Shepherd said. “The Loretta Lynn, Tanya Tucker sound – I love that music and I’m trying to incorporate that within my own style and bring back that classic sound.”
anicotera@the-journal.com
