by Gina Scarpa

 

Teen singer Kayla Nevarez made quite an impression on the coaches when she sang "American Boy" for her blind audition. Three out of four chairs turned around, with Blake Shelton being the only one to pass. Though Kayla grew up a fan of Christina Aguilera's, she ultimately went with Adam Levine as her coach. He declared her the winner of the battle round, where she sang "Wide Awake" against Alessandra Guercio. Now, as she prepares for the next stage of the competition, we talked to her in an exclusive interview about her experience thus far and her strategy to continue making it far on The Voice.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: How did you decide to try out for The Voice?
A. Kayla: I watched a few episodes of the first and second season, but I didn't really watch it religiously. I sat down in the studio and my producer was like, "How do you feel about trying out for The Voice?" That's how it came about.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Tell us more about what you were up to, music wise, before auditioning.

A. Kayla: I was signed and still am to a production deal. I've been doing a lot of songwriting and going to meetings with producers and performers. I signed the production deal when I was, I think 15 but I've been signing since I was 2.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: I loved your choice of "American Boy" for your blind audition. How did you decide on it and did you go into the performance with any expectations?
A. Kayla: I chose it because it was fun and I thought I could do a lot with it and really make it my own. I was definitely hoping for a four chair turnaround. I thought that would be cool but I was hoping for one just so I could be on the show.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What did Adam do that made you decide to go with him? It seemed like you might go with Christina, especially since you were complimenting her so much.
A. Kayla: I definitely had to go out there and if more than one chair turned around, I had to keep an open mind. I respect everything Christina said but I kinda had to think like, I grew up listening to her and I love her voice but as I grew up, I realized the artist that I wanted to be more like or the artistry is a lot more like Adam Levine. His music style is more like mine.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What kind of music do you like and want to make? Who do you listen to?
A. Kayla: Definitely urban pop I would say for writing and singing. I definitely love Jessie J. I've always listened to Christina, Maroon 5, Adele and Beyonce.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: How were you feeling during the battle round?
A. Kayla: It was pretty stressful, just because we had to go on stage and not only do you have to battle someone, you also have to make yourself stand out. It was definitely a new experience for me.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Did you like Adam's choice of "Wide Awake" for you and Alessandra?
A. Kayla: I mean, it's definitely a pop song and it's not really a song that I would've picked for myself. But I mean I'm really glad I had the chance to sing it.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: It seemed kind of strange that Adam told you to stay humble after you told him, "Let's win this," during the blind auditions. Did you see where he was coming from?
A. Kayla: I mean, we did talk about that. He was just saying that it's good to be confident but never come off as too confident because you wanna be humble. I kind of took that in.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What's going to be your strategy going forward?
A. Kayla: I'm definitely willing to make risky moves but I also want to stay in my genre of the music that I want to do. It shows that I am consistent.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Are there other singers in the competition that you are a fan of?
A. Kayla: Yes! Trevin on Cee-Lo's team and definitely Melanie Martinez on Adam's team with me.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Anything you want to say to your fans and how can they stay in touch with you?
A. Kayla: I have a Twitter and it's @kaylanevarez07. To my fans, I want to say thank you so much for all the support and it really means a lot.

 

The Voice airs Mondays and Tuesdays on NBC.

 

(Image courtesy of NBC)

 

Follow Gina @ginascarpa