A new voice from MESCALERO
NM teen goes from singing in her bedroom to performing on ‘The Voice’
A16-year-old Mescalero girl, Khaliya Kimberlie, has made the jump from singing in her bedroom to singing on national television, winning approval from judges Blake Shelton and Miley Cyrus on NBC’s “The Voice.”
Kimberlie, who in addition to her musical talents is learning to speak Apache from tribal elders on the Mescalero reservation in south-central New Mexico, had her big chance on night four of the current season of the popular show.
She showed off her country roots by performing “Dibs” by Kelsea Ballerini in front of the four-judge panel. Both Shelton and Cyrus pushed their buttons, and Kimberlie made the show.
“Going from singing in my bedroom, this is my big chance,” Kimberlie said on the show.
Kimberlie heard heated, yet playful, pleas from both judges.
Cyrus praised Kimberlie on her low notes and said she could see the direction the young singer wants to go.
Meanwhile, Shelton, who is known to snag all the country artists, told Kimberlie that he wanted to introduce her to the Nashville music scene.
In the end, she said, “I pick Miley.”
“I’m excited, I’m real excited. I went on the stage expecting to pick Blake,” she said. “Then Miley she just kept saying all the right things and that’s what made me choose her.”
During the episode, “The Voice” visited Kimberlie and her family in Mescalero to tell her story of struggling to find places to play on the reservation and how her parents drive her off the reservation to her shows.
Kimberlie is still learning Apache from her elders, and in the segment she told her story about being gay.
“My parents have been supportive of my music and my sexuality,” she said.