The playoff rounds for The Voice begin TONIGHT (May 1st) at 8 PM ET/PT on NBC, and Kala Banham is ready for a fresh start on Team Chance.
To catch you up to speed, Kala’s phenomenal vocals got Niall Horan, Kelly Clarkson AND Chance The Rapper to turn their chairs at her viral blind audition, but her journey has been anything but ordinary since then.
Her one-of-a-kind rendition of “Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell was SO incredible, it caused first-time judge Niall Horan used his one and only block to knock Kelly Clarkson out of the running.
After lots of debate, the powerhouse chose to be a part of Team Niall over Team Chance, however, she did not stay there for long.
Kala shared with Celeb Secrets reporter Melanie Rooten in an exclusive interview, “[Kelly] did tell me that she would steal me if she had the chance, and then she did — I ended up losing my battle, which meant that Kelly was able to use her steal on me, so then I swapped from Team Niall to Team Kelly.”
Shortly after, “[Kala] actually ended up losing [her] knockout and then got stolen to Team Chance,” and now she is ready to take the playoff rounds by storm!
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Having been a part of three different teams throughout her journey on The Voice, Kala has first-hand experience working alongside three HUGE names within the music industry, which has ultimately served as a benefit to her.
“They’re all so amazing in their own ways,” Kala dished, going on to share things she loves about Niall, Kelly AND Chance.
“Niall is a heavily involved coach. I mean, we had quite a bit of a break between blind auditions and the battles, and throughout that time he was so communicative with us,” she detailed. “He was sending us emails. He arranged Zoom calls with us. He really just wanted to make sure that he went out of his way to make sure that he was giving you as much advice as possible, which was really, really nice.”
The former One Direction member even helped the talented singer-songwriter with “original music [that] is most certainly in the works,” and we are SO excited to hear it for ourselves.
“One of the songs most certainly would not have come to be without the help of Mr. Niall Horan, who I reached out to when I was dealing with some writer’s block, so he has heard one of the songs that I’m planning on releasing,” Kala teased.
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Kala then moved on to spill the tea about her experience working with Kelly Clarkson, ultimately sharing, “Kelly is obviously just one of the most amazing vocalists of all time, and I think really resonates with me from like a technical standpoint.”
“Hearing what she had to say for my knockout round was so incredible. Like hearing the way that she would tackle the song if she was one singing it was like a once in a lifetime type of experience, so that was amazing,” she continued.
In our previous interview from earlier in the season, Banham revealed, “What I was really looking forward to about this show specifically is that you work with these people who have that technical training, who know exactly what they’re talking about, and for that reason specifically, I thought that Kelly would’ve been a great coach for me.”
We are so happy that she got the chance to work with one of her idols, regardless of how short-lived it may have been!
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Chance The Rapper is night and day different from the two previous coaches the Florida native has worked with throughout Season 23, but she says that they “get along great.”
“Chance is just such a chill guy. He is just so down to earth, and he has an amazing talent of making you feel like you’re not surrounded by tons of producers and a camera crew and lighting and everything,” she spilled.
The fact that Chance The Rapper turned his chair for Kala on day one “was a huge reason why [she] wanted to go with him,” even though Blake Shelton also tried to use his steal after Kala lost her knockout round.
“I could tell that ever since day one, he has believed in me, so I connect with him on a great level and he’s someone that I’ve looked up to for a long time — I’m really, really excited that I had the opportunity to work with him,” Banham revealed.
Being a part of three different teams throughout Season 23, Kala Banham “definitely [has] something to prove” when the playoff rounds begin tonight.
“Now, considering this isn’t my second team, this is my third team, I really wanna show Chance that he made a good decision in using his steal on me, and I really wanna showcase some other sides of my musicality,” the talented vocalist teased.
“I’m hoping that people at home resonate with that as well,” she continued passionately.
We can’t wait to see the budding songstress slay the playoff rounds as a part of Team Chance, but until then, be sure to check out our exclusive interview below.
Afterwards, don’t forget to let us know your thoughts on rising superstar by either leaving a reaction at the bottom of the post, or by sending us a tweet at @celebsecrets.
