Ali Caldwell: Working with Miley Cyrus on 'The Voice' was beyond everything I hoped -- times infinity!

Ali Caldwell was eliminated from The Voice along with three other artists during Tuesday night's live results show on NBC.


Ali, a 28-year-old from Woodbridge, NJ who currently resides in New York, NY, did not automatically advance to next week's finale as one of the Top 3 vote-getters with Billy Gilman, Sundance Head and We McDonald, but she was afforded the chance to sing for the "Instant Save" along with Christian Cuevas and Josh Gallagher.

In the end, America decided to save Josh in what many viewers would call a shocking result since Ali and Christian were both powerhouse vocalists. They were therefore ousted with Brendan Fletcher and Aaron Gibson, the two artists who had received the fewest number of votes following Monday night's performance show.

During a Wednesday conference call, Ali -- who was also dubbed a frontrunner since the start of Season 11 -- talked to reporters about her experience on The Voice. Below is what she had to say.

What did you think your chances were of staying or going during the time of the "Instant Save" performances?


Ali Caldwell: I had no idea honestly; I was just going with the flow of with whatever was happening. You really don't know because everybody's so talented, so I really didn't know what was going to happen. I really didn't expect to be in the bottom three, so you don't know which way it's going to go.

Can you name one specific thing you learned on The Voice that you're going to apply in your future music career?

Ali Caldwell: I would have to say what I've learned from my vocal coach -- just certain ways on how to work my voice, and the proper way to sing, and the proper way to use your instrument as well as professionalism and really branding yourself and your artistry and making sure that, you know, the world knows that you are a brand and you are an artist.

I feel like being on the show has molded me more into who I am and it's pretty awesome. I'm very happy with the outcome. I'm very happy with everything.

Could talk a little bit about what it was like to work with Miley Cyrus and why you chose her in the first place?


Ali Caldwell: Well, I chose her in the first place because I'm one who goes off of my gut feeling and -- not only did I do that -- but I'm also a fan of hers. And it was kind of like, I felt like it would be the most amazing thing to combine our worlds together, our music knowledge together.

And exactly what I hoped would happen has happened -- times infinity. Like, it's beyond what I thought it would be, and I'm just super grateful that, you know, I still remained on her team and she believed in me.

Not once have I ever been in the situation where I had to get stolen or, you know, I was never in the bottom two or anything. And I think it's all because of the chemistry and the bond that was created and the belief in each other and the trust that we had in each other. And it's amazing.

I wouldn't trade this experience for the world, and the beautiful thing about it is it's beyond the show. You know, the bond and the relationship will still be there no matter what, and I think that's very, very special.

Tell me more about your song choice of "I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton on Monday night. It was the second Dolly song you sang, but it was interesting because you blended Dolly with Whitney Houston into the arrangement. How did you come up with that?


Ali Caldwell: Absolutely, it was so cool and unique how we came up with this idea. And that's what made it so exciting for me, because I am a really huge fan of Whitney Houston, and I grew up listening to her voice.

She was the very first voice that I heard where I was like -- all I saw were fireworks in my eyes. So, you know, it's really because of her that I'm even singing. And then you have Dolly Parton, who is the mastermind behind even writing "I Will Always Love You" as well as a whole [bunch of] other beautiful hits.

And being that she's Miley's godmother, it was just so cool to even think about the idea to combine them both. And also, that was a challenge for me to be able to do that. It came with a whole bunch of sleepless nights and driving myself crazy.

Because, you know, it may sound easy, but it wasn't easy at all. I just had to find different areas to, you know, put Dolly in and then put Whitney in and but yet bring Ali Caldwell out. And I think, you know, that's what happened on that stage and I'm very happy about it.

What was more difficult for you out of these three options: Choosing a song, making a song your own, or results night?


Ali Caldwell: I would have to say song choice, because what I wanted to do was not be in the box of just being an R&B singer, because when I do my shows back at home I touch on all genres of music.

But for some reason, R&B was kind of like just slammed next to my name, so the most difficult part for me was just trying to break out of that -- break that mold and doing that was a little bit difficult. But also, it was fun because I got the chance to show the world, you know, that I'm influenced by all different kinds of music and not just one kind of music.

To read more from Ali Caldwell's post-The Voice interview, click here.








About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski