Maharasyi Hansa is a contestant on The Voice's thirteenth season this fall on NBC.
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Maharasyi, a 27-year-old from Los Angeles, CA, thought she had her mind made up. When walking into her Blind Audition, she was more than convinced she'd pick Miley Cyrus as her coach, if possible, instead of Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, or Jennifer Hudson.
"I'm a huge Miley Cyrus fan. I was really sure I wanted her," the Indonesian beauty told reporters during a conference call after her The Voice audition aired on television.
But after singing a soulful rendition of "Tell Me Something Good," Maharasyi opted to become a member of Jennifer's team.
"Just the time and the passion that Jennifer invested in those few minutes just meant so much," she explained.
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"I've always looked up to big voices, confident, powerful performers, and Jennifer kind of put herself out there for me, kind of immediately recognizing my voice and where I was trying to go as a vocalist and a performer. And just her own presence kind of won me over."
Jennifer challenged the artist to hit a higher note than what she had initially performed in the song, and while the endeavor was a little frightening, Maharasyi rose to the occasion and seemed to appreciate the push.
"When she wanted me -- when she told me to sing the line again, it just made me feel that she's someone that truly would help me out, especially because she's a soulful singer and I'm a soulful singer. I just felt she really knew how to direct me," Maharasyi said.
Maharasyi also revealed what led her to audition for The Voice this year to begin with.
"I've been singing all my life. I grew up singing at church and I started singing at weddings. I had my career out in Indonesia, and I just felt The Voice is kind of the greatest platform you could step onto as far as a singing TV show competition," she told reporters.
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"And it's been a long journey and I just felt this was the time for me to put myself out there and clearly give my all, and that's what I did."
Maharasyi's career in the Indonesian music industry started around 2011.
"I went out there for a record label who was looking for a female singer who sang in English and Indonesian. So I came out there; I thought it was perfect. I was 21-years-old. Long story short, it ended up just not working out for me," Maharasyi shared.
"We recorded a couple songs and it landed for a couple movies, which led me into acting [and] a lot of great things. [I] did TV shows, TV series, dramas, movies -- but the singing career out there for me, just after living out there for two years, I kind of felt I needed to come back to the States and pursue my career out here."
And now it's time for Maharasyi to shine. She'll be advancing to The Voice's famous "The Battle Round" once the show's initial auditions conclude.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski