The Voice eliminated five incredible artists during Tuesday night's live results show on NBC, and they all took the time to discuss their experiences on the show and leaving the competition right as the finale approaches.

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Jordan Smith, Barrett Baber, Emily Ann Roberts and Jeffery Austin are still in the running for the Season 9 title.

Madi Davis, Braiden Sunshine, Zach Seabaugh, Amy Vachal and Shelby Brown all shared their feelings about the show in a media call this week. Madi was on Pharrell Williams' team, Braiden was on Gwen Stefani's team, Zach was on Blake Shelton's team, and Amy and Shelby were members of "Team Adam Levine."

Below is the concluding portion of their press call with reporters. Click here and here to read more.

Amy, to what do you attribute your great passion for music and having a career in music? What was it about the process would you say that made you maybe even more passionate about a career in music than you were before you auditioned?

Amy Vachal: Well you know, that's a really good question. I came into this thing, you know, on a risk. Before this, I had been playing in small bars and coffee shops for almost five years, just writing songs for the sake of wanting to share them. And the focus was all on the words I was writing and, you know, how to convey them. I didn't really give much thought to the performance aspect of it.

And this show, you know, after just saying, "Why not just see what happens?" I never could've guessed how much I would've grown as an artist and how much that has, you know, just well, I mean gosh, there's so much I now think about when it comes to writing a song and about recording now, you know?

I think I've learned that you can create music with your body and with a set, and as a visual person, that's really expanded my artistry. And so, there's that. But then the other side, when you say "passion" actually, I really do attribute a lot of that from working with a coach like Adam. He actually is one of the most passionate artists I've ever been blessed to work with.

Seeing how he has been just so adamant about pushing for certain songs and pushing for how they should be arranged, etc, I just found that having an effect on how I started to feel about the last two songs that I played on the show. And so -- yes, I'm sorry, I'm babbling.

But, yes, I just find myself with so much more passion than I had coming into this and I'm really amazed by that. But I think it's just because I've just been stretched so much as an artist through this process.

How do the coaches sort of prepare you or what sort of conversations do you have with them in regards to taking advantage of the moment, of the opportunity, of the popularity? What type of advice did they give you?

Amy Vachal: I hope to have more conversations. You know, we're sticking around for another week, and luckily we'll get to see everyone a little bit longer. But, you know, the few interactions we've had about the potential outcome of the show ending maybe earlier than we want, it's always been just a reminder of what an amazing platform this is.

And I think honestly, kind of running through with my family just the extreme platform that this has been. I haven't really thought it through every single week. I don't think we really focus on the fact that there's something like 15 million people that watch us every single week and that's huge?

I think we're really set up to, you know, just take off from here and it really is reliant on how much we use the work ethic that has been instilled in us over these past several months -- which is I think the biggest gift in this industry, because nothing truly great comes easy.

I know that it's going to take, for all of us, a tremendous amount of work. I'd say even more than we've put in through this show. But I'm so encouraged now and that's definitely been supported by our coaches and by the producers. They're just reminding us that, you know, if we use what's been given on this show, it's going to be really hard for us not to succeed.

Amy and Shelby, did Adam talk to both of you or individually after Tuesday night's elimination? Did you get a moment with him?

Amy Vachal: We got a very quick moment with him but then we were quickly rushed offstage. Yes, he said that we'll talk later. But for the brief moment that we did talk with him, he was just saying how proud he was of us and, you know, just encouraging us that he knew that this wasn't the end for us at all.

Realizing The Voice is a show, a competition with a certain amount of strategy involved, did you ever think you had to change up your song choices to try to appeal to the larger audience so you could ultimately win -- even if it meant compromising your own personal artistry at times? How do you feel about the fact song choice can rank you, knowing for instance country music might be America's choice or you need to compete with Jordan Smith, who's choosing massive hits.

Madi Davis: I think for me...

Zach Seabaugh: Well I think for me...

Madi Davis: We all have a lot to say about that question. (Laughs)

Amy Vachal: Yes. I'm going to let Madi start this and I have a feeling that [mine] is going to be a similar answer.

Braiden Sunshine: It's going to be awesome. I really want to hear this.

Madi Davis: That's, you know, something that we all struggle with throughout this entire process. There is a certain, you know, pull to do what the people like to win. But at the end of the day, my goal was never to win. My goal was just to make it as far as I could doing what I love and doing the music that I wanted to do.

There were a couple times, especially in this last round, where I was like, "Well maybe just this once I could sing a song that I hate to make America happy." But at the end of the day, that's not who I am and that's not the kind of artist that I want to be. And I think the rest of us will kind of say the same thing, because I know Shelby in particular sang her favorite song, and I sang my favorite song.

Shelby Brown: I'm excited for my answer.

Madi Davis: Go ahead, Shelby.

Shelby Brown: No go ahead. I'm sorry. I'm just like excited to talk about it.

Madi Davis: So I think all that you could do in this instance is change the kind of artist that you want to be or become a country artist so that you can win. What you should do is be the person that you are and be the artist that you are and sing the songs that you want to sing, because that is what will make you happy and that's what will make you proud of yourself when you get eliminated. Shelby's turn.

Shelby Brown: Yes, and I just want to tag off of what Madi's saying. And I just want to say, like, I personally don't regret any move I made on the show, and I hope to God no one does. But my thing is, is -- this is kind of tagging off of what Madi said -- if you go out and sing something that your heart's not in, then people are going to see that.

And you know, you don't want to go out and just conform to what people want to hear to get votes. When you have a platform like this, you want to show who you want to be as an artist, because if you're doing things that you wouldn't do, when you finish the show and if you're doing stuff that isn't similar to what you would want to release on an album, you're not representing yourself correctly.

So when you leave the show, you may have all this success doing things that you didn't like, but when you go to release something that you do like, and it's what you didn't do on the show, it's going to be a completely different slap in the face to people, because it's not truly representing yourself.

So I personally feel like I represented myself how I wanted to as an artist. And, you know, I sang songs that were from my heart and I sang songs that I love. And the people that connected with that, connected with that. And you know, you can't make everybody happy, but I feel if you're making yourself happy, at the end of the day, you're successful. And I'm just going to leave it at that.

Braiden Sunshine: Can I jump in on that? All right. So I mean, song choice is extremely important, but at no point in the competition did I think I should sing this song for votes. I mean, they told me straight out when I wanted to do "Renegade" that rock songs don't chart.

And I'm like, "Alright. I know. I still really want to do this song, though because I feel I've been exploring what I want to do, like genre-wise throughout this entire process." Since I'm the youngest one, I haven't really had like a super clear idea of what I wanted to do. I knew the basic idea, but I wasn't super clear on it. So I was exploring a little bit.

And they've told me straight out that certain songs aren't going to do as well, and I've still decided I really want to try this and see how people react to it. And, I mean, I've had ups and downs, but I think through that process, I've found what I want to do.

But I don't think at any point I've ever decided to do something specifically for votes. That just wouldn't sit right with me. I wouldn't be as proud of that performance if I knew that I had only done it for votes, because that's not what it's about.

Amy, what was your proudest moment on the show?

Amy Vachal: You know, gosh, it was so good to hear about the Blinds, just to be reminded of the "Blind Auditions" because it seems like it was so long ago. But honestly, I'd have to agree with Zach and Braiden's just recollection of the Blinds. That moment was really the first time we stepped onto that stage, and it took an extreme amount of courage from all of us to make that first step.

And you know, every subsequent time we would be on that stage came after that one. So if I had to pick out my proudest moment, it would have to be that five minutes before walking through those silently opening doors that led to the stage and when everything in you could very well have fallen apart.

You know, all of us, we got up there and we just gave it our all without any of the tools that we gained through this experience. We just did that on our own. And I'm so proud of all of us for especially that first time.

Did each of you do something special with your teams or with the nine of you prior to Tuesday night's elimination because so many more people were going home this week?

Amy Vachal: Man, you know, I think a lot of people don't realize how much work we put into each day. There isn't really much down time to really, you know, have these get-togethers.

We had a very special time during Thanksgiving, and that's when we finally all could have a meal together and go to a movie together. But our schedules are so crazy, that, you know it's often hard to find time to really, you know, hone in on that. But the good thing is that we're not gone. We're still here.

And so I think, you know, we still have time to go out and to celebrate together. And the finale is one week away so the Top 24 I think are flying in this week, and we'll all have time to celebrate together. I think we're all really excited about the finale and everyone who's in it. And we get to be a part of that, so yes, I think that will be our celebration.

Braiden Sunshine: We also may or may not have sang happy birthday [to Amy] and ate macaroons before the show.

Have any of you discussed possible duets with each other, collaborating with each other?

Braiden Sunshine: That one's a definite yes. I've definitely gotten some contact information together on people to collaborate with. We've gotten ahold of [Viktor Kiraly] and I was hoping to get ahold of some of the people on this call, but I don't know.

We haven't talked about it yet, because I mean, we've only been off the show for like less than 24 hours. So we haven't gotten that long to talk outside of the show. But we've definitely gotten some ideas together.

Madi Davis: I mean, yesterday me and Amy were just talking about -- not yesterday, a couple days ago, Saturday we were talking about maybe doing a song together or just like as a duet for fun. And I know me and [Darius Scott], a contestant from "The Live Playoffs." You know, he and I have become very good friends and we talk.

He's a producer and he talks about how he wants to produce my album every time we talk, you know, and I think that's probably going to happen. We all just -- we're all musicians and we all love music, so it's impossible for us not to want to do it together -- especially in this environment.

Zach, last night, Blake told you that you have a lot of star potential and he kind of made it clear that this is not the end of your friendship. So what does that mean for you? Will we get to see you two working with each other?

Zach Seabaugh: Yes, it means a lot to me to have Blake say that, especially on live TV. But I definitely think that of all the contestants that have been on this show in past seasons, I know that Blake is really good about sticking with some of his closest team members. And I really hope that he holds me to that.

And I'm sure he has a lot of things in store for me as well as the other people on my team. We've got to get through this show for right now, and then whatever happens in the future happens. And I'm just hoping for the best and that it all works out.

Describe your experience in one word.

Madi Davis: I'll give one. Mine would be life-changing -- with a hyphen still is one word.

Zach Seabaugh: My one word would be memorable.

Braiden Sunshine: Does eye-opening count?... The whole thing is so amazing. It's hard to, you know, sum it up in one word. We can have like a couple words. That would work.

Amy Vachal: I feel like we've been lucid dreaming, like this has been one big dream and I feel like we've just been somehow participating in it. So lucid dreaming.

Braiden Sunshine: Well we're not done yet. We got the finale left.

Shelby Brown: True. That's true. Starting to wake up, though.

Madi, how did you end up singing "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun?" It was amazing.

Madi Davis: It came around actually really randomly, like I was supposed to sing a different song that week and they said it wasn't working. And then some random person came up and suggested this song and I was like, "Okay. It's about time. Let's do it."

Click here and here to read more from The Voice's ninth-season semifinalists.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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