“The Voice” is now down to just a lucky 13 artists in contention to win season 17. Three of the coaches — reigning champ John Legend, six-time winner Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani — each have three artists still in the hunt. Kelly Clarkson, who has won two of her three seasons on the show, has four artists on her team.
In advance of the Top 13 performing live on November 18, we want to know who you think will win? Take a look at detailed bios of each of them below and then cast your ballot in our poll at the bottom of this post. And be sure to sound off in the comments section about your favorites and those that you will be glad to see go. We’ll report back before next Monday with a list of your season 17 artists ranked from best to worst.
Max Boyle (Team Kelly Clarkson)
Age: 23
Hometown: Toledo, Ohio
Residence: Toledo, Ohio
Max grew up in a musical family and loved singing in the spotlight when he was young. As he got older and became a serious athlete, he hid his artistic side and would only sing when alone. Max was benched because of a broken arm in his freshman year of high school, so he reignited his love for singing and later posted a video on Facebook. His coach saw it and urged him to join the school choir where he quickly became the lead soloist. Max recently graduated from the University of Dayton with a degree in psychology, but continues gigging and releasing music.
Will Breman (Team John Legend)
Age: 25
Hometown: Woodland Hills, California
Residence: Santa Barbara, California
Will learned to sing when he was just three years old. He was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism, and his parents believed music would be helpful in his development. No matter what he was going through, he could always turn to music for comfort. Will went on to attend college in Santa Barbara and stayed in town after graduation to pursue music. Will is currently a one-man-band soul musician and looper who creates various beats and loops them together to sound like multiple musicians.
MaryBeth Byrd (Team John Legend)
Age: 18
Hometown: Armorel, Arkansas
Residence: Armorel, Arkansas
Marybeth grew up with a terrible stutter and was constantly teased. Speech therapy didn’t help, but one day her parents heard her sing and realized she wasn’t stuttering. Music became her refuge, and after performing at several charity events, she soon became known as the soul singer in her small country town. Outside of singing, Marybeth loves to help her dad with his pop-up food truck called Big Byrd’s BBQ. Marybeth recently graduated high school and comes to “The Voice” to see if she can make it on the big stage before committing to college.
Ricky Duran (Team Blake Shelton)
Age: 29
Hometown: Worcester, Massachusetts
Residence: Austin, Texas
Ricky inherited his love of music from his father, who was a musician with another full-time job to support the family. At 6 years old, Ricky’s father taught him guitar and they played in a band together throughout Ricky’s high school years. Ricky went on to attend Berklee College of Music and form his own band while his father acted as their manager. Shortly after graduation, Ricky’s father tragically took his own life, but encouraged him to keep doing what he loved. Earlier this year, Ricky lost his mother to breast cancer. Ricky has dedicated his life to music to carry on his father’s legacy and comes to “The Voice” to make his parents proud.
SEE ‘The Voice’ Winners Full List: Photos and Where Are They Now Updates
Kat Hammock (Team Blake Shelton)
Age: 18
Hometown: Encinitas, California
Residence: Encinitas, California
Kat began singing in her church choir in the fourth grade and devoted herself to learning piano shortly after. Thanks to her parents, Kat grew up on ’60s and ’70s music that fostered her love of singing. In middle school, she was invited to New York to sing at Carnegie Hall, which opened the opportunity to sing solo at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts several times. Singing on these world-renowned stages helped Kat realize she could pursue it as a career. Kat is a recent high school graduate and currently a part-time music teacher for kids.
Hello Sunday (Team Kelly Clarkson)
Age: Chelsea, 14; Myla, 14
Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia
Residence: Atlanta, Georgia
Chelsea and Myla both grew up singing in school showcases. They met two years ago at a performing arts camp and were paired together because they were the youngest. After hearing how well their voices blended, they decided to officially become a duo. They attended an artist development camp to sharpen their skills, and after posting some music videos online, they started getting requests to sing at local events. They enjoy using their music to spread positivity and are making history on “The Voice” as the youngest duo ever.
Myracle Holloway (Team Gwen Stefani)
Age: 44
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Myracle knew she was destined to sing after joining the children’s choir at age 7. She started singing competitively and was discovered after high school by Philip Bailey of Earth, Wind & Fire and was invited to join his tour. While early success looked promising, Myracle was secretly dealing with emotional trauma from past abuse. These issues led to depression and misuse of substances, which pushed her to take a break and seek therapy. Through worship, Myracle began her recovery journey and later moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Myracle comes to “The Voice” to give her music career a second chance.
Jake Hoot (Team Kelly Clarkson)
Age: 31
Hometown: Corpus Christi, Texas / Dominican Republic
Residence: Cookeville, Tennessee
Jake was born in Texas, but his parents are missionaries and relocated the family to the Dominican Republic when he was nine. While living there, he began singing and playing guitar while also becoming fluent in Spanish. At 20, he moved to Tennessee where he began gigging and attended Tennessee Tech University as a walk-on football player. Jake later got married and now has a four-year-old daughter. After getting divorced, Jake is a newly single dad and hopes to start anew by making his daughter proud on “The Voice.”
Katie Kadan (Team John Legend)
Age: 38
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Residence: Chicago, Illinois
Katie was surrounded by music from a young age and joined Chicago’s All God’s Children’s Choir when she was 10. She spent the next decade singing in church and choirs, but never had the confidence to perform on her own. Katie taught music on the side, but always felt something was missing. At 30, she did an open mic and was floored by the positive response, so she started booking gigs and slowly began to accept herself. For the past seven years, Katie has been more spirited than ever while singing professionally in Chicago’s blues community and hopes to spread her message of body positivity.
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Joana Martinez (Team Gwen Stefani)
Age: 15
Hometown: Miami, Florida
Residence: Miami, Florida
Joana gets her talent from her father, who plays the drums and trumpet but was unable to pursue a musical career. As a shy kid, she used to make her family and friends turn around when she would sing, but performing helped her blossom. In middle school, she was nominated “Most Likely to Win ‘The Voice,’” and at 13 sang the national anthem at a Miami Heat game and later performed at a Miami Marlins game. As a second generation Cuban-American, she enjoys singing in both Spanish and English. Joana is currently a sophomore in high school at the Miami Arts Studio magnet school, where she also participates in musical theater.
Shane Q (Team Kelly Clarkson)
Age: 29
Hometown: Sacramento, California
Residence: Sacramento, California
Shane gets his musical talents from his dad, who gigs with Shane’s uncle and tunes pianos for a living. Shane was painfully shy growing up, but music eventually helped him come out of his shell. He was involved in the school choir, but only as the saxophone and drums player. He didn’t start singing until his teacher caught him singing along one day and urged him to join the choir. He began to feel more confident and started gigging and posting videos online. Shane is currently a minivan driver for United Cerebral Palsy and gigs on the weekends.
Rose Short (Team Gwen Stefani)
Age: 34
Hometown: Killeen, Texas
Residence: Killeen, Texas
Rose started singing when she was 5 years old in Germany, where her father was stationed with the military. Growing up, she often performed at community events on the base. Her family eventually moved to Texas, where she became involved in choir and theater. She always loved music, but after school she needed a job that paid the bills, so she took a position at a male maximum-security prison. Rose worked as a corrections officer for eight years, but ultimately quit to focus on music again. Rose is currently a full-time musician writing and performing her own music.
Cali Wilson (Team Blake Shelton)
Age: 28
Hometown: Salem, Iowa
Residence: Nashville, Tennessee
Cali found her passion for music through her mom, who was also a singer. Cali loved performing in talent shows and always found music to be her outlet, but she gave it up for years when she realized she was gay and felt she couldn’t be herself in her small town. At 15, she picked up her mom’s guitar and started songwriting as an escape. After college, she made the decision to head to Nashville to chase her dreams of being a musician. Cali currently manages a kickboxing gym where she’s an instructor and is still pursuing music.
SEE ‘The Voice’ schedule: Live playoffs start November 11, season 17 finale is December 17
Our predictions event for “The Voice” is now active. Be sure to also make your predictions for other reality programs such as “Survivor.” You can keep changing your picks until each episode begins. You’ll compete to win a spot on our leaderboard and eternal bragging rights. You can also predict nominations for the Emmys, Tonys and more. See our contest rules and sound off with other fans in our reality TV forum. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.
