A&M-Commerce Cheers on Student Hannah Kirby on NBC’s The Voice

A man is speaking to a young female at the KETR radio studio.

Hailing from Sulphur Springs, Texas, Hannah Kirby has landed a coveted spot on the big stage. Quite literally, the Texas A&M University-Commerce psychology major was the last contestant to be chosen during the blind auditions of NBC's The Voice.

“I actually was the very last person to audition,” said Kirby. “I didn't know that I would be last when I auditioned. I didn't know how many spots were left or anything like that. I was a little bit shocked when Blake turned around, and he started to say ‘You're the last person on my team', and I was like ‘Oh my gosh!' It's incredible to me because going last is so close to not even going at all.”

For those who don't watch the show, The Voice stars four celebrity artists who begin the show listening to contestants audition for spots on their team. The catch is: the coaches are facing away from the stage, so contestants are picked based on their voice and raw talent alone.

During Kirby's cover of “The Letter” by the Box Tops, coaches Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera and Pharrell Williams had already filled their teams. The three sat furiously trying to push their buttons to no avail until the fourth and final coach, Blake Shelton, spun his chair around to choose Kirby to complete his team.

“It really made me feel good, of course, when I watched the blind audition when it aired on T.V. to see that the other coaches were hitting their buttons and looking over at Blake, like ‘Come on man!',” said Kirby. “I feel like, the way it looked to me, was that he was really teasing them. I'm glad that he that he decided to stop that though and turn around for me!”

During the battle round, Kirby faced off against teammate Sarah Potenza. While Potenza was chosen by their coach to advance, Kirby was stolen by coach Pharrell. She will now move on to the live shows where she and her coach will choose songs for her to rehearse and perform each week. Viewers will be able to vote for Kirby to move forward on the show after each live performance.

Kirby is a singer, songwriter, violinist and performer. She said her first paid gig came when she was 12 years old, and she hasn't stopped performing since. In fact, she played in downtown Commerce at the Commerce Songwriters Showcase in 2010. Now with this national platform, Kirby hopes this experience will help to propel her professional music career.

For more information on Kirby, visit her website at http://www.hannahkirby.com.

You can follow her on The Voice on NBC on Monday and Tuesday nights at 8/7 central. Videos of her previously aired television performances can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDfg_um0tiU and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tis3Yo_zCt8.