LONGMEADOW –  For the next several weeks on Monday and Tuesday nights if you turn your television on to NBC, you may recognize a familiar face. Alongside renowned singers Adam Levine of Maroon 5, country crooner Blake Shelton, soulful Alicia Keys and pop royalty Kelly Clarkson, Longmeadow’s own Brynn Cartelli is gracing the screen on season 14 of the popular Emmy Award-winning singing competition “The Voice.”

Most vocalists say that they began to sing at a young age, but for 14-year-old Cartelli, it all started before birth.

“When my mom was pregnant with me she would play classical music through headphones onto her stomach.  There was always music in my life,” Cartelli told Reminder Publications.

Cartelli’s grandfather was a musician, and though she never had the chance to meet him, she attributes part of her interest in singing to him.  

Coming from a small town in Western Massachusetts, Cartelli joked, “there isn’t a lot to do here,” however through Longmeadow High School’s chorus program she’s been able to sing with her peers.  Additionally, she’s sung at local restaurants and bars, as well as on one of Massachusetts’ islands, Nantucket.

Over the years, many popular singers of today have been discovered on video-sharing website, YouTube. Among others, Justin Bieber, Tori Kelly and Ed Sheeran all were discovered on the site. While on Nantucket, a peer of Cartelli’s encouraged her to post a video of herself singing to YouTube.  What she didn’t expect was to receive a phone call from The Voice, asking if she’d be interested in auditioning for the competitive show.

“Before ‘The Voice,’ I always dreamed of being on a show, whether it was American Idol or something, it had always been a dream of mine but I never thought of it coming true,” Cartelli said.

Of the phone call she laughed, “My whole family thought it was a scam, and now here we are. It’s definitely not!”

From the phone call on, Cartelli’s life has been a whirlwind.  In February of 2017 she had a private audition in New York City.  After making it through the preliminary audition, she made it to the next round in Los Angeles, CA. Cartelli explained that the purpose of the LA audition was to perform for the producers and get to know them better, as well as meet other contestants for the upcoming season.

“I met a lot of friends that are on the show with me now.  After the L.A. audition, about half of those people made it to the blind auditions,” Cartelli recalled.

The blind auditions, which will be wrapping up on March 12 and 13, consist of the four coaches, Levine, Shelton, Keys and Clarkson and multiple talented singers vying for their chance to be on the show.  For those who haven’t watched “The Voice,” each coach sits in one of the illustrious red chairs facing a sizeable audience with the stage behind them.  What makes the audition “blind” is that the coaches can only base their decisions on whether or not they like a singer from their voice, as their backs are turned to them. One by one, a singer comes out and performs in the hopes that a coach will like their singing enough to “turn their chair.”  When a chair is turned, this means that a coach wants the singer on their team. While each singer is competing against one another to make it to the top, the four coaches are competing too: to have a singer from their individual team win. If more than one coach turns their chair for a singer, the coaches then plead their case to the singer as to why they should join their team.  The singer then has the power to choose which coaches team they would like to join.

Once the blind auditions are complete, the teams move on to the battle rounds.  Coaches begin to get to know their team members and dedicate themselves to helping each artist through advice and singing development.

“The Voice” website explains, “During the battle rounds the coaches will pit two of their own team members against each other to sing the same song together in front of a studio audience. After the vocal battle, the coach must choose which of his/her singers will advance to the next round of competition, while the losing artist is available to be stolen by another coach. Each coach has two steals during the battle rounds.”

Following the battle rounds, the remaining singers move on to the knockout rounds.  Artists are paired with another member of their team, however unlike the battle rounds, the singer isn’t aware of whom they’ll be competing against until moments before performing.  During this round, the artists perform their own individual songs while their competitor watches from afar until their turn.  At the close of each knockout the coach will select the stronger singer and take them to the live shows. The artist who was not selected to move on will then be sent home.

During the final segment of the show, the top artists from each coach’s team will compete against each other during a live broadcast.  Up until the live shows the coaches are able to choose which singers will move forward to ultimately win.  The live shows turn voting to the television audience who is able to vote for their favorite artists.  Each week, two singers with the lowest vote-count will be sent home until one person remains and is named “The Voice.”  The winner’s grand prize includes a recording contract.

Leading up to her performance at the blind auditions Cartelli spent roughly a month, from late September to mid October, in L.A. preparing and rehearsing.  Prior to her performance for the famous coaches at the blind auditions, to release her nervous energy Cartelli would have her own dance party backstage.

“If I’m going to have energy I want to make sure that it’s positive. It sounds really sad [having a solo dance party].” She joked, “It’s actually really fun!”

Though Cartelli formally prepared for the audition for a month, she was still anxious to perform during the blinds.

“I was really nervous, especially because I knew who they [the coaches] were.  In my opinion they’re the best panel of coaches they’ve ever had.  I didn’t expect a chair to turn at all, so when I saw Kelly I was so excited,” Cartelli shared.

Cartelli sang “Beneath Your Beautiful” by Labrinth for the four-coach panel. It’s no secret that Cartelli made it through the blind auditions, which aired on Feb 26. To watch the audition that inspired both Shelton and Clarkson to turn their chairs, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LThkdOP6QSM.

Regardless for Cartelli’s long-time appreciation for Clarkson’s talent, going into her audition she noted she still would keep herself open if other coaches turned their chairs.  Ultimately, Cartelli said the coach she would select would come down to what they said to her in the moment.

“Blake didn’t turn until the end, I saw one chair [Clarkson’s] and thought it was going to be easy, and then Blake turned, and it was complicated.  These are two people I’ve been watching on T.V. and for them to be fighting over wanting to work with me and give me a chance to get somewhere in the industry was really surreal,” she said. “In the end, I knew my five year old self would kill me if I didn’t choose Kelly.”

Cartelli is home in Longmeadow now and the response from her classmates and townspeople has been positive, and as she said, “overwhelming.”    

“I play lacrosse and field hockey, and they’re [her team] really supportive, my choir group, too. It’s really crazy, there’s not much that goes on in this town so for me to be on this show is kind of cool for them too,” Cartelli exclaimed.

Though she isn’t able share where she stands in the season and if she’ll make it all the way to the live shows that will air in the upcoming months, Cartelli said that the most important lesson the show has taught her is that she can be herself.

“One of the biggest things I’ve learned is to be original and not try to sound like anyone else. That’s something I didn’t understand before, I thought I had to sound like Adele or Beyoncé, but seeing these really unique singers I’ve realized I can be myself, and be good, and that’s what’s gotten me this far,” she shared.

NBC’s “The Voice” airs every Monday and Tuesday evening at 8 p.m.