Christina Grimmie rose to YouTube stardom with her covers of Nelly’s “Just a Dream” and Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the U.S.A,” and today her YouTube channel has more than 2.6 million subscribers.
On The Voice, Grimmie turned all four coaches’ chairs with her cover of Miley Cyrus’s “Wrecking Ball,” and ultimately picked Adam Levine as her coach. A fan favorite from the beginning, she made it to the final round and ended up taking third place. Though she didn’t win The Voice, it looks like she has a bright future ahead: Adam Levine announced he will sign her to his own record label.
Grimmie chatted with Parade.com about what her new album will sound like, why Justin Bieber is a “sweetheart,” and how her fans surprised her after the finale.
How are you doing after Tuesday’s show?
“I’m great. I’m well rested and I just feel good about things.”
Adam promised to sign you to his label no matter what happened. Did that take off some of the pressure on Tuesday?
“It actually took off a lot of pressure, but at the same time when I was up on the stage at the end of the night, I just had this unusual calm about me. I wasn’t nervous. I was just thinking, whatever happens is supposed to happen, and it’s all good from here on out.”
Did you and Adam have the chance to talk after the finale?
“I did talk to him after the show up on the stage, and I talked to him backstage later, and he was just really encouraging. He was just like, ‘You know what, for someone like you…you’re good. It’s okay that you don’t win or even get runner up. Where you’re at right now is perfect, and that’s where you need to be.’”
What will your new album sound like?
“Well, I really love electronic music. I’ve played with it on my very first EP, but I’ve never continued to mess with it, but I love it a lot. But I also love R&B, so it’s kind of a matter of getting with the right writers and cranking out stuff and seeing what happens.”
How have your fans reacted?
“My dad took note of how my fans are reacting, and he was like, it’s so funny how all my fans are being really polite about it. I was thinking my fans were going to be like, ‘This is unfair! How dare she not win, blah blah blah!’ But they were just like, ‘You know what? That’s fine. She was in the top three, congratulations Christina, and congratulations, Josh, too!’ So they were being super cool and I was like, wow!”
What was it like getting a supportive tweet from Justin Bieber?
“That was very, very sweet of him. I’ve met him several times, and every time, he was a sweetheart. Basically, his tweet said something about how we both started on YouTube, and the fact that he wrote that and wanted to support me, even though I was on Adam’s team and not Usher’s—that meant a lot to me because that’s just Bieber being kind. So that meant a lot to me.”
What was process getting your clothes, hair, and makeup ready backstage? Do Voice contestants have a lot of input into their look?
“We actually kind of do. I’m always one of those people who likes to have their hair down. If you’ve noticed, I’ve literally had my hair up one time on the show, and that was for rehearsing with Adam. So, they really work with you. And we get up very, very early, and they start on our hair and makeup. They want it to go with the outfit, so the hair and makeup are always inspired by what the outfit is. The outfit, wardrobe, is very sensitive to what we like. They never just pull stuff and make us wear it. They’re kind of like, ‘Do you like this? Do you like this?’ We get to choose and mix and match. And that’s what’s fun about the stage clothing—we can just kind of go all-out and wear something crazy, and it’s okay because it’s the stage.”
Who’s your dream musical collaboration?
“Oh my goodness, I love [electronic musician] Skrillex. I want Skrillex to remix all my songs. That’s always been a dream of mine. Also, I think Christina Aguilera is definitely one person that I would kill to do a duet with.”
What’s next for you?
“I do know that I am going to be going on the tour, which is really awesome. Can’t wait for that. And after that, and during that actually, I just want to be writing new music, getting new ideas ready for the studio, and talking to Adam in the process and just keeping in touch. And you know, cranking out new music after the tour!”
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