Seventeen year old Emily Keener was very emotional after being the first of the Top 12 eliminated from The Voice on Tuesday. After her song, “Lilac Wine” charted at 27–the third highest on iTunes–it came as a surprise when the quirky singer ended up in the bottom 2 fighting to stay in the competition. Emily’s rendition of “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” was lovely, but it wasn’t enough to beat Team Adam Levine’s Owen Danoff who edged her out for twitter votes after the two sang-off for the save.
After her elimination, she was comforted by her coach Pharrell Williams. “You did you,” Pharrell said to a tearful Emily. “That’s what’s important. That’s what somebody’s going to be interested in. They are going to be interested in you.”
“I can go write songs now,” the singer replied.
“It has been indescribable,” Emily said of her Voice experience, in her goodbye video. “It’s been a very generous experience, and I’ll walk away with a lot more than what I started with.”
“One of my favorite memories,” said Emily about Pharrell, “Was the first time I really got to talk to Pharrell off camera. He told me to keep doing exactly what I’m doing. He didn’t want to change me. He just told me to embrace who I am. I’m going to remember that forever.”
On her cast mates, Emily said, “I’ve made a lot of friendships here. But I’m so excited to watch them move forward on the show, because they’re going to kill it.”
“Moving forward, I’m going to be a better artist. A better person, and just a better human being,” she said. “I just want to keep creating, keep going. This is a hopeful thing.”
Watch Emily’s exit interview below.
https://youtu.be/3Wyw4fgIacE
Right after she was eliminated, Emily posted a tearful message to her fans on Youtube. “I’m kind of a mess right now and have been since that moment, but it’s not because I’m sad. I mean, I’m sad a little bit but mostly I’m just overwhelmed. It’s hard to close the book on this.”
She goes on to thank her fans, and talk about what a wonderful experience it was competing on The Voice. She’s going to miss her castmates, staff, but especially Pharrell, whom she feels “got” her. Not getting her so much? The Voice fans who vote.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think America got what I was laying down, which is okay. They don’t have to be ready for what I do. The performances I gave were special and I am insanely proud of them. I did what I wanted to do out there and I’m ready to keep going.”
She’s ready to write new songs and hopes to release an album later this year.
