Sikeston native goes from giving up music to a spot on NBC's 'The Voice'

SIKESTON, Mo. -- There came a point that Anna Catherine DeHart wanted to give up music.

"I graduated from college and I hit a point in my life like any other 22-year-old at the time, not really knowing what I wanted to do," DeHart said. "I got a job -- a 'big-girl job,' as they say -- and kind of got on that path. I just thought I was done with music. I love it, but it just wasn't working out."

Sort of as a last hurrah, the Sikeston native, who's hit stages all across Southeast Missouri since she was 11 years old, decided to take a shot -- a big shot -- on the biggest platform she's ever came across.

She auditioned in St. Louis for the NBC TV show "The Voice" in June and the rest, as DeHart put it, "is on television."

DeHart made it through the third round of blind auditions during Oct. 2's broadcast, joining country-music star Blake Shelton's team. She's one of seven singers to be a part of Team Blake so far.

"It's been one of the craziest experiences I've ever had," DeHart said. "I've said it so many times that you never think that coming from a small town in Southeast Missouri that you'll ever be on a stage like that."

Though anticipated by local fans to see one of their hometown talents take the stage on national TV, DeHart's appearance on the show was short.

The Belmont University graduate was part of a 42-second, blind-audition montage that featured two other singers. DeHart's brief portion showed a clip of her singing "I Could Use A Love Song" and Shelton complimenting the singer's voice.

"Your voice is so pointed," Shelton said on the show. "It's like a knife cutting through the room."

What viewers didn't see on TV, DeHart can't get out of her mind.

Her audition began with a moment to herself. Thinking about stepping away from the music business to now reaching a stage shared with music superstars Shelton, Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Hudson and Adam Levine was surreal, she said.

"When I finally got to that stage, I just kind of stood there," DeHart said. "I just basked in the moment before the music started just to really take it in and hold that moment so I could remember that. I never thought I'd get to be there, and to get there was pretty awesome.

"You can't ask for a better experience than singing in front of four people who have so much experience in this industry," DeHart added. "Just to get their advice, even if a chair didn't turn, to be able to get their feedback is more than anything I thought I'd be able to have."

To get the chance at advancing through the singing competition, one of the four star judges must like what they hear rather than see. If they do, a button on a swivel chair will spin them around to face the singer, who's judged solely by his or her voice, hence the blind audition.

Once her song began, DeHart fell into an old habit of shutting her eyes while notes from one of country music's top hits poured onto a stage at Universal Studios in Hollywood, California. The song continued as DeHart, hoping to see a chair spin her way, was disappointed at first glance.

"I opened my eyes and nobody had turned around," DeHart said. "I was like, 'OK, not going to get a chair turned. That's fine. It's just cool to be up here.'"

But once she closed her eyes again, she heard the crowd wail. The cheers instantly led to another peek at the judges.

"I opened my eyes and there was Blake Shelton staring at me," DeHart said.

She continued her song and went back to shutting her eyes. Shortly after, there was another loud cheer and chair turn. This time from Levine.

"Sometimes I just relive that in my head because that was just one of the coolest things," DeHart said. "To think during the first of my audition I wasn't going to get a chair turned, and then to get two, my mind was blown."

After her performance ended, DeHart was faced with a daunting, yet appealing, decision: Blake Shelton or Adam Levine.

"I was in the best love triangle you could ask for. I mean, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton fighting over you? It doesn't get much better," DeHart said.

Shelton, a country-music star known to pick mostly country artists, was a judge frontrunner for DeHart before the audition began. Miley Cyrus, another artist with a country background, was also a contender.

She admitted she wasn't expecting Levine to make the turn and was tempted to go with the Maroon 5 front man after hearing his argument.

"When Adam turned around, it kind of threw me for a loop," DeHart said. "I thought, to be different and to maybe go out of my comfort zone a little bit, go with Adam."

But as the duel between the two judges raged on, the debate came back to Shelton, who said something that resonated with DeHart.

"He said, 'Country music is from the heart,' and I know that's where it's at," DeHart said. "He was just very complimentary of my voice, and he knows country. At the end, I didn't feel like going out of my comfort zone and thought this is where I need to stay. Country music is about connection and really feeling out the song, and Blake Shelton definitely does that and has done that for over 10 years now."

Though DeHart didn’t abandon her country roots with her judge decision, she stepped away from her normal with her song choice by taking on Maren Morris’ “I Could Use a Love Song,” from an album that reached as high as No. 5 on the Billboard 200 charts and No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart.

DeHart usually prefers 1990s country or Carrie Underwood, but decided to go with a newer song choice that, prior to her audition, had never done before.

“That song is just such a popular song right now,” DeHart said. “For four current artists looking for that current, young, kind of fresh sound, I thought that was perfect. It has some low notes and high notes and Maren Morris is such a hot ticket right now I thought that song really brought that freshness and young vibe to the table, which is something different than I normally do.”

DeHart's choice to continue her pursuit in the music business has paid off, for now, although her future on the show is still up in the air.

She couldn't say much about her next performance, only to keep an eye out for the next stage of the competition -- the battle rounds. After the battle rounds comes the knockout rounds, then the playoff rounds, and then ends with live performances. The grand prize for the winner is a recording contract.

"I kind of gave up on music for a little bit and I never thought about giving up," DeHart said. "You just think your shot is kind of gone or your odds of doing something like this isn't very good. ... But this whole experience has been indescribable."

DeHart, who's the daughter of David and Kim DeHart, said she's extremely thankful for the support she's received from her hometown, and calls, texts and social-media messages have meant so much to her through her journey.

"I've done this for a really long time and have performed for probably everybody in Sikeston," she said. "The outpouring of love and support that I've gotten has meant so much to me. You just never really think you're going to be on that stage, so to have my community behind me like that and know that I have their support has just been absolutely amazing, and I appreciate every single person that has supported me. Not just through this, but before now as well."

DeHart's music can be purchased on iTunes, Google Play or amazon.com, or visit annacatherinedehartmusic.com.

"The Voice" airs locally at 7 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays on WPSD 6.