Santa Rosa’s Dallas Caroline still a contender on NBC’s ‘The Voice’

Dallas Caroline, the 17-year-old Santa Rosa singer competing on season 14 of NBC-TV’s “The Voice,” had a close call on Tuesday night’s episode, but came through safely, landing a spot on the team of singer and actress Alicia Keys.

“It’s a rollercoaster,” Caroline said in a phone interview Wednesday. “You spend so much time preparing for every round. There’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes before the show.”

Chosen by Blake Shelton to join his team after her blind audition on the episode aired two weeks ago, Caroline went head-to-head Tuesday with teammate Spensha Baker.

Singing a duet of “I Could Use a Love Song,” Baker beat Caroline, and Shelton named her winner of the battle. Moments later, Keys pushed the button to steal Caroline for her team.

Caroline was in tears after losing her battle because she thought she was the off the show, then she was elated because she has another chance, she said.

“I cried just because I felt so overwhelmed. I’ve gotten feedback from the coaches on my nerves onstage, so I’ve trying to work on that and I think I did better in the battle than in my blind audition,” Caroline said.

Overall, she’s excited and encouraged by how things turned out, she said.

“I am a country singer so that’s why I wanted to work with Blake, and I learned a lot from him,” Caroline said. “I want to stay true to my art and show who I am, but I can learn a lot from Alicia, and I wanted to show her she made the right choice.”

Continued support from local friends and fans means a lot to her, Caroline said.

Winners on “The Voice” are chosen by television viewers voting by telephone, internet, SMS text and iTunes Store purchases of the audio-recorded artists’ vocal performances. Winning contestants receive $100,000 and a record deal with Universal Music Group.

There are four teams with 12 people on each team, and contestants face elimination during the season’s battle rounds.

For more information: dallascaroline.com, facebook.com/dallascarolinemusic.

You can reach staff writer Dan Taylor at 707-521-5243 or dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @danarts