The Voice's Holly Brand (Team Kelly) heads to Live Rounds!

GUEST:  The Voice Contestant Holly Brand (Team Kelly)

It’s been a big week and weekend for The Voice contestant Holly Brand, as she prepares to take the stage for the show’s fierce semi-finals Live Rounds (May 15)on NBC. It all goes down starting tomorrow night, when the Top 8 artists will be turning up the vocal heat, to compete for America’s votes for the first time in the semi-finals. And from there, it’s on to the Tip 5 singers who will be crossing into the season finale night, in hopes that viewers will cast votes, in real-time voting, in their favor.

But for 22-year-old Holly Brand (Team Kelly Clarkson), tough national competition’s been a part of her life for the last 5 years.  Holly’s accustomed to the lights, cameras and big action, as she once competed in the Miss America pageant when she was Miss Mississippi in 2021. At age 10, little Holly opened for Blake Shelton in her hometown of Meridian, MS, after winning a local competition. She sang “Anyway” by Martina McBride in front of 500 people. Holly came from a very musical family and started singing in public at church when she was just 3 years old. By 5, Holly began participating in beauty pageants, which years later led her to be crowned Miss Mississippi 2021. She traveled the state amassing 32,000 miles doing speaking engagements and singing for various organizations. She now spends a lot of her time working at her family’s boutique, which she opened with her mom in 2018. Like the other 7 contestants, Holly’s been in Los Angeles for the last week, busily in rehearsals, wardrobe fittings, handling media, and everything else that’s needed in preparation for the big premiere of the Live Rounds. Listen below as Holly shares some insights as to what it’s like to be a part of The Voice’s own “elite 8” semi-finals.