BETHLEHEM, Pa. — A nod to Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughn landed Shye Roberts a top-spot on "The Voice."
After a soulful rendition of One Direction's "Story of My Life," Roberts, a Bethlehem singer and contestant on the NBC show, advanced to the live rounds.
Her coach, Michael Bublé, picked the 18-year-old and Sofronio Vasquez as the two last contestants on the NBC show on Tuesday.
He compared Roberts' voice to Fitzgerald and Vaughn — known for their versatile vocal range.
Roberts sang against Cameron Wright, Jaukeem Fortson, Sloane Simon and Vasquez, who recently moved to the United States from the Philippines.
Roberts' fate now is in the viewers' hands on Season 26 of the popular show.
During the live rounds, the top artists from each team will compete each week against each other during a live broadcast.
Roberts, a graduate of Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts, was coached by guest mentor Carly Pearce and Bublé, who was brought to tears after her cover.
"I met [One Direction's] Niall Horan at close to about your age and he was electric already and so I wanted to do something where I felt like I was paying tribute to that potential and greatness," Bublé said of choosing the 2013 One Direction hit for Roberts to perform.
Before passing a tissue to Bublé, his co-judge on "The Voice" Snoop Dogg scribbled "10" on a notepad after Roberts' performance.
"I thought I was on another show, a show where you give out numbers for the performers," he said. "So I gave her a 10. You just did an amazing job."
The West Coast rapper then asked to touch Roberts' hair, styled to his liking.
"Growing up, family and music was all we had. We weren't super rich. There was a lot of struggles going on. My family's Panamanian and Jamaican. In those cultures, expressing your emotions isn't super typical,"Shye Roberts
"Shye rocks an afro. That's culturally correct. You know, it's hard to rock an afro. Try it. That's the style."
Roberts spoke about her family and her mother, Sheila, before her time onstage.
"Growing up, family and music was all we had. We weren't super rich," Roberts said. "There was a lot of struggles going on. My family's Panamanian and Jamaican. In those cultures, expressing your emotions isn't super typical."
'One in a million'
Pearce, a country singer known for hits "Hummingbird" and "Holler," compared Roberts' voice to the likes of Tracy Chapman and Adele.
"There are so few voices of any generation [who] you know within three notes who it is, and you have one of those," Peace said.
"It's so hard as an artist, you want to differentiate yourself from the back. And Shye's voice is one in a million."
During the Knockout Rounds, which aired Nov. 12, Roberts performed a rendition of Katy Perry's "The One That Got Away."
She went with the 2010 breakup ballad as a tribute to her mom.
"I can't believe I'm getting to work with Carly," Roberts said Tuesday. "So many nice things. She's won a Grammy. She has a ton of experience in the music industry.
"I mean, I really couldn't have wished for a better mentor. I did not expect to win the knockout."
Shye's journey
Roberts made it through auditions for "The Voice" after skipping her high school graduation in June.
She wowed Bublé and advanced in the battle rounds on Oct. 28 with a rendition of Justin Bieber's "Love Yourself."
The battle rounds began on Oct. 21 with Bublé and fellow coaches Reba McEntire, Gwen Stefani and Snoop Dogg.
During the battle rounds, Bublé mentored 14 singers in preparation for the sing-offs, which determine who will go to the knockout rounds and who will be sent home.
Her blind audition, which aired on Oct. 8, was a cover of Five for Fighting's "Superman (It's Not Easy)."
The euphonious cover got a four-chair turn from the judges.
Roberts lives with her mom and her stepdad. They moved to Bethlehem in 2023 from Glen Cove on Long Island, New York.
She finished her senior year at Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts during the 2023-24 academic year.
At the charter school, she belonged to the treble and touring choir and performed at their coffeehouse performances at Godfrey Daniels in Bethlehem.
She won best soloist at the school's adjudicated performance through WorldStrides in New Orleans in 2023.
Since Roberts can't reveal about her journey on "The Voice," viewers will have to stay tuned to learn the outcome.
"Right now, I'm really just trying my best to write as much music as I can and get a jump start on my musical career now that I have somewhat of a fan base," she said.
"It's pop music with dashes of soul and folk songs."
