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Belle Jewel finally made her appearance on "The Voice" — albeit briefly — on Monday, and she's feeling elated and relieved.
"Honestly, I could not sleep last night," the Provo resident told The Tribune. "I was just so excited and overwhelmed. And grateful. I've never been happier."
It's not just that she was successful in her audition, it's that she can — at long last — tell people that she was successful. NBC's "The Voice" tapes its blind auditions months before the episodes air, and the contestants are required to stay mum.
"I've been dying to tell people," Jewel said. "It's been so hard to keep it a secret, because it's pretty much all I've been doing with my life for the past six or seven months. So quite a few people think I've just disappeared, while in reality I just couldn't talk about what I was working on."
On Monday's installment of the NBC singing competition, the 18-year-old (whose full name is Belle Jewel Lyon) was part of a montage that quickly runs through several singers. Viewers heard about 4 seconds of Jewel singing "Don't You Forget About Me" and were told that judge/coach Alicia Keys had selected her as part of her team.
"I feel so lucky to be one of the last people to fill up her team," said Jewel, who was born in American Fork and moved to Arizona as an infant. She spent a year at Brigham Young University before leaving to pursue music — a journey that took her to Brooklyn, N.Y., for a time — but now she's back in Provo.
Jewel performed what Keys called a "1930s swing" version of the Simple Minds hit. She has a style of her own, and she credits her parents.
"I was raised to be unique and to not be afraid to be myself," she said. "The style I've developed is a combination of all the artists I grew up listening to, along with being told to just be myself and express that however I want to."
Jewel cited Björk, Sara Bareilles and Gwen Stefani as major influences, and now she's adding Keys to that list.
"Working with Alicia has been incredible," Jewel said. "I feel like she sees something in me that I have been working really, really hard to see in myself. I appreciate that she's put so much thought and energy into allowing me to be my best version of myself."
And she's grateful that, during the blind auditions, Keys punched the button on her chair, swung around and added Jewel to her team.
"It was definitely one of the scariest things I've ever been through, but also one of the most exhilarating," she said. "I just remember walking up to my mark on the stage and looking out and seeing the backs of those four chairs. Just hoping that I would connect with one of them.
"It's a lot scarier than people might think."
Next up — the battle rounds, when each contestant sings with another member of his or her team and the judge decides who will advance and who is out. Those duets are also taped in advance, and Jewel can't talk about that yet.
"It felt so good for me to just be able to let go and do what I love," she said.
The battle rounds begin on Monday and Tuesday at 7 p.m. on NBC/Ch. 5. When Jewel will next appear has not yet been announced.
Twitter: @ScottDPierce