Xenia Edith Martinez (born December 17, 1994), known mononymously as Xenia, is an American singer who came in second place on Blake Shelton's team and tied for 5th place overall on the first season of '' The Voice''.

Life and career

Early life

Born in

Chula Vista, California Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the Largest cities in Southern California, seventh largest city in Southern California, the List of largest California cities by population, fifteenth largest city ...

and raised in nearby Temecula, Xenia is the middle child in a family of five. She learned how to play the guitar when she was 6. The instruments she plays are the guitar, harmonica and piano (she learned by ear). She attended Great Oak High School, but was later home-schooled. Prior to her entering ''The Voice'', none of her peers, including her best friend, knew that Xenia could sing.

2011: ''The Voice''

Xenia participated in season 1 of ''The Voice'', making it to the Final 8 and placing 2nd on Team Blake. She auditioned with the song, "

Breakeven Break-even (or break even), often abbreviated as B/E in finance, (sometimes called point of equilibrium) is the point of balance making neither a profit nor a loss. Any number below the break-even point constitutes a loss while any number above i ...

", and was vied for by two judges,

Cee Lo Green Cee or CEE may refer to: * C, third letter of the Latin alphabet * Cee, Spain, A Coruña, Galicia * Center for Excellence in Education, US * Central and Eastern Europe * Centre for Environment Education * Centre for the Economics of Education, Lon ...

and Blake Shelton, but eventually chose Blake as her coach. She later emerged victorious over Sara Oromchi in the battle round phase, singing a duet of " I'll Stand By You". Two of the studio versions of her live performances, "

Price Tag A price tag is a label declaring the price of an item for sale. It may be a sticker or attached by twist tie or other means. Some jurisdictions require items (possibly exceptions for bulk good and produce) to be individually marked with the pr ...

" and "

The Man Who Can't Be Moved "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" is the second single from Irish band the Script from their debut album ''The Script''. The song was released on 25 July 2008. The song was used heavily in the CBS show ''Ghost Whisperer'' during its fourth season. Th ...

", charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. "

" entered the

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

chart at 116 before climbing to 99 on the Hot 100 charts the subsequent week. She still keeps in touch with her coach, Blake Shelton, as well as past contestants such as

Dia Frampton Dia Frampton (born October 2, 1987) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. Frampton is the lead singer of the band Meg & Dia, was the runner-up in the inaugural season of ''The Voice,'' and is perhaps most known for her presence and col ...

Nakia Nakia Reynoso (born February 20, 1975), known professionally as Nakia, is an American musician, singer-songwriter and actor living in Austin, Texas. He is a native of Fort Payne, Alabama. Professional background Nakia moved to Austin in 200 ...

and Vicci Martinez.

2011–present: ''Sing You Home'', collaboration with Blake Shelton, and ''Artemisa''

Riding on the influence from her participation in The Voice, Xenia gave her first hometown performance at the 17th annual Temecula Valley International Film and Music Festival, singing her cover of "

" by

The Script The Script are an Irish rock band formed in 2001 in Dublin, consisting of lead vocalist and keyboardist Danny O'Donoghue, lead guitarist Mark Sheehan, and drummer Glen Power. The band moved to London after signing to Sony Label Group imprint ...

, which was her debut song on The Voice. Thanks to her former coach Blake Shelton, Xenia was also able to wrap up a performance at Los Angeles' Key Club, late December 2011, with singer-songwriter

Jon McLaughlin John or Jon McLaughlin may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John McLaughlin (musician) (born 1942), English jazz fusion guitarist, member of Mahavishnu Orchestra * Jon McLaughlin (musician) (born 1982), American singer-songwriter * John McLaugh ...

. They sang a duet of " Maybe It's Over". She has named Jon McLaughlin,

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...

and

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

as her inspirations. She is currently signed to Universal Republic Records, and released her debut EP ''Sing You Home'' on December 20, 2011. She has described the genre of this EP to be "inspiring soul pop". It peaked at #3 on the iTunes Pop charts, and #10 on the iTunes overall charts. She has since filmed a music video for her EP's lead single, "Sing You Home". Her robust, raspy voice has also gained the attention of celebrities like

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'', where she rema ...

and

Avril Lavigne Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. At age 16, she signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records. Her debut studio album, ''Let Go (Avril Lavigne album), Let Go'' (2002), is the ...

, who shared her music video on their YouTube channels. "Sing You Home" has now gained over 500,000 views on YouTube. Xenia is working with a band to complete a full record in plans of having a full-length concert and going on tour in the near future. She has since parted ways with Universal, but went on to release a single, "Hiding Places", on September 25. A music video for "Hiding Places" has been filmed and is to be released in the future. Xenia was featured on Blake Shelton's first Christmas album in 2012, ''

Cheers, It's Christmas ''Cheers, It's Christmas'' is the first Christmas album and seventh studio album by American country music artist Blake Shelton. It was released on October 2, 2012, through Warner Bros. Nashville. Shelton co-wrote three tracks for the album. Co ...

'', providing guest vocals for the song " Silver Bells". Xenia released a cover of "

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

" on September 27 for digital download. Xenia was later slated to perform the National Anthem at the televised 2013 Discover Orange Bowl game, but was replaced just hours before the game by country artist Ayla Brown, daughter of former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown. Xenia appears in the 2014 Independent feature film

Life Inside Out ''Life Inside Out'' is a 2013 American independent film directed by Jill D'Agnenica, written by Maggie Baird and Lori Nasso and starring Baird, Finneas O'Connell, David Cowgill, Nasso, William Dennis Hunt, and Goh Nakamura. The film premiered in c ...

singing "Hiding Places" as the character Xenia. In August 2014, Xenia announced via Facebook that she is in the process of finishing her second EP, "Artemisa," which is titled after her grandmother. The EP is set to be released in the fall.

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

Videography

Music videos

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xenia 1994 births The Voice (franchise) contestants Living people 21st-century American singers People from Temecula, California 21st-century American women singers