Glen Cove's Shye wins her Knockout Round on 'The Voice,' advances to playoffs

With a breathtaking rendition of Katy Perry’s "The One That Got Away," Glen Cove-raised Shye survived the Knockout Round of the NBC singing competition "The Voice" Tuesday night, continuing her journey and winning kudos from her season 26 coach Michael Bublé and guest mentor Jennifer Hudson.

"I picked Shye because she may not just be one of my favorite voices of this season, but she may be one of my favorite voices of all time," multiple Grammy Award winner Bublé said on air. "She has a tonal quality that is exceptional. It's deep and rich and that's the kind of voice you want to hear on the radio. Whatever it is, she's got it."

"To be that young and to be able to emote and connect, you can't teach that," said Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award winner Hudson of Shye.

Shye’s emotionally deep performance of Perry's 2011 No. 3 hit bested two fellow Team Bublé competitors: J. Paul, who is in his late 30s and a former backup singer for Stephanie Mills, and who performed Seal’s "Kiss from a Rose"; and 19-year-old crooner Edward Preble, who covered Judy Collins’ Stephen Sondheim-penned "Send in the Clowns" and was stolen by Team Reba McEntire.

Shye told Newsday Wednesday she chose "The One That Got Away" because, “It really represents so many people's stories and some of my own, even at my age — that there is somebody you love, whether it's a family member or a past relationship, and sometimes you look back after they’re out of your life because of a falling out or whatever and you wish there were more you could have done to keep them in your life.”

Having only turned 18 last month, she projects an empathy beyond her years. Partly that is due to her mother, Sheila Roberts, who “really connects with the song, because she's lived so much life. She's 60 years old, proudly, and she's had so many relationships like this, where she knows there are things she would've done differently to keep them around. But sometimes,” Shye adds, “you just don't have control over that thing.”

Avoiding such regret had led Sheila Roberts, who has had a series of severe medical issues over the years and was preparing for the worst, to record YouTube videos she dubbed “Shye’s Diaries.”

“Me and my siblings would make little skits or stupid horror movies or parodies and stuff,” Shye says. “And she explained to me later it was a way for me to see myself through her eyes, which is really beautiful and so sad. She was, like, ‘You're never really going to have many memories of me, but I want you to remember that I was there for all of these things.’ Luckily she got to live. So now it's a sweet memory rather than a bittersweet memory.”

Conquering the Knockout was bittersweet, however. “I was surprised” at winning, she says, “because I love Edward Preble's voice. He's my best friend on 'The Voice' and I thought he was going to win just because of the delivery of his song. It was just beautiful. And J. Paul has had so much years of experience with singing and the way he executes things is so flawless. So I was convinced, ‘It’s so over.’ ”

Growing up in Glen Cove, Shye, born Madison Roberts, attended Landing Elementary School, Robert Finley Middle School and Glen Cove High School, earning singing honors and starring in school productions of "In the Heights," "Miss Saigon" and other musicals. In her senior year, she transferred to the Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, when her family relocated to that city. She graduated this year.

With her Knockout Round win, Shye advances to the Playoffs, where each coach can advance only two members of their team to the Live Shows.