FORSYTH COUNTY — Forsyth County’s own Riley Biederer has made it past several rounds of a nationally televised singing competition, and now needs her community’s help to reach the next level.
The 19-year-old singer/songwriter and former West Forsyth High School student is set to take the stage today or Tuesday on “The Voice,” a reality competition on NBC that awards a recording deal to the winner.
The previous three rounds she survived involved four celebrity coaches — Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani and Pharrell Williams — choosing who moves on.
After initially being selected by Pharrell, she was on Stefani’s team for one week before Pharrell “stole” her back to his team.
With the field of contestants down to 24, half of the singers will be sent home by the end of the week.
Live performances will air Monday and Tuesday starting at 8 p.m., with a results show at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
“If Riley can advance, she’s going to need support. And support in the form of votes and shares instead of likes and views,” said her father and informal manager, Frank Biederer.
“One out of every two people goes home. It’s hard not to be nervous when you know there’s so much talent and so many people are going home.”
There are four ways to vote. Voting is open until the morning after she performs.
“The Voice” app
Download the “The Voice” application to any smart mobile device and vote up to 10 times per artist per email address or 10 times per artist per valid Facebook account.
NBC.com
Vote up to 10 times per artist per email address at nbc.com/the-voice.
Vote up to 10 times per artist per valid Facebook at https://www.facebook.comNBCTheVoice/.
iTunes
Purchase and download Biederer’s eligible songs on iTunes during the voting period. Each purchase counts for one vote.
If any of her eligible songs make it into the top 10 of the iTunes “Top 200 Singles Chart” at the close of the voting period, her iTunes votes for that song will be multiplied by 10.
“I like her odds if she gets past this round,” Frank Biederer said. “Then, instead of one of every two people, it will be two or one … that gets sent home [each week]. Those are much better odds.”
“Time for her to have a little fun”
He said his daughter is leveraging her social media presence to round up support.
The pop-soul artist, who had a record deal with Elton John’s management company, Rocket Music, as a younger teenager, has nearly 260,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel. Her videos have been viewed more than 27 million times.
She has about 13,000 followers on Twitter, and more than 73,000 people have liked her Facebook page.
“We hope the community will support her and get behind her,” her father said.
Biederer’s parents — Frank and Tisha Murphy, a special education teacher at North Forsyth High School — flew to Los Angeles over the weekend to be with their daughter for her performance.
“She’s got a great song that she’s really happy with, but still it’s a song that requires her to bring it as an artist,” Frank Biederer said. “It’s not an easy song to sing. That’s the challenge, but she’s pretty excited how it has worked out in rehearsals.”
The situation can be nerve-wracking, and she has talked previously how choosing the perfect song and finding an outfit that makes her comfortable will help her confidence.
“It’s a challenging environment to perform in because it’s different than just doing a show,” her father said. “There’s more pressure involved because there’s the component of being sent home and the component of seeking the approval of very accomplished stars, and obviously the whole being on TV part.
“I definitely think it’s going to help her confidence moving forward beyond ‘The Voice’ to be able to go on TV and perform at a high level. That’s going to help her in the future as bigger things come her way.”
Nerves aside, he said they hope the community votes for the Forsyth native and that she has a good time.
“When she decided to go on ‘The Voice,’ I supported her decision … one of the main reasons I did was no matter what happens, it was time for her to have a little fun,” he said. “To keep the passion in her career. It’s been an energizing thing for her.”