Exclusive: Kala Banham Reveals How Past Rejections Fuel Her Success on ‘The Voice’

Heavy/NBC Kala Banham appears on Season 23 of The Voice.

Kala Banham knows a thing or two about rejection. It’s not something she nor anyone wants to experience, but Banham shared with Heavy that all of those “almost maybes” she encountered are what got her to the Knockouts Round on Season 23 of “The Voice.”

Viewers will be familiar with Banham. She is the only contestant this season to be a part of three separate teams, first joining Niall Horan’s squad after the Blind Auditions, then being stolen by Kelly Clarkson and being stolen again by Chance The Rapper after her Knockouts performance. She is one of the five members of Chance’s playoff team that will get things started on the May 1 episode.

Kala Banham Isn’t New to ‘The Voice’ After Many Prior Attempts

There’s a level of resiliency in the Florida native that makes it easy to understand why she is unfazed at having had three different coaches after just four performances. She’s been through the wringer, grinding her way just to get on the long-running NBC competition series.

Banham revealed that she had previously auditioned four times before getting the go ahead that she would be appearing on Season 23. She first began trying out for “The Voice” in January 2019 and continued doing so until she got her foot in the door. The first audition was in person, she shared, while the rest of them were done virtually.

“It’s funny because with each rejection you would think I would get more and more discouraged,” she told Heavy. “But I was very close each time, so I felt it was going to be a matter of time. It was really meant to be.”

In those four prior attempts at getting onto the show, Banham, 24, said the producers don’t offer much feedback, either. They encourage each contestant to return, but according to Banham, the onus is on the individual to step back into the ring and risk facing failure again. She called it a “trial and error process.”

‘The Voice’ Wasn’t the Only Show She Tried Out For

Trae Patton/NBCKala Banham performs during the Knockout Rounds on “The Voice.”

Banham didn’t just limit her exposure to “The Voice,” either. She told Heavy that she also auditioned for “American Idol” when she was 16 years old. She said she made it far enough in the pre-show auditions that she was able to sing in front of the celebrity judges at the time: Jennifer Lopez, Harry Connick Jr. and Keith Urban.

Her audition was clipped into a montage that the then-Fox program aired. She was among a group that didn’t receive the golden tickets to Hollywood.

“I got a ‘no,’ which was justified,” she said. “I was not ready at that point in my life. I’m really happy with the way things have worked out.”

Banham Has Already Seen Her Growth From ‘The Voice’

Since that moment, and thanks in large part to the experience she had on Season 23 of “The Voice,” Banham said she could see the growth in herself. One of the things that held her back in those failed attempts was her confidence, she said. On “The Voice,” it’s sink or swim, so Banham said she was thankful that the competition has strengthened her in that regard, claiming it has helped her “with high-pressure situations.”

“I’ve dealt with really bad stage nerves for my entire life,” Banham said. “It’s gotten better over time, but I’ve never had performances like this where you perform for millions of people at home but also huge names in the industry. With each performance, I feel more and more confident that I’m able to do the things that I have practiced and that I feel in touch with the song. It’s made me feel more confident.”

When asked about that hurdle, Banham said “believing in myself” was the thing holding her back both then and now.

“That was a huge reason I didn’t pursue music full time from the beginning,” Banham said. “I went to college and got a degree in public relations. I just never really thought that I could do [music]. That was something that was a challenge for me for the longest time.”

Now, Banham is 20 contestants competing for the Season 23 crown. She has also had the privilege of working under three of the four coaches on the show. It all came after those failed attempts earlier in her career, proving that the “almost maybes” of her past were exactly what she needed to reach the point she’s at today.