Hyde Park's Mia Z advances on NBC's 'The Voice'

Hyde Park resident Mia Zanotti will move on to the next round of NBC TV's show, “The Voice.”

Singing under the stage name Mia Z, she is one of 12 singers who will be moving on to the singing contest's next live show on Monday night.

At the start of the evening Wednesday, each of the four coaches had a team of five singers. The two singers who received the highest number of votes from the public automatically moved on. Each coach chose a third contestant from their team to advance.

She sang a rendition of “Ain't No Sunshine” on Monday's live broadcast.

In a telephone interview with the Valley News Dispatch after last night's show, Mia said she was “honestly shocked” that a nationwide audience voted her to continue in the competition.

“I'm not necessarily the all-American girl, so it's an extreme blessing,” she said. “But it's bittersweet because some of my friends had to leave.”

Mia is on singer/producer Pharrell Williams' team. The other artists on his team to advance were Sawyer Fredericks and Koryn Hawthorne.

Mia said she and her family will stay in Los Angeles, where the show broadcasts, through next week, when she'll find out if she advances to yet another round.

Mia, 16, is a sophomore at Kiski Area High School.

“I love it,” she said, “but I miss being home.”

What happens now

She and the other 11 artists will compete in live performances and the audience will vote to keep their favorites. The three artists with the lowest number of votes are eligible for an “instant save.”

Those artists will perform a new song and then the audience has the opportunity to save the artist via Twitter posts.

The two singers with the lowest number of votes will be sent home each week.

Zanotti said it's going to be tough competing against such great fellow artists.

“I'm just trying to enjoy the moment and the experience,” she said.

“I'm so blessed for this opportunity, and I thank God for it every day.

“And thank you, America.”

Jodi Weigand is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 724-226-4702or jweigand@tribweb.com.