By Julia Train
After spending months filming season 24 of NBC’s The Voice, Galloway’s Mara Justine is back home.
After being selected for the blind auditions, the 21-year-old had about a month to prepare and practice. She recalled trying to keep her spirits high as she got ready for the important day so that she could give it her everything.
“I prayed for this opportunity so when it came, it felt like the right timing. From being on two other shows, I had gained so much wisdom from that and I felt like I was able to give it my all,” said Justine.
Once she snagged a spot on the show in September, Justine spent the following months traveling back and forth between Los Angeles and New Jersey, filming a couple of episodes at a time until the live shows in December.
Justine has been singing her entire life. The Absegami High School alum remembered her mom telling her that she was always singing as a child. However, she took singing lessons at 8 years old and continued up until she graduated.
Through training, school productions and other local gigs, Justine has quite a repertoire that even involves multiple on-screen performances. At 11 years old, she auditioned for season 9 of “America’s Got Talent” and made it to the top 12 before being eliminated. At 15 years old, she was on season 16 of “American Idol”, but was sent home after making it to the top 14.
She didn’t let those experiences keep her from chasing her dream, though.
After spending some time away from the screen, Justine returned with a performance of Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” during blind auditions. Her powerful performance was followed by all four judges immediately turning around, John Legend being the first.
While all of them wanted her, Legend and Niall Horan fought for her. Horan begged on his knees and pushed his button to make a foam finger drop from the ceiling, but Legend had a trick up his sleeve. He and Justine sang an impromptu duet of his song “All of Me.”
Although she came in with her mind set on country legend Reba McEntire, the duet led her to choose “Team Legend.”
“After I sang with him, I felt like we had a connection and I feel like he suited me really well and my heart was telling me to go in that direction,” she said.
Horan later exacted revenge when Justine chose him to be her coach after he and Gwen Steffani both attempted to steal her during knockouts. She said getting to know and work with him was a blessing.
Justine said the overall experience was unlike any other and that she was given the opportunity to grow and learn, both as a singer and human.
She learned to not be afraid of being herself and that there’s strength in vulnerability. Performing-wise, she learned that “what’s important is the love behind the music.”
“My dream is to, wherever I end up, just be singing on stage. I would really love to be a light in the world and an inspiration and put out some music that can make people feel something special,” she said. Justine also wishes to record music in the future.
As for now, she’s been learning how to play guitar and has some gigs lined up, including her performance at The Cove in Brigantine on Saturday, Jan. 13, held to thank her supporters.
“I’ve just been planning and getting myself together for whatever may come my way,” Justine said.
Photos by Steffen Klenk
Julia is a student at Rider University, majoring in multiplatform journalism with a minor in social media strategies. At school, she writes and is news editor for The Rider News and is the News Director for the radio station, producing news updates. She’ll be graduating in the spring. Connect with her on Instagram @juliatrain
