FOLEY, Mo. — Foley, Missouri, native Ruby Leigh will be moving on to the next round of competition on NBC's "The Voice."
The 16-year-old performed on Monday night's Top 12 Live Show of "The Voice," singing the country ballad "You Lie," originally sung by her coach and mentor Reba McEntire.
During the Live Shows, fans can vote to save their favorite artist from elimination. During Tuesday night's show, Leigh learned that the fans had spoken and she'd be moving on to the Top 9.
Monday's Top 12 performers go down to eight after America's vote. The four musicians with the lowest number of votes face off Tuesday hoping for the competition's one "Instant Save" to advance to the semi-finals.
Voting will continue for the Dec. 11 episode (top 9 artists) and Dec. 18 episode (top 5 artists). The voting window is 8:55 p.m. to 6 a.m. Central Time after the shows.
Fans can vote via the show's website or The Voice App and get one vote per email address per method.
A crowd of friends and fans packed into JP's Hideout in Cottleville Monday night, ready to watch the teen compete in the first live show.
"They just make a wonderful pair," Ruth Intlekofer, a Ruby Leigh fan from Foristell, said of Leigh and McEntire. "When Ruby was here at JP's Hideout a couple weeks ago, we felt so honored, Ruby shared with us that Reba calls her on the telephone and actually has normal conversations with her."
JP's Hideout said they'll be hosting another watch party if Leigh progresses to the next round. Her family has become closer with the owner, John Windfeldt, and his daughters, who are friends with Leigh. The group all met thanks to Leigh's father, Casey Pearson, asking Windfeldt if his 13-year-old daughter at the time could perform at his bar and restaurant.
"I actually had to look up where Foley, Missouri, was," Windfeldt said. "It's teeny-tiny. But I did learn about it and they're just great people. I just love them. I love that they're a part of our life. It's really nice."
While everyone was waiting at JP's hideout to watch Leigh perform her self-proclaimed challenging song on "The Voice," she said backstage just hours before she was going to perform in Los Angeles that "I have a great song."
"I'm very happy with (You Lie)," Leigh said. "It's actually a very difficult song. I did a rehearsal with Reba and she was just like, 'I helped pick this song because I know that you'd be able to sing it. It's such a hard song to sing.' I was like, 'Thanks, Reba.'"
The country western artist who made the piece famous said after hearing Leigh's performance: "The way you can hold a note and it's so powerful."
"It just absolutely slays me," McEntire added. "The best thing you can do is to connect with the person when you're singing. You're definitely doing it."
Tissue in hand, Leigh's coach said, "Gwen (Stefani) and I are bawling. Way to go. Loved it."
"The Voice" airs Mondays at 7 p.m. on 5 On Your Side and streams the next day on Peacock.
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