![\"Brittenee](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790146211_33_author_avatar.png\"){kind=avatar}
<\/p>\nBirmingham singer Valarie T. Smith reflects on ‘The Voice’ experience, shares what’s next<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As Season 30 of NBC’s “The Voice” gets underway, one Birmingham singer is looking back on the experience that helped take her career to new heights.<\/p>\n
Valarie T. Smith appeared on Season 25 of the singing competition, earning a four-chair turn during her blind audition with a performance of Deborah Cox’s “Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here.”<\/p>\n
Despite years of experience performing, Smith said she still remembers how nervous she was when she stepped onto the national stage.<\/p>\n
>> YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD: Community coverage from WVTM 13<\/a><\/p>\n “My knees were absolutely shaking,” Smith said. “But I remember at the moment that I took the stage and I opened my mouth. The first thing I did was I hummed right before I went into the verse, and it kind of helped me release a little bit of the nerves.”<\/p>\n Webb went on to compete on Team Chance, where she said Chance the Rapper encouraged her to embrace her experience as a performer and gave her the freedom to be herself onstage.<\/p>\n While appearing on the show introduced Webb to a national audience, she said maintaining that momentum required just as much work after the competition ended. The exposure led to new bookings, including a ticketed theater performance in New Braunfels, Texas, where she performed for a packed audience of people she had never met.<\/p>\n But Smith said adjusting to life after the show also came with challenges, particularly when opportunities began to slow down.<\/p>\n “You start wondering like, what do I do next? What’s the next big thing?” she said.<\/p>\n Rather than relying solely on her television appearance, Smith continued accepting bookings, reaching out to venues and promoting herself on social media.<\/p>\n