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Iowa State student EllieMae joins ‘The Voice’ on NBC

Oct. 8, 2019 1:20 pm, Updated: Oct. 8, 2019 6:04 pm
Another singer with Iowa ties has made it through the fifth night of Blind Auditions to join Blake Shelton's team on 'The Voice.”
EllieMae Millenkamp, a senior at Iowa State University in Ames, performed the Kacey Musgraves debut hit 'Merry Go Round” on Monday night's episode of the NBC singing competition. Shelton hit the button to turn his chair around toward the end of her song, then stood to cheer and applaud her, bringing her to tears.
'I think that you're really great,” said judge Kelly Clarkson. 'I love your tone, I love your song selection, and you have the best coach.”
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'Hi, EllieMae,” Shelton said. 'We're supposed to hear somebody that we like and coach 'em. And I heard enough - I wanted you on my team. Welcome to Team Blake.”
She joins Salem, Iowa, native Cali Wilson on Team Blake.
Millenkamp, clad in a cowboy hat and stylish overalls, was born and raised on her family's 15,000-acre dairy farm in Jerome, Idaho. She began singing in church, taught herself to play the guitar in seventh grade and now has her own band. She's studying agriculture business at ISU but is stretching her musical wings, too.
Season 17 of 'The Voice” airs at 7 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays on NBC. See Millenkamp's audition at nbc.com/the-voice/episodes/season-17
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Iowa State University senior EllieMae, of Jerome, Idaho, performs during Monday night's Blind Auditions on 'The Voice.' Coach Blake Shelton liked what he heard, and put her on his team. The vocal competition show airs at 7 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays on NBC-TV. (Justin Lubin/NBC photo)