THE VOICE’s Gina Zo opened up about what led her to temporarily step away from the music industry following her appearance on the show in an exclusive interview with The US Sun.
Gina – who competed on The Voice during season 10 at age 17 – admitted that life after the show wasn’t what she expected, and her experiences led her to step away from music completely.
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These days, the Pennsylvania native — whose birth name is Gina Costanzo, though known professionally as Gina Zo — has returned to the stage as the lead singer of the band Velvet Rouge, which is preparing to release its debut EP on July 26.
However, when she started out in the business world as a teenager, Gina had some mixed feelings about pursuing a singing career.
In an exclusive interview with The US Sun, the 28-year-old reflected on her memorable moment on The Voice, thanks to her mother’s encouragement, being on Team Blake and the consequences of being sent home during the battle rounds.
“I didn’t know I was going to get in, of course, but it had to be my idea,” Gina said of auditioning for the singing competition.
‘JUST GOT RIGHT’
“My mom told me my whole life, ‘You should go on The Voice. You should go on American Idol’. And you never listen to your mom,” she continued.
‘So it took until my choir teacher pissed me off about something I said, you know what, I’m going to graduate from high school and I’m going to go on The Voice.
Gina appeared on the show as Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera and Pharrell sat in the trainer’s chairs.
Having auditioned later in the blinds, most of the judges had already filled their teams, except for Blake, who was waiting for another featured artist.
After hearing Gina’s incredible voice, Blake turned his chair around and the two continued working together for several episodes after that.
Gina even had Blake’s now wife, Gwen Stefani, as a mentor during a week of competition.
But Gina’s time on The Voice came to an end when she was beaten in the battle rounds by fellow contestant Peyton Parker.
The experience was a whirlwind for Gina, who was fresh out of high school when she entered the show and soon after singing for a record label.
“When I left The Voice, I signed to a small record label and eventually formed my band,” the former TV star explained before detailing her love/hate relationship with the industry that followed.
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“I realized a little bit that I hated the music industry, that it was horrible that people were so sexist and didn’t trust young women and just wanted to use them.
“And then I stopped for a while, and when I came back, that was when I formed Velvet Rouge a few years ago,” Gina said proudly.
Later in the interview, Gina again discussed her early days in the industry and emphasized that signing to a record label wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.
“What shall I say to this, and it is not to call [the record label] out in any aspect. This is not intended to make anyone feel hurt. But I think when you’re a young woman in the industry, you’re the perfect person for everyone. Everyone wants a piece of you”, began the artist.
“I felt like my vision wasn’t being taken seriously. I felt like I was constantly being told that if I didn’t follow what they said was the best plan, then I didn’t want my career. anything.”
TAKE COMMAND
It was then that she vowed to only work with those who shared the same vision for her music.
“I hated everything about music. I hated, hated, hated, and everyone thought it was so cool that I was signed to a record deal. And, yes, it’s cool to a point, but not when the people you’re working with don’t cares about you.
“And then when I came back to music, I thought, I’m doing this my way. I’m working with the people I want to work with. I’m only working with people who trust my vision. I’m tired of working with people because they say can offer you something.”
Gina continued: “And that’s my biggest advice to the younger generation of singers that are coming up now: don’t sign with someone just because they say they can do something for you.
“That’s not the right answer, and you’ll end up being overly sexualized, and you’ll be put in rooms you shouldn’t be in, and you’ll feel like you’re not good enough if you don’t work with the people you know you should, and at 18, You don’t know any of this.
“You don’t have that understanding of who you are, who you want to be. And so you really want to be with people who want the best for you. And unfortunately, I definitely wasn’t.”
BACK
Gina added that leaving gave her clarity about what she wanted for her future and how she wanted to get there.
“It totally changed everything for me when I walked away and came back on my own terms, and [Velvet Rouge] they have never been so successful since they led this situation.
“And now I feel like I look back at the voice with so much joy, and I look back at the time when I was on the record not with hate, and now it’s more like, oh, I can’t wait to prove you wrong. “, she concluded.
Velvet Rouge releases its EP this weekend and has a series of presentations scheduled in the tri-state area during the summer.
In May, the band released the first single from the album Lonely Since The Day We Met and your music video.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
