Idol Chatter & Voice Views

DaNica Shirey peforms during her Friday night homecoming show at The Pullo Center in York. (Mark Franklin Photo)

The 25-year-old dazzled a crowd despite repeatedly apologizing for a voice she said wasn’t in tip-top shape for a show that DaNica described as her first-ever real concert.

Which is pretty amazing, considering all the success she’s enjoyed over the past five months.

But remember, this is a young lady who had pretty much walked away from the stage for three and a half years.

That was before her cover of “Big White Room” earned her a spot on Team Pharrell Williams for Season 7 of the most popular singing show on TV.

That was before her battle round performance of “Halo” with Toia Jones attracted nearly 2 million views on YouTube.

That was before she turned in a brilliant live performance of Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing” in front of a national audience en route to a Top 8 finish.

DaNica had already enjoyed one homecoming show, singing snippets of four songs to backing tracks in front of a packed house during a brief stop home in early December, while Season 7 was still under way.

This time around, she had Columbia-based soul-funk bank Shrimpboat playing behind her as her voice soared through an 18-song set while fans shouted “I love you” between numbers.

Most of those fans, of course, were there because she is the local voice from The Voice.

Bob Wood of York says he watches The Voice religiously, thought DaNica did “extremely well” on the show and said it made it fun to have someone from the county competing for the Season 7 crown.

David Dissinger of Red Lion said he voted for DaNica every week.

“I thought she was better than she finished,” he said, “but she said she didn’t have much of a social media following before the show, so I guess she did well considering that.”

Voting every week? Shelley Albright and her husband, Jake, from Hanover, can top that.

“We used all three phones to vote for her. She should have won,” Shelley said. “She’s magnificent. She has a beautiful voice, and she’s able to sing a variety of songs.”

DaNica displayed that ability again Friday night, singing songs ranging from Al Green’s “Love and Happiness” to ZZ Ward’s “Put the Gun Down.”

She treated fans to several of her now-signature covers from The Voice, though she avoided Heart’s “These Dreams,” the song that led to her elimination.

Her reprise of Whitney’s “I Have Nothing” brought the crowd to its feet for a standing ovation. The fans were standing again when she delivered Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” as an encore.

How did homecoming number two turn out?

Just ask John Myers of East Berlin, who was also on hand for homecoming number one. He got tickets to Friday’s show as a Valentine’s gift from girlfriend Terry Keller of Mechanicsburg, who said they were both fans of DaNica when she was on The Voice.

“Oh, my gosh, this was unbelievable,” John said. “She was amazing. I loved it.”

Near the end of Friday’s show, DaNica Shirey took photos of fans so she would have a memento of her first-ever real concert. (Mark Franklin Photo)