Article and photos by Larry Oskin –
Mari Jones and Kayslin Victoria are talented Clermont residents who are competing for a recording contract on The Voice, Season 16. Tonight Mari won her first battle, meaning that she will proceed to the next go round. Kayslin is preparing for the Voice Team Battle soon.
Meet Mari Jones
Mari has set the stage for superstardom! Originally from Oklahoma, she has lived here in Clermont since she was 5 years old. She was homeschooled until attending her last two years at Lake Minneola High School.
Now only 20, Mari is poised for success. She comes from a very musical family, her mother and father have been her primary voice coaches. Her father plays piano, writes and produces music and is an Executive Pastor. Both her mother and father are the Worship Leaders at The Lord’s House, their local church. The entire family regularly sing and perform at the Clermont church.
Friends at the Flying Scissors Salon
Mari actually started to shine as she won first place two years in a row at her annual high 
school talent shows. She graduated from Orange Technical College in Winter Garden with a cosmetology degree. She has been a licensed cosmetologist and makeup artist at Flying Scissors Salon in Clermont. Even though she started her career with hair design; her bigger cosmetology passion is with makeup. Her really true passion is joyously singing, stage performances and musical entertainment! Music has become her number one professional motivation as she now considers her hobbies as beauty, makeup, and fashion.
Music Training & Inspiration: Jones grew up around music at home and at church. Always staying close to music led by her dad growing up since her little bouncy chair and before she could talk, singing has always been a way of life. Besides singing at The Lord’s House, Jones worked with various theatre companies, attended music camps, studied theatre, music, singing, acting and stage presence.
The Voice Opportunity! Mari Jones admits her dream career is to be a singer, performing on stages across the country, while also writing, recording and producing her own music. While watching The Voice over the past few years and with support from her parents, she became self-motivated with the love of singing and music. She was determined to first audition with thousands of other singers in Atlanta and before then successfully auditioning in Los Angeles for the new Season 16 of The Voice. She loved the blind auditions with the celebrities, being extremely nervous, very happy and inspired all at once. Team Adam was her first choice, even before she got to the auditions.
Jones loves working with Adam Levine and being on ‘Team Adam’. She describes it as a very diverse team. Jones notes, “They share really valuable voice lessons, coaching and rehearsals with plenty of super informative guidance. They are all very kind, positive, helpful, informative and encouraging!”
Jones Favorites: Jones loves every genre of music. She grew up enjoying plenty of R&B, gospel, independent, alternative and pop music. Her favorite music is by the Paramour Band, Tori Kelly and Ariana Grande. She auditioned with ‘Boo’d Up’ by Ella Mai, ‘Expression is Survival’ by Hayley Williams.
She notes, “I love being different and standing out in a crowd! I really want to creatively help inspire others!” Her favorite restaurants and foods include Chipotle and Greek foods. She loves the many special events in South Lake and central Florida including Light Up Clermont, Pig On The Pond, and the Sunday Downtown Clermont Farmer’s Markets.
Win Or Lose = Singing Success! Mari Jones hopes to win the recording contract with all of the extras that go with that honor. She knows that win or lose, this opportunity to share her talents on national TV has really been wonderful. She plans to start singing and performing by herself. She strives to further develop her singing and writing skills. Once she hones her singing and performance skills, she may consider starting a band. In the meantime, she is happy with her journey on NBC’s The Voice, singing at church and working as a creative makeup artist. Jones adds, “The Voice experience has really been incredible! It is a lot of hard work. I truly treasure each moment that I am able to perform on The Voice, with new experiences and opportunities arising each day. I sincerely want to thank my parents for giving me all of the needed experience, coaching and training. I sincerely appreciate both of them for instilling in me the confidence and inspiriation to achieve greatness with the power of my voice!”
Hear Mari Sing! Visit YouTube: https://youtu.be/kfkjSDRyOQc and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfkjSDRyOQc
The Voice airs every Monday and Tuesday at 8 pm EST.
Learn more by visiting https://www.nbc.com/the-voice. Download The Voice App at https://www.nbc.com/apps.
EDITORIAL NOTE: Larry Oskin is a writer and photographer for the South Lake Tablet. He is the owner of Marketing Solutions / Art Beautique, offering creative marketing, media relations and professional fine art photography services. He is a board member of the Clermont Downtown Partnershipandthe Clermont Historic Village. For more information, contact Oskin at 407-395-9007 or at LOskin@MktgSols.com.
