Moorestown native Courtney Halpin MacBride, who goes by the artist name CORii, secured a spot on Team Reba on season 24 of NBC’s “The Voice” by singing “Scared to Be Lonely,” by Dua Lipa and Martin Garrix.
“As I’ve watched the show for the many years that I’ve been watching it since it started, we’re so quick to judge people, like watching videos and being like, ‘That wasn’t even that good’ or ‘I could do so much better,’ and I’m guilty of saying that from watching,” she said.
“From being in that experience, this was so intense, because people are turned away from you and they’re listening to every little thing, and you’re also doing it for a live audience at the exact same time.”
It wasn’t until she was a student at Moorestown High School that MacBride started songwriting. She would go on to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she connected with people who had similar passions. She eventually moved to Los Angeles, performing in venues all over, and some of her original songs got television placements.
A few years ago, MacBride competed on NBC’s “Songland,” where she showcased “What If” It has amassed more than 500,000 streams on Spotify alone. Along with L.A., she has performed extensively in Philadelphia and New York City.
When not fulfilling mom duties or performing, MacBride writes and sings music for national cheer competitions, hustles for television and film placements and teaches singing. She and her husband live in Haddon Township with their son, Brooks. Now, after taking a step back to prioritize her family, she’s ready to get back into the music industry.
“I got this opportunity to be on ‘The Voice’ and I took it, and I’m really glad I did, because not only has it been just an amazing step for my career, but mentally it was really good for me,” MacBride explained. “Because when you become a mom, you’re just hyper-focused on your child and just trying to have them thrive and do well in society and just make sure that he’s okay.”
MacBride’s blind audition for “The Voice” made her the most nervous she’s ever been, but she will also never forget it.
“I definitely was told, ‘Make sure you take a deep breath when you get up there,’ and I don’t even think I breathed,” she recalled. “I don’t remember literally anything that was said to me. It’s just like a wild, wild experience, but it was awesome …”
MacBride didn’t expect to see show judge Reba McEntire turn her chair – indicating a vote for the contestant to be on that judge’s team – but the morning of the tryout, she had an intuition it could happen.
“That morning that I woke up I had this weird feeling, like I just had this flash in my brain that I was going to be on team Reba,” MacBride noted, “which was strange, because that wasn’t even anywhere near an option for me.
“My sister was telling me that she thought that that’s who I was going to go with in the end, which was hilarious.”
“The Voice” has stages that include battle rounds, knockouts, playoffs and live performances, and MacBride looks forward to showing people what she’ll bring to the show.
“I’m just really excited for everyone to see this battle because it is so good …” she said. “This is really, really going to be special, and I’m really excited.”
“The Voice” airs on Monday and Tuesday at 8 p.m. For more information, visit https://www.nbc.com/the-voice.
