At just 16 years old, St.

Louis native Liv Sierra returned to The Voice for redemption.

♪♪ After a year of hard work, she earned two chair turns and won as runner-up on the 29th season of The Voice.

She joined me in the Nine PBS studio to speak on her journey.

Thanks so much for being here today, Liv.

Thank you for having me.

So just to start, like, how does it feel to be runner up of Season 29 of The Voice?

There's so many moments throughout The Voice journey where I've had to, like, just take a moment and like live in the moment because like I didn't get a chance to last season and it took so much work and so much kind of like mental strength to to be where I am now.

And I just have to take a moment like just to like be really proud of myself.

It's really it takes a lot of guts to kind of go back after you got turned away.

You were actually quoted saying like rejection as redirection.

Talk about that a little bit.

Yeah, it was it was crazy because I had worked so hard.

Like, even though I didn't get a chair turn in season 28, I had walked off the stage and I was like, listen, I was on TV.

I got to hug Nile Horn, Snoop Dogg, et cetera.

Like I got to hug all these amazing people.

I got to give them all suckers.

Like that alone was such a special experience.

But the fact that I left the stage feeling happy with what I had left and then the producers called me back and they're like, you know, you're not done here.

Your time is not over here.

And we want you to come back.

It was really special, but also very, very, it was a big task.

I saw them turn and I immediately glued my eyes shut.

I said, if I open my eyes and I look at these people, these two legends turn for me, I will collapse.

So I then, I open my eyes, but I focus on the audience, because I already got in a chair turn at that point.

So I was like, let me show them that I can perform at this point, and I can still have that vocal connection.

And then afterwards I did break down a little bit.

Thankfully they cut a lot out of it, because I was crying.

You can't help but be emotional, right?

Exactly, exactly.

It's such a big moment for you.

Yeah, and what's special is that they said exactly what I had been working on.

From the moment you started singing, we could really hear that connection.

And from that point on, it gave me the motivation to tell myself that if I really work on something, I can improve.

And I really did improve throughout the season.

Did you know what team you wanted to be on?

Were you gunning for Team Kelly?

Oh yeah.

She was my top choice.

She's so incredible and she's so experienced in the sense that we both kind of started out in the same, the same kind of, yep, she started out young on another TV show, singing TV show, and throughout the coaching process she kept tying into that and giving me tips on how to deal with that and being overwhelmed with everything that's going on around you because you know we both grew up in not smaller towns but just kind of like like sheltered and you haven't been out there and to do that when you're young is a big big task and she gave me so many tips on how to handle that and how to really deal with that but to also realize that I am here for a reason and I have to accept that I'm here for a reason so I can really show the audience what makes me different.

I have to talk about your parents a little bit because you're so young and it seems like they support you in this choice that you've decided music is your the path that you want to follow.

What's it like to have your parents kind of support your your dream?

It's really special.

They kind of knew.

I have a feeling they were probably waiting for it.

Yeah, they're probably waiting for the moment.

Yeah, but eventually when that moment came and I was like okay it started with my dad's band and I was like 13 12 13 years old I came up to my parents and I was like okay well actually my dad offered me to step in and do a show with him and I was like I was just about to ask it was like the perfect timing and so from that moment on I was like this is really really cool and really special and having such a great support system like that for my friends my family and also for my school as well from St.

Dominic it's really special and it's really motivating because anytime you kind of doubt yourself at any time you tend to pick yourself apart you have to remember that the people that support you really want the best for you I remember when I first auditioned for the voice my mom signed me up without me knowing she's like yeah you have your audition for like tomorrow's like okay but it was it was really I was like okay so she wants me to take this risk so I have to take this risk to stand up for my hometown and show that even though I'm from the Midwest like so many people can you know achieve their dreams out of it like Ruby Lee she was a contestant a few seasons ago she also got runner-up and and people like Chapel Roan and she grew up in Kansas City or no Springfield I think Springfield yeah yeah so people like that like it gives me that motivation that I can do that as well and I can achieve those dreams as well and you know I'm always working I'm always improving but you know one day I hope to show that people from Missouri people from wherever they can really become anything they want to become a question though like are you worried at all that this was like the peak of your career or do you feel like this is just the beginning well literally and one of my songs the beginning the last I'm so glad that's at the very end of my EP because like one of the last lyrics is this is just the beginning that has been my mantra this entire experience to the voice like I every time I would grow more throughout the voice and anytime I was writing my songs I would just tell myself if you think that this is good now this is just the beginning like I can't I'm open to anything in the future stay tuned because like I said this is just the beginning this is just the beginning for Liv Ciara yeah thank you so much thank you