Liv Ciara is a 16-year-old singer from St. Peters, Missouri, who auditioned for The Voice on NBC twice — the first time no one turned their chair, and the second time she made the Season 29 finale. That second audition, aired on February 23, 2026, on the Season 29 premiere, produced two chair turns from Kelly Clarkson and Adam Levine. Liv chose Team Kelly. As of April 15, 2026, she is one of four Voice finalists competing for the Season 29 title. Kelly Clarkson compared her to a young Mariah Carey. It wasn't just the vocal range that caught the public's attention; it was the poise of a teenager who had already heard 'no' once and refused to let it be the final word.
Who is Liv Ciara? The St. Peters, Missouri Native Behind the Voice
Liv Ciara's full first name is Olivia. She is 16 years old, a junior at St. Dominic High School, a Catholic school in O'Fallon, Missouri, near her hometown of St. Peters. Liv Ciara has been a working musician since she was 13 — not in the way that most teenagers casually describe themselves as musicians, but in a literal, performing sense: at 13, she joined her father's cover band and started playing real gigs.
Justin Stewart and the Groovethang Influence
Ciara's father is Justin Stewart, the lead vocalist and keyboardist for a band called Groovethang. While Justin Stewart’s work with Groovethang focused on high-energy funk and soul covers, Liv Ciara has pivoted that influence into a more contemporary, 'bedroom pop' aesthetic found on her latest EP.
He is her biggest musical influence and the person she credits most directly for her development as a performer. She told Fox 2 Now: "I honestly couldn't see myself doing anything else. Music is so special, and I want to write songs and perform so other people can experience that connection." She plays piano and guitar in addition to singing.
Justin Stewart's band has an unexpected connection to The Voice's coaching panel: Groovethang once opened for Michael Bublé at a birthday party in St. Louis. During her Season 28 audition, Liv mentioned this to Bublé, who was a guest coach that season, and gave each of the judges a sucker — her father's idea, she explained, as a callback to that original encounter. It was the kind of moment that stays with a viewer and hints at how comfortable she is with performance even off-script.
Her ethnicity has not been specifically disclosed by Liv or her family in any public source. She is from Missouri, attends a Catholic high school, and her musical identity is rooted in pop, soul, and R&B — a range that her performances on the singing series have reflected across multiple styles and eras.
Liv Ciara The Voice Audition Season 29: From Rejection to Team Kelly
The Season 28 audition is where Liv Ciara's story actually starts. She sang "Espresso" by Sabrina Carpenter. No coaches turned their chairs. But what each of the coaches said as she was leaving defined what happened next.
Niall Horan: "It was all down to the song choice. You gotta give yourself a little bit more room to do your thing because it's clear and obvious how good of a singer you are."
Reba McEntire: "Hopefully come back again, try it again, maybe with a different type of song. I think she'll come back, and I think she'll do well."
Snoop Dogg: She had "no weaknesses."
Liv told cameras she had "kind of lost hope for a second." Then the phrase "rejection is redirection" came to her during the feedback, and she decided to come back and do it differently. She spent the time between seasons performing constantly with her father's band and focusing specifically on one thing the coaches identified: emotional connection to a song, not performance technique.
For Season 29 of the show, Liv Ciara chose Ariana Grande's "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)" — a slower, more vulnerable song that gave her room to show range, control, and depth without hiding behind the pace of the original. Per Billboard's coverage of her audition, the performance earned chair turns from both Kelly Clarkson and Adam Levine. She chose Team Kelly.
The Liv Ciara Mikenley Brown Battle: A Season 29 Super Steal Moment
In the Battle Rounds, Liv Ciara was paired against Mikenley Brown — a 19-year-old singer from New Castle, Indiana, who had previously competed on American Idol in 2023 and was on Team Kelly after joining the show through her own blind audition. They performed H.E.R.'s "Focus" together.
Adam Levine called it "the best Battle Round he's ever heard on the show." Kelly Clarkson was forced to choose between them and selected Mikenley Brown as the winner of the battle. Liv Ciara was eliminated in the conventional sense — but Kelly immediately used her Super Steal to bring Liv back onto the team. A Super Steal is a one-use ability available to each coach, allowing them to save a contestant eliminated in a battle.
It was a strong signal. Kelly Clarkson saw enough in Liv Ciara to burn her only lifeline, keeping her in the competition. That decision proved well-founded. Mikenley Brown went on to the finale as well, making Team Kelly responsible for two of the four finalists in Season 29.
Both Mikenley Brown and Liv Ciara represent the NBC competition powerhouse standard that The Voice Season 29 established early on, built its strongest moments around — performers who are young, technically capable, and emotionally direct in their delivery without performing emotion. The same quality appears in music competition stories elsewhere: Keyla Richardson brought her full gospel identity to American Idol and stopped Lionel Richie in his tracks; Julian Kalel brought a literal return-from-mental-health-crisis story and made it the texture of every performance.
Liv Ciara's Voice Journey After the Battle — Knockouts to Finale
Following her survival via the Super Steal, Liv Ciara advanced through the Super Steal, Liv Ciara advanced through the Knockout Round on March 30, 2026, where she performed Kelly Clarkson's own "Breakaway" in a slowed-down, emotional reinterpretation. Her opponent was Abigayle Oakley. Mega mentor Michael Bublé worked with Team Kelly during rehearsals. Liv advanced; Abigayle was eliminated.
She then made the Top 9 and the Top 4. For the semi-finals, she performed Irene Cara's "Flashdance… What a Feeling," which earned her a spot in the Season 29 finale. Kelly Clarkson said, "Liv reminds me of a young Mariah when Mariah first hit the scene. At 16 years old, to be able to just float like that, with all that range and confidence as a performer, it's really rare."
The Season 29 finale airs April 15, 2026, on NBC. Liv Ciara is one of four finalists competing for the $100,000 prize and a recording contract. The other finalists are Mikenley Brown (Team Kelly), Lucas West (Team Legend), and one additional artist. If Liv wins, Clarkson would earn her fifth coaching victory on the show.
Marking her debut in the industry, Liv Ciara released her independent EP, OUT LOUD, in February 2026— original music released independently of the show, a signal that she is building a recording identity alongside the competition rather than waiting for it to define her.
Liv Ciara's Parents and the Music That Shaped Her
The most direct influence on Liv Ciara's musicianship is her father, Justin Stewart, who has been performing in bands throughout her life and brought her into that world at 13. Her mother has not been discussed in public interviews, and no details about her mother's background or involvement in Liv's musical life have been shared publicly.
The Groovethang connection to Michael Bublé — which Liv mentioned on-air in her Season 28 audition — gave her Season 29 story a personal thread beyond just "teenager who auditioned twice." It tied her father's career directly to the coaching panel of the show she was competing on, and it made the sucker moment something more than a quirk. It was a tribute from a daughter to the man who made her a musician.
At St. Dominic High School, which posted a Facebook tribute during her Season 28 appearance saying "we could not be more proud," Liv is completing her junior year while competing on a national music competition — The Voice — while completing junior year. That balance — high school junior, EP release, Voice finale — is the version of the teenage music career that young industry professionals like Taylor Dearden would recognize: building a real identity in a craft over time, not treating a competition as the whole story.
Liv Ciara — Key Facts
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Olivia "Liv" Ciara |
| Age | 16 |
| Hometown | St. Peters, Missouri |
| School | St. Dominic High School, O'Fallon, Missouri |
| The Voice Season | Season 29 (Battle of Champions, 2026) |
| Coach | Kelly Clarkson (Team Kelly) |
| Season 28 audition | "Espresso" by Sabrina Carpenter — no chair turns |
| Season 29 audition | "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)" by Ariana Grande — two chair turns |
| Battle Round | Lost to Mikenley Brown on H.E.R.'s "Focus" — saved by Kelly's Super Steal |
| Knockout Round | Performed "Breakaway" by Kelly Clarkson — advanced |
| Current status | The Voice Season 29 Finalist (Top 4)— Season 29 finale, April 15, 2026 |
| Father | Justin Stewart — vocalist and keyboardist, Groovethang |
| Instruments | Voice, piano, guitar |
| EP | OUT LOUD — released February 2026 |
| Kelly Clarkson comparison | "A young Mariah when Mariah first hit the scene." |
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Who is Liv Ciara?
Liv Ciara (full name Olivia Ciara) is a 16-year-old singer from St. Peters, Missouri, competing in the singing series on NBC in 2026. The Missouri native, originally for Season 28 with "Espresso" by Sabrina Carpenter and received no chair turns, then returned for Season 29 with Ariana Grande's "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)" and earned turns from both Kelly Clarkson and Adam Levine. She joined Team Kelly and advanced to the Season 29 finale.
Q: How old is Liv Ciara?
The finalist is currently 16 years old. A junior at St. Dominic High School in O'Fallon, she has maintained her studies while competing in back-to-back seasons of the NBC competition.
Q: Who is Liv Ciara's father?
Liv Ciara's father is Justin Stewart, the lead vocalist and keyboardist for a cover band called Groovethang. He is her primary musical influence — she joined his band at age 13 and has been performing live with him ever since. Groovethang once opened for Michael Bublé at a birthday party in St. Louis, which Liv mentioned during her Season 28 Voice audition.
Q: What happened in the Liv Ciara and Mikenley Brown battle?
In the Battle Rounds, the duo performed H.E.R.'s "Focus" together on Team Kelly. While Mikenley was named the winner, Clarkson utilized her Super Steal to keep Liv in the running for the finale.
Q: What is Liv Ciara's ethnicity?
Liv Ciara's ethnicity has not been specifically disclosed by her or her family in any public interview or social media source. She is from Missouri, attends St. Dominic High School, and her musical identity spans pop, soul, and R&B. No further information is publicly available.
Q: What is Liv Ciara's EP?
Liv Ciara released an EP called OUT LOUD in February 2026, before the Season 29 competitive rounds began. The EP includes original music as well as her cover of Ariana Grande's "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)," the same song she used for her Season 29 blind audition.
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