16-year-old Liv Ciara came back to The Voice 2026 with a vengeance after her 2025 audition went down in flames. The St. Peters, Missouri talent focused too much on the performance element last time around and failed to get a chair turn. However, for her 2026 audition, she sang straight from the heart on Ariana Grande’s hit breakup anthem “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love).” When fans heard how much Liv had leveled up on this emotional performance, they said she could definitely win the season.
Liv instantly impressed the judges with her take on Ariana’s hit, turning Kelly Clarkson’s and then Adam Levine’s chairs within two lines. The teen showed off some major talent by really dialing into the emotional side of the lyrics while also showing off strong range and control. The Music Man has to say that Liv is definitely one of the strongest young contenders this season!
Liv’s audition went live on YouTube on February 25, 2026, where it hit 480,000 views. Her cover hit the spot for fans, who added comments such as “You can hear the difference from her first audition. Her first audition was singing – this was a performance from an artist” and “Fantastic audition. Her emotional voice pierces right through every heart. It’s a voice that makes you stop to listen and brings tears to your eyes. She could definitely win with Kelly. Good emotional connection and nailing those big notes.”
Liv’s 2025 The Voice audition on Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” proved to be popular with viewers, as it hit 320,000 views on YouTube. With this audition, you can definitely hear that she has a lot of talent. However, she doesn’t sound as assured and consistent with her delivery. It’s understandable that the coaches didn’t think she was quite there yet at the time.
Liv got two out of three chair turns with her Ariana cover on The Voice 2026. She didn’t get John Legend’s chair turn, which some fans expressed shock at in the comments.
Kelly was the first coach to turn her chair for Liv, so The Music Man readers might not be surprised that the teen went on to pick Kelly as her coach.
Liv made her second appearance on The Voice 2026 on March 14. For her sophomore appearance, Liv battled with Mikenley Brown on H.E.R.’s “Focus.” As with all of Liv’s appearances, this proved to be popular with viewers, who tuned in 222,000 times.
The end result was quite dramatic. Kelly picked Mikenley as the winner, and then both John and Adam hit their buzzers to steal Liv from team Kelly. Kelly let the boys make their cases before using her super steal. The end result was that both Liv and Mikenley stayed in the competition on team Kelly.