Melanie Adele Martinez (born April 28, 1995)[1][2] is an American singer and songwriter. Melanie Martinez auditioned for the American television vocal talent show The Voice and became a member of Team Adam. Within the fifth week, she was eliminated which subsequently led to her beginning independent work on original material.[3] In 2014, she released Dollhouse, her debut EP featuring the singles "Dollhouse" and "Carousel", which appeared on the trailer for the television series American Horror Story: Freak Show.[4] In 2015, Martinez released her conceptual debut album titled Cry Baby, featuring the critically acclaimed lead single "Pity Party", along with other singles "Soap" and "Sippy Cup". Career 2012: Career beginnings and The Voice In 2012, Martinez became a contestant on season three of the American television program The Voice, where she auditioned singing Britney Spears's "Toxic". Three of the four judges, Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton, hit the "I Want You" button for her. Martinez chose Adam Levine to be her coach.[6] In the Battle Round, Martinez competed against Caitlin Michelle. They performed a duet of the Ellie Goulding song "Lights". Martinez won and moved on to the Knockout Round. Caitlin Michele was stolen by Cee Lo Green and also moved on. In the Knockout Round, Martinez was paired with Sam James. She chose to sing La Roux's "Bulletproof". Levine eliminated James, and Martinez moved on to the Live Rounds as one of the five remaining members of Team Adam. In week one of the Live Rounds, Martinez sang "Hit the Road Jack". Public vote saved Team Adam members Amanda Brown and Bryan Keith. Levine then chose Martinez over Loren Allred and Joselyn Rivera to remain in the competition. In week three, Martinez's performance of "Seven Nation Army" finished the voting period at #10 on the iTunes Top 200 Single Chart, causing her iTunes votes to be multiplied by ten.[7] This occurred again in week four, when "Too Close" ended the voting period at #6.[8] Martinez was eliminated by audience vote in week five, along with the fellow Team Adam member Amanda Brown, leaving Levine with no artists. In response, Martinez said, "I never expected to get this far and this is beyond what I've ever dreamed of. I'm just so glad I got to express who I am as an artist and really touch people's hearts because that was the ultimate goal."[9] – Studio version of performance reached the top 10 on iTunes Round Song Original Artist Date Order Result Blind Audition "Toxic" Britney Spears September 7, 2012 4.1 3 Chairs Turned Joined Team Adam Battle Round "Lights" (vs. Caitlin Michelle) Ellie Goulding October 15, 2012 11.5 Saved by Coach Knockout Round "Bulletproof" (vs. Sam James) La Roux October 29, 2012 16.5 Saved by Coach Live Playoffs "Hit the Road Jack" Ray Charles November 5, 2012 18.3 Safe (Coach's Save) Top 12 "Cough Syrup" Young the Giant November 12, 2012 21.9 Saved by Public Vote Top 10 "Seven Nation Army" The White Stripes November 19, 2012 23.3 Saved by Public Vote Top 8 "Too Close" Alex Clare November 26, 2012 25.4 Saved by Public Vote Top 6 "The Show" (Coach's choice) Lenka December 3, 2012 27.10 Eliminated "Crazy" (Artist's choice) Gnarls Barkley 27.6 2013–present: Dollhouse EP and Cry Baby After the show, Martinez began working independently on original material. She released her debut single, "Dollhouse" on April 22, 2014 with a music video,[10] which currently has over 36 million views as of April 2016. The song was produced and cowritten by NYC songwriting duo Kinetics & One Love.[11] On April 7, 2014, Martinez announced that she'd been signed to Atlantic Records and that she would be going on tour. She also announced her debut EP, "Dollhouse", which was released on May 19, 2014.[12][13] Martinez's song "Carousel" was featured in a preview for FX's miniseries American Horror Story: Freak Show, with the theme song also being a riff on the song.[12] The song reached number 9 on the Alternative Digital Songs chart.[14] On June 28, 2015, Martinez released the single "Pity Party" from her debut album Cry Baby.[15] On July 10, 2015, Martinez released the album's second single "Soap".[16] It reached number 12 on the Alternative Digital Songs chart, and number 16 on the Pop Digital Songs chart.[14] "Sippy Cup" followed on July 31, followed by the album 14 days later.[17][18] "Cry Baby" was released on August 14, 2015, to critical acclaim.[19][20][21] The album debuted at number 6 on the Billboard 200.[14] She released a special Christmas single, called "Gingerbread Man" on December 23, 2015.[22] The music video of her song "Cry Baby" was released on March 14, 2016.[23]