KILLEEN, Texas — The power behind the voice of Rose Short may be uniquely hers, but the engine that drove that voice to share it with America belongs to Taundra Shaw, her best friend for the last two years.
"She didn't want to do it. She tried to fight me and said, 'No,'" Shaw said. "There was an audition in Austin. She gave me every excuse."
America finally got the chance to meet Rose when she sang John Legend's "Preach" at her blind audition in Miami. Kelly Clarkson was the first judge to turn her chair, followed shortly thereafter by Gwen Stefani.
Rose's journey to Miami started years ago.
"When I met Rose, it was one of those things that, she, she stopped me in my tracks," said Shaw when asked to describe the moment she first heard Short sing. "That woman that I met that stopped me in my tracks, that amazed me now the World is getting to see her. She's inspiring so many but at that time, I said there's no way, there's no way that you cannot pursue your dream."
"This is her comeback season," said Chris Leiato, one of her best friends the last 20 years. "There was a point where she had given up on herself and her talent and felt like she didn't want to do it anymore."
"You have something that the world needs to see," said Ashely Stepp when asked her first experience with hearing Rose's voice. "We need you to tap into that, continue to be who you are and give the world what they deserve."
It's hard to tell now, but this one-time correctional officer in Gatesville once found every excuse in the book to never find herself in front of America. Shaw said she wasn't going to let Rose live on excuses any longer, saying that God put it on her heart to see Rose's dreams come true.
"There's just something special in her gift, in her," Shaw said. "Gwen said the same thing in her battle round. She said 'Rose, it's not just your voice, it's you."
Last week, Rose advanced in an emotional battle round against her partner, Jessie Lawrence, and while she chases her dream, no matter how long it lasts on "The Voice," Taundra says Rose wants others to do the same as her, with no excuses.
"Don't wait for someone to open, do it yourself. Give yourself one more chance, for Rose. Do it for Rose!" Shaw said with a laugh. "Just give it one more chance and see what happens."
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