Meet Maple Valley’s Zan Fiskum, whose ‘angelic’ voice inspired John Legend on ‘The Voice’

Zan Fiskum had a great plan to capitalize on her appearance on “The Voice” with a series of shows around Seattle and Portland.

Then the coronavirus outbreak happened. Now, the Maple Valley singer is making the best of it as she waits for her next appearance on the show, airing at 8 p.m. Monday, April 6.

“I think it’s OK because as of now I think my biggest thing is growing my social media,” Fiskum said. “The way that I look at it is the show is giving me an open door to fans. And I think that if I can win fans online, I think they’ll still want to come see me when the time comes if they’re impacted by my music.”

Fiskum had quite the impact earlier this month when she made her debut on Season 18 of NBC’s popular singing competition show. She got three of the four coaches to turn their chairs with her version of Maggie Rogers’ “Light On,” and the fourth — country singer and O.G. coach Blake Shelton — admitted he was a jerk for not joining the majority.

“You probably deserve a four-chair turn,” said Shelton, whose team was mostly full by the time Fiskum appeared. “I’m the jackass who didn’t give it to you.”

Kelly Clarkson thought Fiskum sounded “magical” during the audition. Nick Jonas, that flirt, said she left him “speechless.”

And John Legend flashed that dimply little smile of his and told the 22-year-old singer: “I’ve been waiting to be inspired today. I haven’t turned (my chair) for literally anyone. … I’m so excited because you have this beautiful tone. You have the power in your voice, but you also have that subtle, ethereal quality where it feels angelic. So, Zan, I would loooove to be your coach.”

How could you resist? She joined Legend’s team and now will face off with another competitor in the battle round.

“I chose his team because I’ve been a fan of his music for a while,” Fiskum said. “And for me, I look at John and I think, ‘Oh, this guy has been successful in so many areas, more than just singing. He’s done so many amazing things and I want to work as much as I can. I just have a lot of respect for what he does.”

The battle rounds are one of five levels of competition “The Voice” contestants go through in a season. Fiskum sailed through a video audition for the producers and her blind audition for the coaches on the show’s Los Angeles set. Now, each coach pits two of his or her team members against each other with only one advancing to the knockout rounds.

If she makes it through the cutthroat portion of the competition, which was taped last fall, she’ll go back to Los Angeles for live performances.

Fiskum, who is the synth player in the Seattle band Alec Shaw as well as a solo artist, has an album of folk pop songs already recorded. She hopes her appearance garners enough attention that she can sign a record deal and release that album.

Regardless, her time on “The Voice” has been fruitful.

“I feel like it has helped define my artistry,” Fiskum said. “It’s been a really cool time to just focus in on my style and my look and all those things, and really define who I am as an artist. You get encouragement and advice from people who’ve been doing it for a long time. So it’s been an amazing experience, one of the best I’ve ever had.”

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“The Voice” airs at 8 p.m. Mondays on NBC. Fiskum’s next appearance will be Monday, April 6.

This story has been updated with the correct name of judge Kelly Clarkson.