Dia Frampton's band "Meg and Dia" has been put on hold temporarily while she battles it out on the NBC show "The Voice."

By Nalea J. Ko, Reporter
Published June 20, 2011

It was not uncommon in the past to find 23-year-old singer Dia Frampton on stage performing barefooted, but that was before she became a contestant on the TV show "The Voice."

Utah-native Dia Frampton, who is also the lead singer of the band "Meg and Dia," is on country music star Blake Shelton's team on "The Voice". But that does not mean Dia Frampton has "gone Hollywood" since appearing on the NBC singing competition.

Despite the increased recognition that has come with being on the show, Dia Frampton affirms that she is still down-to-earth, and a bundle of nerves when sizing up her fellow competitors.

"To be honest if I would have known what it was, I probably wouldn't have auditioned because I would have been way too scared and it would have seemed way too crazy," said Dia Frampton about auditioning for the show. "But I am glad I didn't know what it was because it kind of shoved me in a new direction with a new opportunity and that's really cool."

The new show "The Voice" is based on the talent competition "The Voice of Holland." Dia Frampton was one of 32 final contestants to make it past the blind auditions of the American version of the show. The "blind auditions" began with coaches Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Shelton blindly picking their teams with their backs turned away from the contestants as they performed on TV.

When the coaches heard a voice that piqued their interest, they turned their big red chairs around to reveal the performer behind the voice. From those auditions the coaches proceeded to recruit their singing teams comprised of eight performers.

Xenia Martinez and Dia Frampton are the last contestants remaining on Team Blake after a series of challenges that have weeded out contestants since the show premiered on April 26.

The last singers standing at the finale will belt it out to win a recording contract and a $100,000 cash prize.

Twenty-six-year-old Meg Frampton, Dia's sister and fellow band member, was pleasantly surprised when she went to attend a taping of "The Voice" for the first time and saw her sister unchanged by her newfound fame.

"You'd think she would be decked out now that she is becoming 'famous,'" Meg Frampton said taking to her blog Chandlertherobot.blogspot.com. "I half expected her to have glitter on her eyes, perfectly manicured nails, and those sky-high heels that are so trendy in California right now, but she didn't. Just like her usual self, she wore a pair of scruffy navy blue sweats … and not even a tad of makeup."

Dia Frampton says she auditioned for "The Voice" before she fully understood what the American version of the show would become. 

"My friend actually heard about it and told me to audition," explained Dia Frampton. "It just seemed so much more low-key. And then they announced Christina Aguilera as a judge when I had already kind of auditioned and was still waiting to be in the blind auditions. It just kept getting bigger and bigger. I was getting more and more tense about it."

As the guitarist and back-up singer of "Meg and Dia," Meg Frampton says she did not think of auditioning for the show with her sister.

"I sing back up. I'm not that great of a singer. I can get by," Meg Frampton says with a laugh in a phone call to the Pacific Citizen. "I couldn't compete with that vocal ability."

Meg Frampton has been in the audience of "The Voice" three times to watch her sister perform. Fellow band members Nicholas Price, Jonathan Snyder and Carlo Gimenez have also been cheering on Dia Frampton.

After months of being on the show, Dia Frampton says she still gets the jitters before hitting the stage. When she performed in the past with her band "Meg and Dia" on tours like the Warped Tour she used to chant and hug her fellow band members to combat any stage fright. Now things have changed.

"Now that I'm here right before I go on stage somebody's powdering my nose, and somebody's handing me a water bottle, and somebody's counting down 'five, four,'" Dia Frampton said with a laugh. "It's completely different."

Like Dia Frampton, many of the other contestants on the show are not amateurs and have been previously signed to recording contracts. The band "Meg and Dia" was signed to Warner Bros. Records in 2007, but was later dropped.

Meg Frampton says she was initially wary about how her sister's participation in the show might affect the future of their band.

"At first I was nervous because I didn't know what would happen or how it would affect me. I didn't want it to hurt me in anyway. I kind of had to be selfish," says Meg Frampton.

But now Meg Frampton says her sister being on the TV show has only helped their band and her own jewelry line.

"We have so many Facebook messages," Meg says adding that they have 20,000 new friends from this week alone. "Our music sales went up. Even from my own business. Dia being known is helping everyone."
The best thing that could happen for their band, Meg Frampton says, is if the band gets a booking agent. They have not received any offers to date, she says, to be signed to another record label.
Win or lose, Dia Frampton says she does not plan to abandon her band members any time soon.

"As far as my career goes I'm going to keep playing with my band at home and with my sister. I love playing with them," Dia Frampton said. "I feel like it's a win-win right now. I'm happy to be here. I'm happy and grateful to be along for the ride. No matter what happens I'm going to play music."

Contestants like Dia Frampton will battle it out Tuesday at 9/8 central.

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