A D.C.-based singer-songwriter is the latest contestant hoping to hit it big on “The Voice,” the talent showcase that is now in its 30th season. 

Marilyn Hucek makes D.C. her home, but grew up in Montgomery County, Maryland, and graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School. She’s performed at venues across the D.C. region, but none with as wide a reach as “The Voice.”

On the day she performed in the blind auditions, where judges sit in large chairs with their backs to the performer, she said she was “so nervous.”

“Like a nervous wreck all day,” she said.

But the moment she took the stage, Hucek said that “all the nerves went away.”

“I was just myself,” Hucek said.

When the judges are interested, they will turn their chairs, and in her case, Queen Latifah and Adam Levine decided they liked what they heard and spun their chairs to face the contestant. 

Hucek described the moments when she knew two judges were interested in working with her.

“Queen Latifah turned in a matter of seconds, which was such a huge relief,” she said.

Levine, on the other hand, took his time as he listened.

“He turned at the end, at my big chorus,” Hucek said. “So when I hit my high notes, that’s when he turned, and it just put a big smile on my face.”

She called it “awesome” to get to choose between two celebrity coaches.  

When it was her turn to choose her coach, she had a slight hesitation.

“I chose Adam,” she said, noting it wasn’t an easy decision. 

The song that Hucek used for her audition was Shakira’s “La Tortura,” and Queen Latifah and Levine both commented on how that choice — and singing in Spanish — immediately made her a standout.

“Shakira’s one of my favorite artists,” Hucek said. 

“I’m Chilean-American, I have Hispanic heritage, I grew up singing, speaking in English and Spanish,” so it felt like a good fit, Hucek added. 

Hucek has used her music to further a cause that’s close to her heart, fighting Alzheimer’s disease.

She explained that her late father was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s when she was just 16.

“My mom and me and my two siblings were the caretakers for my dad,” she said.

Now 34, Hucek has written several songs in his honor. Three percent of the streaming royalties from one of those songs, “Neil Young,” go to the Alzheimer’s Association.

“So every time you listen, you’re giving back,” she said.

For anyone who wants to pursue a career in music, Hucek said “it’s hard work.”

“You get a lot of nos, but if you’re passionate about it, it’s never too late. That’s what I want to say.” 

“The Voice” airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. on NBC.

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