Former ‘Voice’ contestants keep singing, now at Sunset Station

Ryan Whyte Maloney agrees 15 minutes of fame doesn’t last as long as it used to.

The Las Vegas-based country singer got himself on prime-time TV five times last year, competing on NBC’s “The Voice.” Still, he says TV singing competitions are “kind of like cellphones. In 1992, if you were to walk around with a cellphone, it was like, ‘Whoa, that guy’s a millionaire.’ Nowadays it’s a little less special.”

If you get on TV now, “Don’t ever expect it to make you (famous) overnight. You just gotta run with it and pave your own way.”

So Maloney talked his frequent employers at Station Casinos into letting him put together a show called “Voices,” which is neither sanctioned by nor opposed by NBC or the official tour of “The Voice.”

It debuts Saturday at Sunset Station, and if it goes well, Maloney can’t see why he couldn’t keep it going with more contestants from the show.

“Not many people know what to do after a television show. They don’t know where to go,” he says. “These kids, they don’t know what to do because ‘The Voice’ doesn’t tell you what to do with your career. It’s really the kind of person you are. It’s up to you to make the next move and take yourself to the next level.”

Maloney and Cali Tucker — niece of country star Tanya Tucker and a recent transplant from Nashville, Tenn., — have been singing on Fridays and Saturdays in Sunset Station’s Club Madrid, and on Sundays in the Drop Bar at Green Valley Ranch Resort.

The two will host “Voices” with a band and three visiting guests: Kristen Merlin and Jake Worthington from last season, and Michael Austin from Season Five before it.

“Let all these people who have been on the show have a voice of their own. Showcase their true art, sing a few originals, have a platform to launch themselves in front of a Vegas crowd,” Maloney says.

“This is America. You’ve got to pave your own way, take what you’re given and run with it.”

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.