In case you missed it, The Voice is back for 2020 and we’ve got some local talent making waves on the big screen!
Now in its ninth season, the series debuted back in May with the blind auditions, which saw a pool of talent take to the stage to win over this year’s judges – Delta Goodrem, Boy George, Kelly Rowland or Guy Sebastian, with hopes to collect a deal with EMI Music Australia and $100,000 in prize money.
Touted as ‘its biggest, boldest and most controversial season yet’, the season saw an international winner of the format, a former winner of Australian Idol, and the youngest ever audition over the past month. We’ve also seen a few new innovations, including ‘the Block’ which will allow each coach allowed two chances to deny the other coaches a chance to pitch during the Blind Auditions and the introductions of two new rounds – The Playoffs and Showdowns. We’ve also seen a couple of coaches breaking the rules too, which makes for quality entertainment.
Last month saw two Geelong musos make their way through the blind auditions.
First, Geelong resident Stellar Perry (originally from Tassie) managed to turn all four judges chairs with her performance of Lady Gaga’s emotional hit song, ‘Always Remember Us This Way’, bringing coach Kelly Rowland to tears and landing her on Team Delta. Over the years, Stellar tried her best to break into the industry but it never ended in success. Instead Stellar found success in owning her own cleaning business, where she likes to sing and dance on the job. Now 36 and settled, Stellar is ready to give fame one more crack and has come to The Voice more confident and ready than ever.
Joining Stellar and making it into the next round was Luke Biscan, a regular on the touring and festival circuit in coastal Victoria. If you’ve ever been to Beavs Bar on a Wednesday night, you’ll definitely recognise the UK born singer-songwriter and his voice that easily spans genres of alternative, acoustic rock, folk and soft rock. It’s his incredible live energy and virtuoso guitar skills have built him a solid hometown fanbase (us included), and it clearly connected to the judges last night. Performing a rendition of Matt Corby’s Resolution, Coaches Kelly Rowland and Guy Sebastian hit their buttons to claim him for their teams, with Luke landing on Team Guy. You can watch these performances here.
The last couple of episodes has featured ‘The Battles’ stage of the competition, where coaches put two of their own team members against each other to sing the same song together in front of the studio audience. Once the coach has picked their favourite and sent that singer through to the next round, the other coaches have an opportunity to use one of only two “saves” they each have to pick up the singer that was eliminated.
Last week we saw the Battle between Stellar Perry and Matt Gresham – two artists with an ability to be naturally vulnerable. Under the guidance of Delta, their song choice (Miley Cyrus’ ‘Slide Away’) seemed to naturally fit the empathetic pair. With Stellar (Geelong represent!!) winning the Battle, Guy Sebastian made a very personal and gentle comment to his friend Matt, before offering him a chance to join his Team. Check out the performance below.
This week has seen the battles continue with more powerful performances, with Forte fave Luke Biscan taking to the stage with fellow team mate in singer/songwriter Timothy James Bowen. Bringing these two storytellers together for one epic performance, they sang ‘It Must Have Been Love’ by Roxette. A performance full of heart and soul, Guy acknowledged prior to the decision that losing someone as good as Luke or Timothy shows the calibre of talent on the show. Unfortunately this is where Luke’s journey with The Voice end, with Guy taking Timothy through to Playoffs.
Check out the performance below. While he didn’t make it through, he’s still a star in our eyes… plus this means he can return to weekly Wednesday’s at Beavs.
Bring on the next round and jump on board for Team Stellar!
