A talented teenage singer from Broadstairs will be appearing on ITV’s The Voice on October 5.
Olivia Rogers, 18, impressed show organisers to make it through to live auditions with the hope of making one or more of the judges turn their chair for her.
The latest series of The Voice began airing on August 31 and features will.i.am, Sir Tom Jones, host Emma Willis and new judges LeAnn Rimes and McFly’s Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones sharing a chair.
In the series contestants take to the stage in the hope of turning one of the red chairs and ultimately winning a life changing record contract with music giants EMI, £50,000 in cash and a holiday to Universal Studios Florida.
Filming for the nine-part series took place throughout late February.
Olivia, who studied sports science, music and performing arts in 6th form at Canterbury Academy, has been singing since she was just three years old.
As well as treading the boards locally with Regency Productions, she has performed in the Michael Jackson tribute tour and been on stage at venues including the London Palladium, Manchester, Liverpool and Nottingham arenas and last year was on tour in Sweden.
And now the ambition is to be a solo artist and she hopes to bring out an album soon. She said: “I came off tour to focus more as a solo artist instead of a backing singer.
“My mum applied for me to be on The Voice, I didn’t know about it. I got a call and did a few auditions and then found out I had got through to the live shows. It is like a dream come true, I watched The Voice when I was growing up.”
Olivia says getting on the show would have made her dad Justin incredibly proud. Sadly, the former Royal Marine passed away last year from cancer but was always Olivia’s greatest supporter even when he was ill.
Olivia said: “It is very touching getting on the show. Me and Dad would watch it together but he passed away last year from cancer.
“My dad was my biggest supporter and would say ‘one day that will be you on the big stage.’
“Now I’ve finally got the opportunity but he isn’t here to see me. I am going to do it for him and Mum. When you lose a parent at such a young age and are grieving, you can still carry on and make them proud.
“Dad was a Royal Marine and the way he brought me and my sister up was to get on with things.
“His saying was ‘train hard and fight easy’ and that is something I have always stuck by.
“Instead of going out partying, I would stay home and write music and teach myself the guitar and piano.”
Olivia, who also writes songs, said: “I like all music, pop and soul and sometimes I sing country.”
She says she is ‘excited’ for people to see her on The Voice, adding: “With The Voice you have the four chairs and (the judges) listen to your voice before they know anything about you. They turn if they have a connection with your voice and I want to be known for my singing, not my background.”
Watch The Voice on ITV1 and ITVX on Saturdays at 8.30pm and see Olivia on the October 5 screening.
