It’s girl power this weekend as Peterborough’s stars of The Voice are going into battle this Saturday!
Both our city’s contenders – Classical Reflection and Vanessa Hunt – will be competing against other contestants and hoping to get through to the next round of the BBC’s talent show.
Longthorpe twins Hannah and Naomi Moxon who sing together as Classical Reflection are in Team Ricky and will be up against Emmanuel Nwamadi.
Vanessa Hunt from Wisbech who works in Peterborough is in Team Rita and will be taking on Liss Jones.
ESP grabbed a quick word with the Classical Reflection twins who told us they’re really excited and have loved working with mentor Ricky Wilson – “Ricky has been so supportive of all his acts and he has picked fantastic song choices!
“We have been really so overwhelmed with the lovely support. We were told we were third in the most views on our audition, so we feel so thankful!”
The excitement’s been building for all of the contestants as they enter the Battles and hope to progress through the show. The girls told us the atmosphere has been great.
“Everyone has been lovely, you feel like you’re part of a big family as you get to know all the rest of the contestants! As you know we are battling Emmanuel and singing ‘In The Living Years’ by Mike & The Mechanics – neither of us actually knew the song but we all had the best time learning it! Even though the song is not a classical song we feel it is suited to both acts.”
Vanessa Hunt, who sings with functions band The Look and has been performing for years, agrees the coaches certainly know what they’re doing – “The piano rehearsal was great, however I did start to feel the pressure of being paired up against someone as talented as Liss Jones.
“Neither of us were familiar with the song, (Paula Abdul’s Straight Up) and on first listen, I was totally against it. But once we played around with it, changed the key (up!) and had a few practices around the piano we were both feeling more comfortable.”
The lead up to the Battles has also been an exciting experience for Vanessa who’s loved every minute.
“Preparing for the Battles was a very surreal experience. You’re still trying to get over the overwhelming shock and surprise of the previous round, getting through and the realisation you’ve made it onto the show, and for me, it feels like massive acceptance that these talented coaches believed in my voice enough to turn around!
“It was great to get to work up close with Rita; being such an influential young female star, I was a bit in awe of her!”
There’s a real bond between many of the contestants so has that made it hard to compete?
“The horrible thing is that we got on like a house on fire, (take away the pressure and competition of the show) and off camera and off set we spent a lot of time together and genuinely got on so well. We laughed a lot and it was great fun getting to rehearse together.
“But it is a competition, and with the pressure kicking in, I decided to try and up my game… you’ll have to tune in on Saturday at 7.30pm to see how I did!”
Photos: The Voice BBC PICTURES/WALL TO WALL.
Portraits Andy Vernum @ Studio One for ESP Magazine
コメント