The familiar faces you're about to see turning chairs on The Voice

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This was published 4 years ago

The familiar faces you're about to see turning chairs on The Voice

By Laura Chung

The walk to The Voice's stage seems interminable. The room is silent - all the contestants can hear is the sound of their heartbeats and footsteps. One by one, they go out the door, up the stairs onto the stage, nod to the band, stare at the judge's chairs and hit that first note.

"It's terrifying; the world stops," says Prinnie Stevens. The 38-year-old is no stranger to the stage, having made it to the top four of Joel Madden's team in season one of The Voice. Since then, Stevens has competed in Celebrity Apprentice, co-hosted The Voice Kids and performed in London's West End in Thriller Live, the Michael Jackson stage show, and in Australia's The Bodyguard. She says there's no doubt that her participation in The Voice helped her career, but regrets not throwing herself "100 per cent" into the competition "because I was scared".

Season eight of The Voice features the familiar faces of Joey Dee, Prinnie Stevens and Lee Harding.

Season eight of The Voice features the familiar faces of Joey Dee, Prinnie Stevens and Lee Harding. Credit: Nine

But that could all change in the show's latest season. This year The Voice has an "all-stars" element in which former Voice contestants will have another shot at the crown. Among the returning artists are names that many Australians will recognise, including Sheldon Riley from last season and Stevens herself.

While the all-stars are more experienced, there's "more to gain and even more to lose", says Ms Stevens, who turned three chairs on Monday night's blind auditions and joined Team Kelly.

"It's so scary when you've been there before because you're expected to nail it," she said. But experience "doesn't mean anything in that quiet room". Anything can happen.

Viewers will see other familiar faces, including Young Talent Time's Joey Dee and Lee Harding, who placed third in the 2005 season of Australian Idol. The pair has spent their years out of the limelight pursuing other goals, musically and personally; Dee is currently opening a bar in Melbourne's South Yarra.

Guy Sebastian has joined Boy George, Delta Goodrem and Kelly Rowland as a Voice judge.

Guy Sebastian has joined Boy George, Delta Goodrem and Kelly Rowland as a Voice judge. Credit: Nine

While the goal for many entrants is to win the competition, it's unlikely they will emulate the success of Guy Sebastian, the 2003 winner of Australian Idol, who is joining The Voice as a judge, or in the parlance of The Voice, "coach". Stevens says the music industry is "totally different" compared to 2003. Back then, one of the few ways to launch a music career was to win a show.

"But now the world has gotten smaller through social media," she said. Instead, The Voice offers a unique opportunity to "organically" build a brand and strong social media following, factors that are increasingly important to becoming successful, Stevens said.

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"A lot of times, when you're given the pop star platter, it's sometimes not catered for you, it's catered for the music industry, what is happening at the time and not catered personally for you," Stevens said. "The Voice caters for the artists, not the industry."

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Harding said, "back in the Idol days, it [singing reality television shows] gave you a career straight away. These days, it's more commonly looked at as a platform to start your career or fan base and build it from there."

For Harding, the opportunity to build a new platform is a chance to distance himself from his time on Australian Idol and the work he produced immediately afterwards. After experiencing success with his 2005 single Wasabi, which spent 22 weeks in the ARIA charts, Harding and his recording label split a few years later. Since then, he's started a family and performed gigs with his band, Bedrock.

"It's [Idol] part of who I was as a young person but it's not me anymore. It's part of my life and I will never shy away from that," he said. "But coming back this time, I've been writing my own things and I'm in a better place for it."

"I'm really, really happy, I'm in a positive place in myself and it's time to get out there and give it another go. I want this to be a forever thing," he said.

Harding says if he wins he'd love to "give it a crack" overseas with his band. "Everyone has a dream and everyone needs to dream big."

Joey Dee says The Voice is an opportunity to push himself out of his comfort zone.

Joey Dee says The Voice is an opportunity to push himself out of his comfort zone.Credit: Nine

For Dee, who has been performing since he was six-years-old, the show is less about gaining "fame or popularity - it's not on my radar, I've already done that". Rather, it's a chance to push himself out of his comfort zone. If he wins the competition it would be a bonus. As much as The Voice is a competition, Dee said being surrounded by other talented singers makes him happiest because it's a chance to learn from and perform with other artists.

"You have to put yourself out there," Dee said. "Life is short, you have to take opportunities and get out of your head".

"At the end of the day, anyone who does it is a winner."

The Voice is on Nine, Sunday, 7pm, Monday and Tuesday, 7.30pm. Nine is the owner of this masthead.

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