Canberran Anthony Dellamarta admits he is nervous about having his face and voice screened to millions of people Australia-wide tonight.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The former Australian National University jazz student, now 31, said he sang his heart out during The Voice's blind auditions, aired tonight.
Dellamarta, who describes himself as a soul singer, said yesterday he needed to ''sing his guts out'' to get through to the next stage.
''Just seeing how much hype has been created makes me nervous - it's a big show,'' Dellamarta said.
''I expected it would be big, but it's even bigger than my expectations.''
Dellamarta said seeing some great performers getting rejected on the show only reinforced how difficult it was to succeed in the music industry. He was rejected by Australian Idol producers a few years ago.
Dellamarta works as a piano teacher and voice coach in Holt. He started playing the piano as a child and grew up listening to singers like Donny Hathaway, Elton John, Prince and Frank Sinatra. He was also inspired by Elvis Presley, so much so that he named his son after him.
''A friend told me about the show and I liked the format,'' Dellamarta said. ''When I sent the YouTube video in, the producers promised they would turn their backs and not look at the performer. I thought that was fantastic.''
Jimmy Barnes's daughter, Mahalia, helped The Voice hit its highest note yet after attracting an audience of 2.691 million on Sunday night.
The Nine Network's talent quest has now averaged an audience of about 2.45 million for its four-night-a-week run, easily holding the No.1 slot and depriving rival stations a look in. Since its debut on April 15, The Voice has given Nine a clear lead in the ratings battle.
Riding on the back of The Voice's success on Sunday night was Beaconsfield, the telemovie about the 15-day ordeal of miners Brant Webb and Todd Russell after the 2006 mining collapse in Tasmania.
Beaconsfield attracted 1.637 million to be second followed by Nine's nightly news, which came in third with 1.489 million viewers.
Seven Network's Dancing With the Stars has failed to break through the million-viewer benchmark. On Sunday, the reality dancing show, which featured its first elimination (Erin McNaught), pulled just 991,000 viewers, giving it sixth place. with AAP