“Some insight into things you may or may not know about me” – a bedtime story by Rachael Leahcar Two years ago tonight, my life changed forever. I remember sitting in my special chair in front of the TV surrounded by my family and friends, nervous about how I would be perceived by the public after my Blind Audition was aired. The tears were streaming down my face (as much as I tried to hide it) at what a phenomenal moment it was for me. It’s mind-blowing to think there were over 4 million people watching me across Australia at that very moment. What came from this night, I never would have even dreamed could ever happen to me; the dorky girl with the cane. My initial video audition for The Voice (fun fact: the producers had their backs to the screen!) was submitted at the end of Year 12 in 2011. I had to submit it twice due to a technical glitch. It’s hard to think if I hadn’t bothered to do it again, I wouldn’t be here right now… Anyway, I chose to sing ‘Let It Be’ for this audition (now heard on my ‘Here Comes the Sun’ album) and didn’t expect too much. My gap year was going to be used to see how far I could go in music as a career and I had already been denied from The X Factor and Australia’s Got Talent. If I didn’t get this, I would have moved on to the next thing because I don’t believe in dwelling on things that haven’t been so productive. Much to my surprise, I was accepted into the next round! Musical Adelaideans filed into the chapel for the second round of auditions and this is where I met my gorgeous friend Lauren Grima. We promised to sing at each other’s future weddings (I recently sung at her engagement party because I’m unable to attend her wedding). She has such a beautiful, pure voice. I also met the super talented Sarah Lloyde but I had no idea we would travel together until the Battle Rounds! She can seriously perform like nothing else. Adelaide girls unite. Moving along, at this audition in Adelaide, I could hear people singing before me and I sat marvelling at their different techniques and unique tones. Most people sung two or three songs so I did very little warming up before it was my turn. Those days I didn’t really know how to prepare myself very well! When it was finally my time to climb the stairs to the terrifying room of judgement (it wasn’t that bad, I’m just being dramatic), I was feeling quite calm and just happy to be there. I couldn’t see the producers as they were a little too far away and it was dimly lit. As we had to prepare a few songs to sing, they got me to sing my first song in full. I only needed to sing half of my second and third songs but then they requested another, and another, and another from my repertoire. I ended up singing parts of six songs! I didn’t know whether this was a good thing or not and what they were thinking, as I couldn’t read body language from my position. As it turns out, they enjoyed my performances despite my lack of warming up. I travelled to Melbourne for the final audition and discovered that only Sarah and I had gotten through. I was astonished that out of all the incredible artists I listened to, they chose me to be one of the two to get through. By the time I was finally at the Blind Audition, I was so grateful that I didn’t care what happened. I was just happy to get even that far. I have written about my Blind Audition experience before so I won’t go into too much detail. I will share that I was on that stage for about half an hour after waiting many hours for my shot at getting a coach to press a big red button. Throughout the whole song I remained focused and almost exploded at the end when I found out all four coaches had turned. It was absolutely intense and unexpected – in a good way. The commercials leading up to my Blind Audition being aired had me biting my nails in anticipation (a habit I have since kicked… most of the time). I couldn’t tell anyone about what had happened until it aired either otherwise it would have ruined the secret. So when the time finally came, I felt relief, excitement, anxiety, happiness and many, many more emotions mixed in to make one very crazy lady indeed. That night I spent hours replying to comments on social media and I have to say, I’d never felt so confident in myself before that night. Tonight represents something major for me. Two years since a very special memory; a milestone I won’t soon forget. I’ve had many milestones before and after this point but this was the MOST significant and life-changing. I don’t know what I would be doing if this night hadn’t occurred but I do know that everything happens for a reason. I was born to perform and I will keep performing until my vocal chords disintegrate. I wish everyone in the next season of The Voice Australia all the best for the journey ahead. You will never forget it – trust me.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Apr 2014 13:46:09 +0000
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