Into the final 12 but needing your vote… Canberra’s “The Voice” finalist Amber Nichols.
To say this worldly folk singer is a little out of her comfort zone is an understatement.
Amber collapsed from nerves when auditioning at Christmas for “The Voice” producers. She says she forgot to breathe, giggled and admits it was the most daunting, yet exciting thing she’s ever done.
Fast forward a few months and the phone call arrived asking her to be on the current series. There was just one slight issue. Amber was pregnant and feared producers wouldn’t want her. “Wow! Our first ‘Voice’ baby!” was the reply, so this talented, softly-spoken Canberran need not have worried.
The nature of the program means at first the shows judges can’t actually see the singers, as they are facing the audience. If they like what they hear in these so called “blind auditions” they can turn their chairs and then convince the singers to be on “their team”.
Amber takes up the story: “It was a pretty amazing experience turning four chairs. It still doesn’t really seem real.
“With the break between filming and air time you could almost convince yourself that it didn’t actually happen. People ask me what’s it like seeing yourself on TV and watching it back. Truly hideous if I’m being honest! You know when you see yourself on film and hear yourself talking on camera and you can’t reconcile what you are seeing and hearing to what it’s like in your head? Well times that by a million. It’s like watching a different person up there and the whole time thinking ‘What the hell is she doing?’ ‘Why is she wearing that tiny hat?'”
Amber chose UK singer Jessie J as her mentor and weeks later she is now in the final 12 of the competition, the second oldest, and the only contestant in her “condition”. Yes, Amber’s due date is fast approaching, and bub number two for her family is due early September. This could make things a little tricky should Amber progress to the grand final with the chance of winning a lucrative recording contract.
“It’s okay, I’m happy just to be here! And if I get that far we’ll just deal with it as it comes,” she says, in a tone which belies her inner anxieties. She’s compared singing on stage and live on television simultaneously in front of millions as “jumping pout of a plane” – which she has also done. She’s also survived a near mugging in the the UK in which, she says, her adrenaline rush is also comparable.
So she’s just going to “sing her heart out” and hope Australia follows her journey and votes to keep her in the competition.
It’s something the 2013 ACT Pop Artist of the Year has always wanted, a much larger audience for her music, and she’s now getting it. Amber has had the privilege of singing for peacekeeping troops in East Timor along with charity performances for Relay For Life, Lifeline, Camp Quality and more. She also has an album out called “Oh My Lullaby” with original songs.
Amber’s given a great deal to our Canberra community, so let’s all now give her our support, vote and help Amber live her dream, as she believes the best way to be a good role model to her baby son Charlie is not to give up.
Vote for Amber at the voice.com.au
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