Kiwi singer stuns judges on The Voice Australia

Otago Daily Times

2 days ago

Award-winning Christchurch singer Cassie Henderson has blown away the panel of celebrity judges at an audition for reality competition show The Voice Australia.
The 26-year-old, who recently won Best Pop Artist at the Aotearoa Music Awards, sang Chappell Roan's 'Good Luck, Babe!' in a blind audition which had the judges all vying for a chance to coach her.
American singer Richard Marx called her an 'absolute star', British Spice Girl Mel C told her she was born to do this and Australian singer Kate Miller-Heidke and Irish singer Ronan Keating were desperately pleading with her to join their team.
Keating said her performance felt like that of an established artist, which is not far from the truth. Henderson has been singing from a young age, going from busking on the streets as a teenager to performing on X Factor New Zealand in 2013, coming fifth.
'I had a few setbacks and I kind of stopped singing for a long time and I kind of realised one day that there is nothing else I want to do in this world and in my lifetime,' Henderson told the judges.
'There was a point where I had sort of like online commentary about my voice and just about me and I think I just took it to heart because I was quite young at the time, I was like 14, and I think when you're a 14-year-old girl, anything anybody says is going to hit home.'
Ultimately, Henderson decided to join Mel C, who could resonate with Henderson's story of dealing with trolls from a young age.
'I feel like there's a lot I can offer you. Being a Spice Girl, becoming successful at a very young age, there was a lot to deal with and I like to think I would be able to help navigate that with you. We can get strong and we can shut out the negativity because you have so much to offer.'
Earlier this year, the 'Seconds To Midnight (11:59)' singer told RNZ's Music 101 that she was in awe after winning Best Pop Artist Award, which also had Frankie Venter and Georgia Lines as finalists.
'I am so grateful for the work ethic that I had when I was younger like I was busking for maybe four or five hours every weekend and that would be in Christchurch, freezing winters in the morning, and I just really wanted to a) make a bit of pocket money but b) I wanted to get in front of people and sing, and I think all of that experience and all of that failure and success and all of the ups and downs has made me who I am today.
'I feel like you have to have a level of confidence and some thick skin to work in this industry and I spent most of my first coming years just basically being ignored by people in the streets so that's like the perfect intro into being a singer really.'
She said she had the final chapter in the trilogy of her EPs under way.