Watch: 14-Year-Old Eliminated From Voice Kids Malta With Judges Left ‘Waiting For Something More’
14-year old Zaria was eliminated from The Voice Kids Malta last night despite delivering a strong performance during her blind audition.
Zaria, who hails from South Africa and Australia, sought to impress the three coaches with her take on Faouzia’s Tears of Gold.
However, while Destiny, Owen Leuellen and Gianluca Bezzina all praised her performance, none of them actually turned their chairs, eliminating Zaria from the debut edition of the singing competition.
“I didn’t turn because I didn’t like your performance or your voice, I saw versatility in there and the difference in how you can play with your voice and I loved it,” Owen remarked. “I was just waiting for that climax in the song, something to surprise me or something like that.”
Destiny concurred, stating that while Zaria put on a “good performance”, she left her “waiting for something”.
Gianluca praised the young singer for selecting a challenging song but said she was “quite shaky” at the start of her audition.
“I hope that you keep training your voice and that you let this be your first step; I’m sure we’ll be hearing more and more of your voice,” he said.
The judges’ decision proved controversial, with two-time X Factor contestant Celine Agius stating she will no longer watch Maltese singing talent shows.
“This was up my newsfeed and I cannot fathom how none of the judges turned for this 14-year old with that rare vocal timbre,” Celine said.
“The reason the judges gave was that they expected that something extra. This obsession which many think is cool that they want something ‘extra’. Singing is not always about belting, sometimes the extra is overdoing notes which is not always necessary. To be an awesome singer doesn’t always mean you have to belt 20 times throughout a song to prove you are a good singer.”
“Some people just have a different tone… an unexpected timbre like this 14 year old. She doesn’t need to belt to show the colour and how hauntingly beautiful her tone is.
Obviously, still undeveloped but she is gifted as hell apart from that massive diction.”
Do you agree with the decision to eliminate Zaria?
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