Uploading snippets of musical cover versions to her social media channels, as a confidence-boosting exercise, has landed Niamh Nolan a spot on WILL.I.AM’s team on this year’s The Voice UK series.
Nolan, who hails from a rural background in Co. Limerick and currently works as a childcare assistant, says it has been her “lifelong dream to share my voice with a wider audience”.
Tom Jones’ and WILL.I.AM’s rotating chairs swivelled when she performed her cover version of Lady Gaga’s and Bradley Cooper’s Shallow on ITV’s The Voice UK, which screened over the weekend.
Coach, Anne-Marie, said she “did not recognise the song because you really made it your own”. Jones told her “you can sing; it is as simple as that. I had to press my button because that is as good as I think you are”.
WILL.I.AM remarked: “You sounded angelic. My seat not turning for you would be disrespectful to the level of talent that you have.”
Olly Murs told her, “you gave it absolutely everything, and you put your own stamp on it [song] and made it your own”.
She told the coaches: “Last year, I decided to start uploading singing videos to social media to try and bring back that passion I had for music. It turns out that people enjoyed hearing me.”
“The support from strangers is crazy; it is brilliant. The self-belief that was missing for a few years is back.”
Niamh Nolan
Appearing on the show, she told the audience that she resides with her parents and three siblings in the countryside.
“There are a couple of cattle, hens, a little greenhouse and gardens. It is such a cliché household, but we would not have it any other way.”
“Monday to Friday, I work as a childcare assistant in a toddler room with two and two-and-a-half-year-olds, who I adore like they are my own children.”
“We paint, splash in puddles and sing. My usuals would be Baa Baa Black Sheep and Old MacDonald Had a Farm. It is really nice and rewarding.”
She said after she left school, singing was definitely put on the back burner, but it “was always there”.
“I am used to singing in front of the kids at work. I have an audience of seven 2-year-olds in front of me,” she added.
Taking to social media in recent days, she said this is “the longest secret I have ever kept and what a rollercoaster this has been”.
This has been the “biggest self-growth journey I could have ever imagined, and apparently, wonderful things happen outside your comfort zone”,
“I cannot help but think of how proud my younger self would be; she deserves this so much,” she concluded.
@niamhnolan7 Here it is .. my full segment & audition on #TheVoiceUK ♬ original sound – Niamh Nolan
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