College hopes to find new stars of The Voice

Students from Blackpool and The Fylde College are tuning up for talent show auditions.
Blackpool and The Fylde College students, from left, Frazer Mundy, Marlie Lewis, Caitlin Roberts and Nicole Appleby are working hard in anticipation of The Voice auditions at the collegeBlackpool and The Fylde College students, from left, Frazer Mundy, Marlie Lewis, Caitlin Roberts and Nicole Appleby are working hard in anticipation of The Voice auditions at the college
Blackpool and The Fylde College students, from left, Frazer Mundy, Marlie Lewis, Caitlin Roberts and Nicole Appleby are working hard in anticipation of The Voice auditions at the college

And they’re hoping home advantage will play in their favour as The Voice brings its star search to the Park Road University Centre next week.

First round auditions for the ITV show will take place at the college for the first time on Thursday, and are open to the public as well as students.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Among the BA Hons Musical Theatre students preparing for the big date are Frazer Mundy, 19, from Blackpool, who is deciding between 
anthems Love Reign O’er Me by The Who or Sam and Dave’s hit Soul Man.

He said: “You need to stand out and everyone is doing songs by people like Adele or Sam Smith so I wanted to go in a different direction.”

Also hoping her performance in front of researchers will secure a spot in later rounds with celebrity judges, including Sir Tom Jones and will-i-am, is Marlie Lewis, 19, from Leeds.

“The College really supports us with auditions like this,” she said. “If we ever need help we’re offered one-to-one assistance and can always bring our performances up to work on in tutorials.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“It’s in our interest to work hard on things like this as we might not get such a good opportunity again, especially in a place where we all feel so comfortable performing.”

The home advantage could prove crucial for fellow auditionee Nicole Appleby, 20, from Wolverhampton, who said: “I’ve auditioned for the show before and got quite far but hopefully all the practice we do with our vocal coaches here has helped me improve, and the fact we’re performing regularly means I have a better chance this time.”

Nigel Brown, head of creative arts and digital industries at B&FC, said: “We’re really proud to be hosting The Voice and hope we will see lots of talented singers take part.

“Having watched the show, I know the level of entrants for The Voice is extremely high and lots of extremely gifted people don’t quite make it.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“We spend a lot of time with our students helping them build the skills they need so I am hoping our singers perform really well.”

Auditions for The Voice will take place between 1pm and 4pm on Thursday.

All entrants are asked to prepare one song to be performed acapella or to a backing track.