It’s always an ambitious choice to walk onto the stage of The Voice Australia and perform an original song, but Kaylee Bell took an even greater risk tonight when she performed her tune, Keith, while its namesake sat before her.
However, Kaylee had no reason to worry, with her talent and experience shining through immediately as she gave the performance of the night, singing the Keith Urban-inspired jam accompanied by her guitar.
The coaches were so taken with Kaylee that they all turned their chairs, with Jess Mauboy, Guy Sebastian, and Rita Ora knowing their chances were slim once Keith showed an interest in the New Zealand-born singer-songwriter.
But they weren’t going down without a fight, and while they all took a moment to pitch, it was Jess Mauboy who made the play of the episode when she smashed her block button, dramatically stopping Kaylee from joining Keith’s team.
The schoolteacher and singer-songwriter from New Zealand was introduced to the audience as a massive fan, explaining that she’s always drawn inspiration from the international country music star.
“Keith’s someone that I’ve literally looked up to my whole life, to be honest,” Kaylee tells WHO.
“He was a big reason why I moved to Australia when I was 21.
“I’ve just always kind of followed his journey … it was very daunting to actually get up there and sing it in front of him,” she laughs.
The song is written mostly as an ode to Keith’s music, although it tells the story of a romance experienced by the narrator, with Keith’s song titles interspersed throughout.
“I think there’s like 13 titles, but then you keep releasing songs with really similar names,” she told Keith after her performance.
Kaylee wrote the song with two friends in Nashville, where she often travels to to work on her music, COVID-19 restrictions permitting.
She released it in 2019 but has recently put out a pop remix of the song as well.
“I just wanted to write a song that felt like Keith, because Keith has such a feel about his music that I really love,” she explained to the coaches.
As well as her songwriting, the coaches were taken with Kaylee’s talent.
“You are made to be on stage,” Rita Ora told her.
“You took a huge risk, and it worked. That was like a perfect package of artist.”
“I’m going to fight for you, because there’s absolutely no one like you on my team,” Jess Mauboy said to Kaylee, just before she hit the block button.
While Jess was just playing competitively, she did rob Kaylee of a chance to work with her biggest inspiration. However, Kaylee insists she doesn’t mind.
“It would’ve been amazing to have been mentored [by him] and had him coaching, obviously,” Kaylee admits to us.
“I kind of went on pretty open-minded and just stoked to have … had the chance to sing an original song, I think it was just such a huge win – I just loved that chance.
“And then I was … when you’re actually in that moment, it’s nerves like you’ve never known … I was just really happy that anybody turned, to be honest,” she explains.
Kaylee also relished the opportunity to work with Jess on the show.
“Jess is awesome … I knew that she’d grown up in the country industry as well, which I really love and appreciate about her,” Kaylee says.
“She’s just a beautiful human … I found her really, really warm and encouraging, just a real light.
“You feel really comfortable in her presence, which I really like about her.”
You can catch The Voice on Monday-Wednesday evenings at 7:30pm on Channel Seven and 7Plus.
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