The Voice’s Leyla Sabo hits back after Ronan Keating refuses to take her to the Grand Finale: ‘I was disappointed’
'I worked so hard to be there'
Many fans of The Voice had tipped the youngest singer, Leyla Sabo, to win the competition. But in a semi-final shock, coach Ronan Keating chose to put his boy band, The 60 Four, through to the grand finale alongside Yung Milla, Daisha Auda and Tommy Novak, sending Leyla home.
Leyla, who was just 12 when she auditioned for The Voice and is 13 now, has spoken to TV WEEK about the elimination.
“Of course I was disappointed,” she says. “I worked so hard to be there. I really wanted to make the grand finale. But I’m also incredibly proud of how far I made it, especially knowing I became the youngest artist in the world to reach the semi-finals of any flagship adult edition of The Voice globally.”
Leyla says “so much has happened” since her blind audition on The Voice went to air.
“My social media has grown massively, and I’ve had more than 30 million profile visits across my profiles, which is honestly crazy to think about. I’ll be doing shows around Australia very soon, which I’m really excited about, and there are some announcements coming that I can’t talk about just yet.
“I’m also really excited about songwriting and releasing more of my own music. I have so many original songs that I want to bring to life, so that’s a huge focus for me now.”
Recently, Leyla has been singing with teenage punk band Wave Raiders, who also impressed on The Voice. She’ll be playing a gig with them next month.
“During filming of The Voice, we became very close as friends and musicians,” Leyla says. “We all just clicked and thought, ‘Why not do a show with them?’ They’re all so talented and lovely people, and we have a lot of fun together.”
So what’s it been like for Leyla going through the experience of The Voice at the age of just 12, going on 13?
“I wouldn’t say it’s been difficult, because I enjoy doing what I do, but I do work very hard for it all,” she says. “There are definitely times where it can feel like a lot to balance, especially when everything happens at once. But I’m really lucky to have my mum supporting me and making sure I’m still enjoying what I love.”
