Tears flowed on Sunday as Whittlesea residents Chris Watson and his daughter Shanae auditioned on Channel 7’s reality singing program The Voice.
Auditioning first, Mr Watson, a postman in Seymour, performed ‘Jessie’s Girl’ by Rick Springfield.
Although coaches Jason Derulo and Jessica Mauboy looked set to hit their buzzers, Mr Watson failed to be selected for the next round.
However, he achieved a personal goal as Shanae, not an original auditionee, was invited to perform after Mr Watson explained his reason for auditioning.
Hoping to show his daughter to never give up singing despite setbacks, Mr Watson applied for The Voice knowing he ‘wasn’t marketable’.
“I only entered it realistically knowing I’m not marketable. I’m 53 years of age – what am I going to do? Go and sing in a pub, that’s about it,” he said.
“But I did it hoping there would be a break for my daughter.
“It was just to show my daughter no matter how many times you get knocked back, you just keep getting up and having a go again.”
Coach Rita Ora said she was ‘really happy’ he auditioned.
“You just seem like the most incredible dad and the nicest man,” she said.
“You should be really happy with yourself. It was a great audition.”
Shanae, 21, had almost given up on her singing dream following a series of rejections at other auditions.
“I said to my dad at one stage ‘nup I don’t want to sing anymore’,” she said.
“But then we did this and it brought back that spark.
“It was really inspiring to be honest to see dad perform, because I know he loves singing as well, so to see him go and do it really did just lit that fire for me.
“To know he was doing it to show me not to give up. That meant even more to me. He’s a great inspiration.”
Performing ‘Chandelier’ by Sia, Shanae turned all four chairs as she belted out the difficult chorus.
Mr Watson couldn’t contain his tears watching Shanae perform.
Ora said it had affected her when she saw Mr Watson crying.
“Your father, when he started crying, that just got me. It just goes to show there’s no ego, there’s no pride. This is just a complete win for the whole family and that’s what this is all about,” she said.
Coach Guy Sebastian said Mr Watson had downplayed Shanae’s talent.
“When you said she was good, that’s a little bit of an understatement. My gosh Shanae, that was definitely worth doing,” he said.
“I know with that song it’s about the chorus. It’s one of the hardest choruses to sing and when you nailed that I had to slam this button down. You really expose the flaws of someone’s voice in that song but you sung it like an absolute angel.
“See what happens when you go out on a limb and inspire your daughter. And see what happens when you take a leap of faith.”
Derulo said Mr Watson inspired him as a father.
“I’m really, really inspired by you and the fact you went out on a limb so that your daughter could see your courage and find the courage for herself within you,” he said.
“I just think that’s such a beautiful thing and I want to thank you for that because it really, really inspires me as a father.”
Shanae chose Sebastian as her coach and will join his team for the rest of the competition.
