The new season of The Voice already has some star power behind its contestants, with the 31-year-old sister of Nick Kyrgios, Halimah Kyrgios, set to be joining the cast this season.
Halimah, who is a singer, dancer, and a model, has spent the last few years performing in musical theatre around the world.
She was spending time with family in Canberra when the opportunity to audition for The Voice came up.
The seasoned performer chose Chains by Tina Arena for her audition.
“It’s one of my mum’s favourite songs and a very popular song in Australia, so it’ll be interesting to see what the Australian feedback is with my version,” she told The Canberra Times.
Halimah showed an affinity for singing from a young age, even admitting that she’d tried to sing Chains at eight or nine.
“I remember from a young age that Hali was always singing,” Nick told The Canberra Times.
“She has always done what is best for her and her career and it shows, she made a lot of early sacrifices and was away from family to go to uni in Singapore and has worked overseas in many countries doing musical theatre,” he explained.
Nick is currently 77th in the world for tennis, but is preceeded by a complicated reputation.
A hot-tempered athlete, he has been known to throw chairs while on court, deliberately try and put his opponents off with harsh words and stay out drinking with journalists the night before big matches in the past.
He was also fined and served a ban in 2019 for inappropriately berating an umpire.
However, his image seems to be turning around – the tennis player donated $200 for every ace he served during the summer of the 2019 Australian bushfires, and went on to donate it to victims of the disaster.
If Halimah’s Instagram is anything to go by, she lives a similarly glamorous and international life to her brother, with her latest snaps being posted from Hong Kong.
She has also worked in Germany and Singapore throughout her career.
The performer admitted her audition for the show was particularly nerve-wracking, despite having her long career in singing to back her up.
“It’s a very different setting as to if you’re just going to perform something we’ve rehearsed for hours, weeks, months, and you know what to expect when you go out there,” she explained.
“Whereas for the blind auditions, you’re sitting in the room with 200-plus people and you’re just feeding off everyone’s nervous energy. I was just going over in my head, the same things over and over again – and then you start doubting yourself.”
She said the experience might have given her ‘a little taste of maybe what my brother goes through.”
If Halimah’s singing talent is anything to go off we have no doubt she has what it takes to make it far on The Voice.
The new season of The Voice starts this Sunday, August 8, on Channel Seven at 7pm.