On Sunday night, Diana Rouvas’ win was overshadowed by claims The Voice Australia is “rigged” after an unfortunate website crash early on in the episode meant thousands of fans were unable to cast their vote.
“It’s rigged I can’t vote, can’t get through, won’t connect,” said one enraged Twitter user, weighing in on the controversy which occurred right before the episode ended. “I can’t get on to vote? What is going on channel 9?” another added.
WATCH: DIANA BELTS OUT HER OWN SINGLE
The beloved “Wait For No One” singer— who was mentored by Boy George— has since hit back at claims she was undeserving of the victory, admitting the technical hitch was instantly taken care of.
“I believe the issue was technical,” the contestant told E! News of the voting glitch. “There was too much going on and it blew up. But the votes went through and it was all sorted pretty quickly.”
Before the Sydneysider was crowned the winner of this season’s popular singing competition, while the show was still live, a Channel Nine representative revealed the problem was not widespread and occurred due to a high number of votes.
“We have had an overwhelming number of votes throughout the week. Hundreds of thousands of votes have been coming through during tonight’s show which has caused some technical problems for a small number of viewers, however, votes are continuing to flow through,” the statement read. “The technical problem has now been solved. We appreciate everybody’s support for the artists and the show. Voting is still open.”
Since beating her Voice rival Daniel Shaw and walking away with $100,000 prize money and a recording contract with Universal Music Australia or EMI, the Voice All Star told WHO she already knows how she’s going to spend her winnings.
“I’m going to pay off a few credit cards [laughs], do some real sh** stuff, put it towards some real things and then put it towards my career,” the 35-year-old said.
She also plans to keep in contact with celebrity coach, Boy George— who she said had her back throughout the entire season!
“He is as genuine and authentic as he appears and he had my back. And I loved singing with him, I saw a different side to him when he sang and it was really beautiful to witness and to stand beside.”
Interview by Abi Moustafa.
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