IDOL KIM GIVES A VOICE TO BIG DREAMS
NEVER in her wildest dreams did Kim Cooper believe she would one day feature on Australian Idol.
The local talent was 21 and living in Townsville, Queensland, when she auditioned for the TV talent show in 2009.
She said initially didn’t want to audition for the singing competition but agreed to travel the 4½-hour drive to Cairns with her best friend who had already signed up to the show.
“I decided then if I was going to drive all that way I may as well have a go and see if I can handle the pressure of singing onstage,” Cooper said. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would actually get in.” She said the reality show helped her understand the potential her voice and that the experience was “intense”.
“I always describe my time on the show as the highs were high and the lows were low,” she said. “We got to live in Sydney in this amazing house but the pressure of performing on a national stage is so intense.”
Cooper is one of a long list of local talents who have appeared on Australian reality TV shows. From The X Factor to Australian Idol, singers from across the region have launched their music careers after appearing on national TV in front of thousands of Aussies.
Cooper, who is now 34, owns vocal training studio The Kim Cooper Studio of Voice and sings at local gigs on the weekend. She teaches students from the ages of five all the way up to 60.
“My studio ethos is that singing belongs to everyone, it ignites so much joy and confidence and is so beneficial for your mental health,” she said. Cooper has also just launched a vocal health workshop for professionals who use their voice constantly at work such as nurses, teachers and group fitness instructors.
“A lot of professionals don’t realise the demand their job has on their voices so (the workshops) are all about taking care of their voice to ensure they don’t harm or lose it,” she said.
Cooper will start taking voice health clients from the end of this year.
Her advice for anyone wanting to audition for Australian Idol or any other reality singing show is to just go for it.
“Feel the fear and do it anyway, just have fun,” Cooper said.