Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
Career Voice activated
Kiwi singer Eden Kavanagh is looking at management options after impressing fans on the UK version of the talent contest, The Voice.
She made it through to the blind auditions and performed her rendition of They Just Keep Moving the Line from TV series Smash.
The 24-year-old Picton woman says months of work prepared her for the 90-second slot to impress judges enough for them to spin their seat.
‘‘Essentially this was a fail, it was a bit of a flop, but the fact it was aired and it got this reaction, I’m very humbled and I’m very grateful.
Kavanagh is talking to management agencies to see what comes next.
‘‘I’ve put some feelers out there, I’m stepping back to see what offers are made,’’ Kavanagh said.
‘‘It was an amazing experience. The crowd was unbelievable ... halfway through people just started standing up and were rooting for me to get a turn.
‘‘I was just unlucky in that situation. It was a surreal moment.’’
Kavanagh was listening to offers from management agencies, but nothing was set in stone yet, she said.
‘‘If I’m singing, and doing what I love, and can do it for a living, that’s a dream in itself.
‘‘Whether that’s a record label, in a show, or even in bars and things ... but of course I’d love to be able to tour the world,’’ she said.
She was surprised by the response from around the world.
‘‘The feedback is probably the best I could have got from that experience,’’ Kavanagh said.
‘‘I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.’’
Kavanagh bounced between New Zealand and Ireland growing up, but finished her schooling at Marlborough Girls’ College.
After graduating from Whitireia Performing Arts Centre in Wellington, she decided to move to Dublin for the year.
She said the first set of auditions in Belfast, Northern Ireland was kind of like being herded as cattle.
‘‘A group of 10, you all sing for a minute, acapella, and then you get kicked out,’’ as they slowly whittled down the applicants.
‘‘It was kind of that process, over and over again.’’
She was flown to London a few times to meet with the TV producers and crew, she said.
‘‘I felt like a bit of a rock star to be honest.’’
Her mum, Picton entrepreneur Juliearna Kavanagh, flew over for the blind audition.
‘‘It was gut wrenching, she sang her heart out ... but it might end up being for the best,’’ she said.
‘‘If I’m singing, and doing what I love, and can do it for a living, that’s a dream in itself. ’’ Eden Kavanagh