Leah exits with pride
TV viewers watched Gateshead teenager Leah Cobb give a sparkling performance on The Voice on Saturday night – but it wasn’t enough to propel her into the final.
The 16-year-old brought her unique vocals to bear on a 60s classic as she belted out Be My Baby by The Ronettes in the semi-final of the ITV talent show.
And while judge Sir Tom Jones loved Leah’s performance, she was to miss out on the last stage as the star picked 38-year-old Hannah Williams instead.
Leah, the youngest of the show’s hopefuls, was told “I thought that was beautiful” by Sir Tom after a powerful performance which saw the Blaydon schoolgirl add her own high note mid-song to give the classic a personal twist.
It had been a bit of a risk, she admits, “but I felt I needed to change the song a little bit because it was quite repetitive”.
And it worked perfectly, winning her praise from the judges and her parents Steve and Donna, who have been at her side throughout.
Dad Steve said: “She nailed it. It was amazing – we couldn’t have asked for anything more. Her performance was flawless. It just didn’t go her way.”
Leah, a pupil at Thorp Academy in Ryton, was disappointed at the result but has taken it in her stride.
Having kept up with her schoolwork during her rollercoaster experience in the public eye, she is now fully focused on her A-level studies in history, English literature and sociology.
But she is not ruling out the prospect of applying for other TV talent shows when she is a bit older.
“Maybe when I’m 18 I’ll come back on a different show,” she says. “The X Factor is good! Or there might be other shows.
“I thought with my performance [on Saturday], and with my relationship with Tom, I may have quite a big shot at getting through.”
Dad Steve says they don’t know what the future holds but “she’s enjoyed the experience” and for now it’s about her A-levels.
Proud mam Donna added: “She couldn’t have done any better.”
While viewers don’t get to see it on TV, all the judges were on their feet at the end of her performance, applauding her, she says.
Donna says the whole showbiz experience has been quite surreal. While the show has lost none of its usual glitz and atmosphere for viewers, it has been staged with strict Covid-safe guidelines, with social distancing and masks in many areas..
Steve and Donna are full of praise for all the team at The Voice, including those backstage, who they say treated Leah like an adult and listened to her thoughts about how to perform her song.
Sir Tom likened her to Aretha Franklin in that she’s “quite timid until she got on the stage.”
It was Sir Tom who gave Leah that all-important second chance after his ‘steal’ on the show to take her from Olly Murs, saying at the time: “She’s got a really unique-sounding voice and she’s only 16 years old”.
Leah went on to meet Mel C from The Spice Girls, who also noted the uniqueness of her voice.
But in the end Sir Tom chose Hannah instead of Leah and the other Team Tom member, Jake O’Neill.
Leah, however, said she thoroughly enjoyed her whole experience.
She said: “It’s been really nice. I definitely hope to keep singing and I hope some opportunities come from the TV show.”
Leah thinks Hannah might well clinch it this Saturday.”