Oct 02 - Westside School Pupil Featured On La Voz Kids
A 12-year-old Westside School pupil wowed judges during her La Voz Kids blind auditions, securing a place for herself in the quarter-finals.
Elisha Lang will be battling for the semi-finals as she appears on the TeleCinco show next week, as the contestants are whittled down from 45, to 15, with six contestants making it to the final show.
The Year 8 pupil sang ‘The Power Of Love’ for the judges Manuel Carrasco, David Bisbal and Rosario Flores, which earned gave her a unanimous vote as all three turned their chairs during her performance.
Speaking to Your Gibraltar TV, Elisha, who first started singing when she was 9 years old, said she is very overwhelmed by the support she’s been given, and can’t believe she’s being recognised by children across Spain.
She has become an overnight social media sensation, with thousands of new followers on her Facebook page and more than 10,000 followers on her Instagram page. Here she speaks to Your Gibraltar TV, and is happy to conduct her first interview in English.
YGTV: How do you feel about making it on the show?
Elisha: I feel happy and proud.
YGTV: How did you find out about the show?
Elisha: My parents’ friends told me to audition for it, so I went to Seville for the casting. I sang Chandelier, On My Own, and Skyscraper for my auditions.
YGTV: How did you feel your audition went for you?
Elisha: When I started my blind auditions, my mouth was as driest it can be, I was so nervous. As soon as David Bisbal turned, it was like water was flushing in my mouth and I was able to sing again. When I started singing, I didn’t think I could get the words out. Then Manuel turned, and then Rosario, so I knew I’d made it through.
YGTV: If you could choose one song to sing, what would it be?
Elisha: One Moment in Time by Whitney Houston is my favourite song, and I would love to sing that.
YGTV: Have you had the opportunity to meet a lot of the children?
Elisha: They are all very nice, and obviously it is hard to try and learn Spanish, but there were a couple who were English and one who was American, so I became friends with them.
YGTV: How have your friends reacted to seeing you on TV? They must be excited to see you on their screen?
Elisha: The whole school has stopped me and said congratulations to me. But it’s been weird when people stop me in the street, especially in Spain. They recognise me, and they want a photo and an autograph. It’s weird, but I like it.
YGTV: Everyone has a dream about what they want to be when they grow up. What do you want to be?
Elisha: I want to record albums and write my own music, and become a singer.
YGTV: What are you involved with locally?
Elisha: I sing with Christian Santos and dance locally with Transitions Dance Academy, and previously with Danza Academy.
YGTV: If for any reason you don’t make it through to the next round, what will you do next?
Elisha: I would be a bit sad, but the experience already has been a very nice experience. If I don’t get through to the next round, I’ll be sad but happy and just carry on. X-Factor is definitely something I’d go for.
YGTV: Who are your musical influences?
Elisha: I love Bruno Mars, Ellie Goulding, Whitney Houston and Beyonce.
YGTV: You’re on TV next week, do you know what you’ll be singing?
Elisha: They’ll tell me what I’m singing next week, and I’ll be performing with someone and battling it out.
YGTV: You’ve been performing locally and have become a social media sensation with more than 10,000 followers. Can you believe that?
Elisha: I don’t know. I didn’t expect these many followers in only one show, because I was only on TV for 10 minutes and only sang two songs, so I didn’t expect this at all.
YGTV: Have your family been supportive of your musical journey?
Elisha: My parents have been very supportive, and my dad cries every time I sing. My dad sings as well, but he’d never do it in public.
YGTV: What’s been the highlight of the whole experience?
Elisha: Definitely my blind audition, especially when they turned around. I always get nervous before a show, but this has been the most nerve-wracking. You are either going to come out joyful with either one, two or three judges turning around, or you come out with nothing. Even if I’d come out with nothing, it would have been a great experience to sing in front of three judges who are so famous.
Elisha’s parents Scott and Claire, and brothers Aaron, 15, and Kieran, 19, are her biggest fans and have been nothing but supportive for her, joining Elisha as she travels to Madrid and back for her performances.
Despite the number of supporters Elisha has backing her, there was backlash from social media users in Gibraltar, who were outraged at the fact that Elisha said she was English and lived in Cadiz. Scott explained that there was a contract to sign, and they had to put down a Spanish address, so they put down their other home address in Los Barrios, but Elisha has never hidden the fact that she’s from Gibraltar on while on television or at the show.
Scott and Claire are disappointed at the lack of support for Elisha locally.
They add: “As parents, we want to do everything we can to help our daughter’s career. The backlash is just a bad way of thinking, because the music industry is a hard industry to get into, but music is music.
“We didn’t want to let this opportunity slip by just because we didn’t want Elisha to regret not taking part in this in the future.”
Photos by John Piris and Core Photography.
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