Talia Smith – “The Voice” Of Country

Talia Smith, one halve of the award winning hot female UK country duo Travellin Rose is set to appear on Episode 6; Series 3 (Blind Auditions 6) on the BBC 1 show The Voice UK this Saturday Feb 15, 2014 which starts at 19:10 (BBC Programme Page)

Talia Smith / Travellin Rose Photo Montage
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Emma Willis and Marvin Humes (who replaced Holly Willoughby and Reggie Yates) will host the penultimate round of blind auditions as the search for the UK's next big vocal talent continues.

Talia Smith
The Voice Blind Audition

Places on each of the coaches' teams are increasingly limited, and the fight for a coveted spot on either Team Will, Team Ricky, Team Kylie or Team Tom is fiercer than ever.

The third series began airing on 11 January 2014 on BBC One, as opposed to the usual start in March. will.i.am and Tom Jones returned as coaches. Kylie Minogue and Ricky Wilson joined the show as replacements for former coaches, Jessie J and Danny O'Donoghue. Emma Willis and Marvin Humes co-presented the show for the first time, replacing.

The Voice UK has been the most-watched Saturday night show on British TV in its first four weeks on air and peaked at over 10 million viewers on the Feb 1, 2014 show. 
On 9 February 2014, it was announced that 'The Voice' has landed its own half-hour spin-off show on BBC Two, which will be presented by Zoe Ball (6:30pm on weekdays from the time the live shows kick off until the final)

On Monday Feb 10th The Sun Newspaper ran a feature on Talia (but not on Page 3) titled “My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding singer Traveller Talia on The Voice”. 
Talia posted on Facebook: I'm in #TheSun Newspaper!! (Page 27) 

Wow!!! I'm in the @TheSunNewspaper today!! Eeeekkkk exciting times...so who's gonna wish me luck!! #Arrows pic.twitter.com/ANuGb5ZwvV
— Talia Smith (@TaliaSmithMusic) February 10, 2014

The Sun wrote: THE VOICE charts new territory this weekend with a singing GYPSY….Country singer Talia Smith lives in a caravan near Heathrow and on Saturday she will be the show’s first-ever traveler bidding for a slice of the pop pie.

The Sun feature
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The lovely professional singer Talia Smith has become the first gypsy/ traveller to audition for 'The Voice hoping to impress judges Sir Tom Jones, Kylie Minogue, Ricky Wilson and will.i.am with her country-infused vocals.

The gorgeous mum-of-three, who juggles singing with looking after her three kids, lives in caravan near Heathrow with her partner Billy and was due to audition with her friend Kelly Lee as part of singing duo Travellin Rose, before her pal pulled out at the last minute. Kelly, formerly from Hatfield now based in Swindon is due to have her third child in February.

A source told The Sun newspaper: "Talia is a bona fide traveller. She loves the life and doesn't care what anyone thinks about gypsies. She's been a professional singer for a few years and has a great voice. It's no surprise coach Tom Jones takes a bit of a fancy to her. "She's genuine proof that the show is about including people from all walks of life. People focus on the former pop stars and the confident stage school types but there are so many different people on the show."

Travellin Rose have enjoyed #1 Chart success and represented the UK travelling to America to win over fans in Nashville.

Talia Smith (L) and Kelly Lee (R)
Travellin Rose Duo

Now Talia is going it alone and hoping to get The Voice judges turning their chairs for her.

According to The Sun newspaper Sir Tom Jones is particularly taken by the performer. Talia herself revealed that she only started singing after having her third baby but had plenty of encouragement from friends and family. “I’ve a lot to thank the gypsy community for as I pretty much lost all my friends when I moved in with Billy when I was just 16,” Talia said. “They made me welcome and have encouraged me to sing.”

Some “fans" of the BBC show are branding Talia “the shows’ Cher Lloyd” who shot to fame on The X Factor in 2010, after revealing her romany background and like Talia, the talented young star was always proud of her heritage and certainly made no apologies for it. Lloyd was raised in Malvern, Worcester with her parents and three younger siblings. Her family is of Gypsy origin and the ‘Swagger Jagger’ hit-maker spent the first year of her life travelling around Wales with her parents in a caravan.

The 20-year old Cher Lloyd who married at a secret ceremony in November 2013 has enjoyed success on both sides of the pond. She headed the UK singles chart with her début single “Swagger Jagger” (sales of 66,316 copies), "With Ur Love" reached #4 in the UK whilst “Want U Back" her début U.S. reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100. Her album Sticks + Stones was #4 in the UK (#9 peak in US).

I’m sure Talia will gladly wish some of Cher’s gypsy luck will rub off on her too and she too might even get to perform with Pop/Country superstar princess Taylor Swift who brought out the With Ur Love singer, cher-ing the stage,  to perform with her at The Staples Center in LA >> Video

Turn, Turn, Turn for Talia: 
She may not have the “X” Factor but the Travellin Rose Country fans most certainly know the attractive Talia has the “C” Factor! 

Recently Talia Smith performed her first solo gig at The River Side Club with her beloved mandolin in Alt Country/Americana/ Bluegrass trio format accompanied by Dobro and Double bass! She showcased a new original song titled "Phoenix".

>> Watch the video (credit Chris Burland) and kindly critique on Facebook at #bluegrassstaines

Career Highlights:

As part of the vibrant Travellin Rose here are Talia Smiths “best bits” to date:

• Recorded a 12 track album titled CINDERELLA DREAMING in Nashville with all the tracks written entirely by Travellin Rose.
• Their first single “Made Up My Mind,” debuted on the Hotdisc Top 40 chart on Dec 11, 2011 at # 2 and on Dec 18th they topped the Hotdisc British and Irish chart . In so doing they gave Forbes # 1 listed artist Toby Keith and his viral sensation hit Red Solo Cup a run for its money.
• In early November 2011 Talia and Kelly Lee were invited to join an International Country Music party of country acts and performed at a high profile pre CMA Award show event at The Cadillac Ranch >> see video  Then they got the chance to glam-up to attend the Country music’s biggest night at the 2011 CMA’s.

• Travellin Rose were the cover feature in Country Routes Magazine (January 2012 issue)
• In the week Jan 14, 2012 their single “Made Up My Mind” was #13 on the International Country Music Chart
• In early June 2012 Travellin Rose represented the UK during the CMA Festival at the “CMA Presents The Aristo Global Show” at the Second Fiddle in Nashville – Arista Press Link . They were interviewed for a Billboard Story for a CMA Festival Week story! - See photo (Travellin Rose (left) strapless bustiers
• On July 29, 2012 Travellin Rose appeared in the UK National newspaper The Daily Star - www.dailystar.co.uk
• In August/Sept 2012 their third single “Girl From The Backwood’s” has spent 3 weeks at #3 on The Hotdisc Top 40 and got to #1 on The British & Irish Chart 
• At the Sept 2, 2012 British Country Music Awards (BCMAwards) Travellin Rose won Horizon Act of the Year UK (Up and coming act, sponsored by The CMA, Nashville TN) and were nominated for Duo of the Year and Album of the Year.

Talia's Vital Statistics:

She writes: I am a singer/songwriter who is starting out in the music industry and needs as much help as possible...I enjoy singing country music, but I can sing from almost every genre, I would love to collaborate with other artists and musicians to learn as much as possible and expand my experience x

Height 160 cm / 5ft 3in  Shoe size 4.0 UK / 5.5 US / 37.0 Euro Weight 54 kg / 118 lbs

Hair Colour: Brown   Hair length: Long   Hair type: Wavy  Eye Colour: Brown  Dress Size: 10

Singing styles: Pop  Favourite genres: Country

Influences: Carrie Underwood,  Rascal Flatts,  Loretta Lynn

Websites:

Talia Smith FACEBOOK - TWITTER

Travellin Rose: FACEBOOK

Related Blog Posts: Interview Artist Spotlight - New To You....Travellin Rose

>> Listen to some of Travellin Rose songs and interview on soundcloud.com (27 April 2012)

Music: The album Cinderella Dreaming (UPC 5024545656121; (released Feb 4, 2013) is available to purchase on:

Amazon - iTunes and CDBABY

Other Country artists have previously appeared on the Reality TV shows before:
Sam Hollyman, the talented up and coming British singer/songwriter who recently had a 3-week #1 on the Hotdisc British & Irish Chart with his single “Where I Wanna Be”, failed to win over the judges on The Voice in April 2013. The then 17-year old “Stafford singing sensation” fell at the first hurdle in the TV talent show when judges Jessie J, Will.i.am, Sir Tom Jones and Danny O’Donoghue didn’t warm to his rendition of Elton John’s ‘Your Song’.

Emma Jade (Garbutt) an unsigned 19 year old country/pop artist from Doncaster appeared as a contestant on 'BBC The Voice UK' after being chosen to join Sir Tom Jones' 2013 team (Image) after performing a cover of Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child o' Mine" on Episode 2 broadcast on 6 April 2013. Unfortunately Emma Jade left the competition at the third battle round stages episode aired on 25 May,2013 pitched against Mike Ward (cousin of British The X Factor series 2 winner Shayne Ward) performing Stevie Nicks' song "Landslide" (also cut by The Dixie Chicks) - BBC Profile

Emma Jade & Mike Ward (L) on The Voice & Carolynne Poole (X Factor 2012)  

Unemployed joiner Mike Ward (see BBC Profile), who has Irish Traveller roots on his father's side, nailed it, wowing the coaches on the BBC1 show when he aauditioned, who we’re surprised he actually sung country music. Coach Jessie  J said "He's not what you expect" >> Video

The streetwise Salford 23 year old country singer (born 14th Dec 1990) was part of Tom Jones' team singing mostly country and western music and progressed as a finalist in the last Final 4.  He auditioned with the song "Don't Close Your Eyes" from Keith Whitley, with three of the four judges, Jessie J, Danny O'Donoghue and Sir Tom Jones turning their chairs. In the competition he sung "Suspicious Minds" solo and "Green Green Grass of Home" with Jones and was eventually eliminated at the final.

Battling his shyness some were tipping him to be UK’s first big country artist. He wanted to get country music noticed in the UK and bring it into the 21st century. Could Mike be the man to make country music cool?

Country Music People's David Allan (the former BBC Radio 2 Country Club presenter) really praised his performances on The Voice in the magazine making comparisons to George Jones and Keith Whitley. He spoke of his raw emotion and his connected with people putting over the lyrics with his vocal delivery.

So what has happened post The Voice? Well Mike released "When I Was Your Man" (Bruno Mars cover) on 22 June 2013 which briefly appeared at #60 and “Picking Up the Pieces" (Paloma Faith ) on 29 June 2013 which reached #72 on the Official UK chart

No album has appeared and he done some local pub gigs and shared a few low budget videos with fans.

In the January 2014 issue of Country Music People (below) David Allan shares his disappointment on his page as to why the media have seemingly ignored Ward.

Emma Jade also faded away and didn’t have the money to produce some high tech videos or record any music. She is however going to be one of 27 names to appear on the Pop-Up Stages at C2C Country to Country at The O2 in March – See Blog Post.

Carolynne Poole the "A little bit Country..A little bit Rock n Roll" Leeds based singer-songwriter was another country artist who strived for success via a TV Talent show. She finished in third place in the second series of Fame Academy and on the weekend Oct 6th to 7th, 2012 we witnessed the first time on X Factor UK that a contestant describing themselves as a “country” artist had made it through to the live TV stages of the ITV competition. She fell just short the previous year leaving X Factor at the Judges Houses round. Sadly it wasn’t to last as she was the first 2012 finalist of 13 who had to leave after a controversial and tension-fuelled sing-off elimination.

Since then she has been on the social circuit and making public appearances such as the Stanley Christmas Light Switch and was due to travel to Arizona and visit Nashville in 2013 for song-writing sessions and return in the Autumn with new country songs but it didn’t materialize. I believe I read she will write in America and record some new music in 2014.

It is clear that the very attractive Carolynne has talent and a voice to match with this OntSofa cover of “Telescope” (Hayden Panettiere Cover) last year >> YouTube  

Ironically, under the name Carolynne Good she played the part of a character called Talia (Justin's fiancée) in an episode of ITV’s Emmerdale on in June 2012.

Whether these Talent show artists are restricted by and locked in contracts which prevents them from releasing music and promoting themselves for a specific time period after their TV exits, who knows?

By the time they do they will be sadly forgotten by the public at large who nowadays treat such shows as entertainment fodder and don’t follow through by purchasing the music and are merely passive fans rather than super keen proactive ones.

Wishing Talia Smith well for the Voice on Saturday hoping she will reach The Battle Stages and beyond. Watch this space!   
Check out some fabulous new pictures (copyright Steve Finn) and slideshow at the Daily MAIL !

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