Sharon in search for 'The Voice'
Sharon Corr, who is a celebrity coach on RTE'S 'The Voice'.
DUNDALK SINGER Sharon Corr made her debut appearance as a celebrity coach on RTE'S hit TV show ' The Voice' last Sunday.
Sharon joined the coaching panel including Brian, Westlife's Kian Egan and former ' The Blizzards' front man Bressie for the Irish version of the show which has taken the world by storm.
'It is a completely different format, and injects some integrity back into the reality tv format,' said Sharon, who last year launched her first solo album since ' The Corrs' took a break from the music scene.
She explained that the show provides an alternative approach to other reality programmes like X Factor.
'We have our backs to the singers during their audition, so we can't judge them on looks or on their attitude. It is all about the voice.'
The big shock on the opening show was that singer Tara Blaise, who has released two albums, was not picked by any of the judges for her rendition of ' Livin' on a Prayer.'
Sharon described her shock as turning around to see who the singer behind the song actually was. ' The Corrs manager is actually Tara's manager as well, and I was looking at her thinking that I knew her from somewhere.'
Although admitting that it was not a good audition, she said the show varied from others in that it gave 'constructive criticism, and hoped to propel people in their career.'
There will be four more ' blind audition shows' - where the coaches are not allowed see the singers, only to hear them - which will be followed by three singing battle rounds and then the live performance shows will begin on March 4th.
The live shows will then run for nine weeks, with the public helping to decide who stays in the competition.
The final four contestants - one for each coach - will compete in the grand final for a recording contract with Universal Music.
Meanwhile Sharon's sister, Andrea Corr, was the first guest on ' The Meaning of Life with Gay Byrne', also last Sunday, where she spoke about what religion meant to her and the challenges of developing a solo career.
- OLIVIA RYAN
