Tonight, ex-cricketer Henry Olonga sang The Lion King’s Can You Feel The Love Tonight to stay in the competition.
The Voice contestant had a shaky start, as the dad-of-two went blank and forgot the lyrics.
He reveals to New Idea what really went wrong on stage.
“It was a bad week,” Henry says. “My father-in-law had died and his funeral was the day before my knock-out.”
“I also had a cold, so I was just coughing all the time. And I got this fear I was going to cough during my knock-out.”
“Then I was dealing with the emotional baggage.”
“The worst thought in my head was ‘I’m here, singing on national TV to further my career and I’m having to leave my family and my wife.”
“I felt like I got my priorities wrong.”
Even though Henry says he knew the song well, the singer explains that he “just went blank.”
Henry adds: “I’m not going to be one to make excuses. This is just what happened. Emotionally I was in a bad place.”
“It was very uncomfortable for everyone but most of all for me and my fellow contestants.”
After a tense moment, Henry’s coach, singer Kelly Rowland, comes up on stage and tells Henry: “You’ve got this.”
“That’s all I needed,” Henry explains.
Despite the shaky start, Kelly chooses Henry to stay in the competition but not before the judges give their opinion on the performance.
Considering what Henry has been through – he played cricket professionally and has been speaking and singing publicly for years – the judges said he should have been able to handle the pressure.
But Henry says: “I’m actually quite proud of the fact that I was raw on stage and I was authentic to what I was feeling at the time.”
To read more about Henry’s story, pick up a copy of New Idea on sale now.
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