From the phone screen to the TV screen, Noora H took a leap into the unknown when auditioning for Australian Idol 2023. In spite of her growing TikTok audience of over 350k, the 27-year-old vocalist didn’t have much exposure to the professional singing world prior.
Motivated by the thought of inspiring her community, she credits representation as her biggest motivator. As shared on the show, Noora started singing in the privacy of her room in fear of “drawing attention” to herself. Now, she’s ready to share her voice with others and inspire other hijabi Muslim women – as well as those from “different walks of like who are scared of not fitting in”.
WATCH: Noora H sings ‘The Voice Within’ on Australian Idol. Article continues after video.
With a powerful voice to match her message, Noora has been a favourite from the beginning. Despite her exit last night, she’s left with an even stronger fan base to boot.
New Idea sat down with Noora to chat about her future musical plans, her relationship with the judges and her desire to inspire others.
How are you feeling after last night, Noora?
Really good. I don’t think I could have felt any better next day.
That’s good to hear. And are you content with how your Idol journey played out?
Absolutely content! I feel like it couldn’t have gone better – my story was portrayed well.
Me, as a singer and as a performer, I feel like I’ve grown each week and I have improved on things, learnt new things every week. I feel like I just kept getting better and that’s, I think, the end goal with the Idol journey, it’s about growth – because no one’s perfect. I am really happy with the journey that I’ve been on, it’s been a blessing.
We’ve seen you grow so much throughout the show, as you’ve said. At the start of your journey, we did see that you were scared to take the plunge into Australian Idol. What informed your choice to try out?
I believe I’m talented enough, I think I have an amazing, big voice so I wanted to inspire other people. I’ve always been quite scared to come out because I don’t fit the ‘pop’ kind of image and I never really felt like I fit in with my image.
But, I do have the voice and I am musical so I just thought I’d get myself out there and see how far I can go. Hopefully it can inspire other people that are talented, that are from different walks of life, that are scared of not fitting in. So I felt like I had to do that not just for me, but for everyone else out there that feels the same way.
WATCH: Noora H and Phoebe Stewart on TikTok. Article continues after video.
You’ve spoken on the show about this, but representation is so important! You’ve been able to represent your community and other people that might be scared of taking a risk or feeling different. How did you feel about this, seeing as you have has such an impact on other people as well?
I felt a lot of pressure, obviously. You don’t want to let anyone down, you don’t want to prove anyone right – especially the negative comments that you get from other people. I just wanted to prove a point.
And it was hard, because I did cop a lot of backlash along the way. But, it doesn’t matter because I had more positive come out of it and that’s all that matters to me.
Like your audience, for example?
Yeah, I knew that I was making a really important change and a great impact. So I really just trusted myself.
You definitely did make an impact! Do you have any future plans regarding making more music?
I definitely would like to step up from where I currently am now. I feel like I’ve accomplished so much and I’ve proven to everybody what I’ve got, how talented I am and what kind of person I am, and I know that it’s going to open doors for me.
It’s just the beginning for me so I’m really excited for what’s to come, I’m hoping to make my own music, get signed, perform gigs and hopefully make it big one day.
Speaking of, you got to receive mentorship from some pretty cool judges as well. Who did you look up to the most on the panel?
I had the best feedback from the Harry. I know Harry’s feedback is very genuine.
I look up to him quite a lot when it comes to things that I should learn and take from his feedback and advice. Very helpful, [he gives me] things that I can work on.
Also, Amy because I felt like I connected to her when I was performing in some crazy way. I feel like she felt that as well.
I had something quite awesome with every one of those judges. Like, I love Kyle for being genuine and saying what’s on his mind, he kind of breaks the ice when things are really stressful affair so it’s fun having him.
Meghan is just an all around queen and she lifts everyone up.
How about your relationships with the other contestants? What were they like?
Even though these guys are all younger than I am. They have a lot of knowledge that I didn’t get growing up.
They’re really talented and I learned something from each and every one of them. We’ve all been through the same thing together. We’ve kind of watched each other grow and it’s been really, really special.
And is there anyone you’re hoping will win Australian Idol?
Phoebe is 15 but she has a powerful voice that I’ve never heard. She’s amazing and she has so much courage. Strongest girl I know!
And Josh is so incredibly talented. He’s made me cry on different occasions so I’m really rooting for them.
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