by Aoife McLoughlin
LIMERICK’S Niall O’Halloran has been tipped to win RTÉ’s ‘The Voice of Ireland’ talent show, after turning in a “blow away audition” last Sunday night.
The 22 year-old singer/actor has been tipped by Boyle Sports bookmakers as a top contender for overall winner of the show, with joint odds of 7/2 with Dublin’s Kayleigh Cullinan. Both contestants in the running for the top spot are under the mentoring of Una Healy from girl group The Saturdays, and will now go on to face a fellow team member in a battle for a place on the live shows.
All four of the shows coaches were “blown away” by Niall’s audition, with Bressie stating he was “the best male vocalist” and could “completely 100% win the competition”.
Niall performed at the audition stage as a 2fm Wildcard, chosen by 2FM DJ’s Jenny Greene, Ruth Scott and Breakfast Republic’s Keith Walsh.
In less than 24 hours, Niall’s performance of Sam Smiths ‘Lay Me Down’ had already garnered over 7000 views (and counting) on Youtube, making his audition the most watched from Sunday nights show.
Niall is the third contestant from Limerick to sing his way through the blind auditions and will now join 19-year-old student Laura Enright (Team Bressie)and 37 year-old family man Stuart Bond (Team Cian), in the next stage of the competition.
Clare woman Kate Purcell, who is resident singer at Dromoland Castle, was another qualifier from last Sunday night’s programme.
The Voice of Ireland airs every Sunday at 6.30pm on RTÉ1.
