HUNTER talent has ‘‘thrilled’’ producers at The X Factor auditions, with almost half the contestants making it to the next round.
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‘‘It’s an amazing hit-rate,’’ said executive producer Digby Mitchell, at Hunter Stadium on Tuesday for the last leg of The X Factor 2015 Open Auditions tour.
‘‘Newcastle has always been very strong ... we are thrilled,’’ Mr Mitchell said.
Also thrilled were many of the estimated 200 performers who said they received constructive feedback from the panel.
Blessing Bless ran screaming with joy into the arms of two friends who had travelled from Sydney and Newcastle to support her.
‘‘I’m so excited ... I just found out I actually have potential,’’ the 18-year-old from Muswellbrook said.
‘‘I was so anxious, I was like, oh my god, I’m going to pee my pants.’’
But after bolting from the ladies room to sing What is Love, by Veronica Bozeman and Listen, by Beyonce, the feedback made the struggle worthwhile.
‘‘They encouraged me. They said, ‘you come in here with this bright look and these great songs, now I just want you to be able to own these songs, because you sound great’... I was like, I do? Are you sure?’’
All second-round contestants selected during the 13-stop audition tour go into a consideration pool out of which 300 people will be presented to the soon-to-be- announced judging panel.
Lisa Lexiross said the best thing about the day was connecting with other singers. ‘‘Where I come from hardly anyone sings,’’ the lead vocalist of the Gasoline Halos, of Kurri Kurri, said.
She was shaking as she walked into her second-round audition. ‘‘My name is Lisa Lexiross ... I’m a full-time hairdresser ... I’m in a country rock-band that plays everything from Dixie Chicks to
AC/DC,’’ the 18-year-old told the panel, before she let rip with Last Hard Bible by Kasey Chambers.
‘‘It was nerve-racking ... you sit there and your legs shake, and your arms start to go,’’ Ms Lexiross said after the audition.
After a successful first round, University of Newcastle nursing student Dain Watts was jamming with fellow contestants who had overheard each other singing in the toilet and discovered a shared passion for Ed Sheeran.
‘‘I’m still on a high that I’ve made it this far,’’ the part-time disability services worker and Beaumont Street Kavon Theme Restaurant actor said.
‘‘My cousins were bugging me [to audition] for six years and I finally caved.’’
When the panel told the 22-year-old to ‘‘cut it there’’ as he missed a note in his rendition of Ed Sheeran’s Thinking out Loud he thought he’d blown it.
But the panel just asked to hear Earned It by The Weekend, and next moment he was celebrating.
Singing teacher Sarah Whitteron who tried out just to ‘‘investigate their process’’ said she would recommend it as audition practice to all her students.
Ms Whitteron, who 10 years was ago told by Kyle Sandilands on Australian Idol that ‘‘she looks constipated when she sings’’, wanted to learn how to support her students prepare emotionally.