Why would a former ARIA nominee ever do this?

By LUCY ORMONDE

Abby Dobson was the it-girl of the Australian music industry.

Dobson is lead singer of the indie band Leonardo’s Bride and the haunting voice behind the hit song, Even When I’m Sleeping, (which you might remember from its repeated play on commercial radio stations around the country in the mid to late 1990s.)

Even When I’m Sleeping reached top 5 status in the ARIA charts during the band’s success. In 1997, the group was nominated for three ARIA awards. And in 1998, the song was voted as APRA’s song of the year. Since that time, Abby’s gone on to release a solo album and work with artists like Paul Mac.

You could call Dobson an accomplished performer. Arguably one of Australia’s best.

And yet the 43-year-old’s voice wasn’t strong enough to turn the chairs (and opinions) of Joel Madden, Delta Goodrem, Seal and Ricky Martin on last night’s episode of The Voice.

Dobson took the the Fox Studios stage during the second last night of blind auditions. She chose to perform the Aretha Franklin song Do Right Woman, Do Right Man. 

Each of the judges toyed with pressing the red button, to spin the chair of dreams around (Seal even sung along).

But in the end, it wasn’t enough.

(You can view the video here.)

First to give his feedback was Joel. He told Dobson: “It’s so hard this year… It always comes down to the moment when you get up on stage. You missed the moment tonight, but I really like your voice”.

Seal said: “I’m going to brutally honest with you. I think it was too much song. That is a big song, man. You know, you have what it takes, and I know that you’ll take this experience and you’ll keep doing what you do.”

Ricky Martin said his decision not to turn around was “stupid”. “You are a very powerful singer, you have the looks. I’m just… stupid. I wish you nothing but the best in your career,” he said.

And Delta? The Born to Try singer said Abby’s voice sounded “familiar.”

“I really love your voice as well,” Delta said. “I think you have a really unique voice and a really captivating voice, very, very intriguing. I still feel like it’s familiar to me… would I know it form somewhere?”

To which Dobson replied: “I was in a band called Leonardo’s Bride.”

Cue: Awkward.

In the days leading up to the airing of Abby’s audition – and in the hours since – social media has been going crazy with commentary over Abby’s decision to audition for the show against less accomplished performers.

Amali Ward, a former Australian Idol finalist, tweeted:

Writer and broadcaster Sarah MacDonald tweeted:

Singer and Triple J host Brendan Maclean has been one of the most critical of Abby’s audition.

In a powerful piece for Faster Louder, he wrote: “When I heard a hero of my teen years, Abby Dobson, had made the choice to audition for The Voice I was puzzled.”

Abby Dobson is valued by her peers as one of Australia’s top 100 vocalists. She has a certified gold record in the bag and lead the band responsible for a song that can simultaneously break and mend your heart in one sitting, Leonardo’s Bride’s ‘Even When I’m Sleeping’. It seems a pity anyone of this noted talent feels compelled to surrender their skills to the likes of KFC spokesperson Joel Madden. Yuck.

Maclean says that over the years he’s also been approached by talent show producers to audition for TV shows. But he said tricky contacts designed to benefit record labels, the surrendering of creative rights and the fact that “there are a few performers who have ever truly been able to wash off the lingering odour of being an ex-reality contestant” were enough for him to say no.

Maclean writes:

Playing the reality show card is a hop, skip and a giant jump in the other direction. Needless to say when my number came up on the reality TV showing dial pad, for all these reasons and more, my answer was a hasty, “No.” Unless this was Ricky Martin finally making a move I simply could not have been less interested.

It’s a tricky balance between exposure and credibility. Not enough exposure and you’re invisible; too much and you risk becoming The Potbelleez or worse, Ruby Rose. Nonetheless, as ex-Triple R host Jess McGuire pointed out, the fact that such qualified artists feel their hands are forced towards shows like The Voice or Australia’s Got Talent says more about our industry than the artists themselves.

Abby isn’t the only established artist who has made the decision to audition for cult shows like The Voice. Last year Jimmy Barnes’ daughter Mahalia auditioned and got through – only to be eliminated in the battle round. Judge Delta Goodrem also turned her chair last season to see one of her accomplished back-up singers, Glenn Cunningham, standing on the stage.

This year Michael Paynter – a 27-year-old signer who previously had a Sony record deal – made it through the blind audition. Caterina Torres – who signed to Sony RCA UK Records at the age of 18 – followed suit.

In an interview with News Limited, Trial Kennedy singer Tim Morrison said The Voice was seen as the last – and sometimes only – chance for singers.

“The older you get in this business, the bigger the risks you have to take,” he said.

“We’ve all been down the road with (labels) and it didn’t work out, so we’ve gone ‘stuff it’. If you want something bad enough, you’ve got to make it happen for yourself.”

There have been reports The Voice producers unashamedly handpicking artists to audition for the show. This season of the show has also been guilty of focusing on the back story of contestants.

Here are some of the contestants from this season of The Voice:

Is it possible producers knew Dobson’s audition would make headlines – whether the judges turned their chairs or not?