KIDDERMINSTER singer Clark Carmody battled it out on The Voice at the weekend, to make it through to the third stages of the competition.

The 27-year-old who grew up on the Spennells Estate, had already wowed the judges in the initial blind audition stages of the BBC show and was snapped up by coach Rita Ora, who described his voice as ‘ridiculous’.

On Saturday night he competed in the battle rounds, against fellow contestant Olivia Lawson, singing Britney Spears’ song, ‘Everytime’.

Pop star Rita, who was moved to tears by their duet, had to decide who will be sent through to the third stage and who will be sent home. After a tough decision, Rita chose Clark to go straight through to the knockout stages of the BBC talent show.

Clark said: “I was amazed that Rita chose me. At the same time though, you start thinking this is amazing, but you would not want to be the other person at that time.

“When you see it, I wasn’t smiling at all, because I would not want to be in that position.

“You feel worse instead because I knew how much Olivia wanted it. She was amazing, she deserves everything.

“The blind auditions were just brilliant. We were told what Rita had chosen for us to sing beforehand. I was quite stumped by it, because it was a ballad.

“But it seemed like Rita knew what she was doing and wanted us to both turn it into our own song.

“I really did not want to go up against anyone in our team. Obviously you want to get through, but you make friends in the competition, which makes it even more difficult. It’s really hard.”
Clark’s opponent, Olivia, was given a lifeline, as Ricky Wilson ‘stole’ her for his team.

Kidderminster is backing Clark who first appeared on the show in January, with his rendition of Sam Smith’s hit ‘I’m Not the Only One’.

He said: “The support from Kidderminster has been really great. It’s been lovely.

“You expect some response as its Saturday night television, I just did not realise how chuffed people would be for me.

“I never imagined I would get through the blind auditions. I never wanted to imagine it, because as soon as I start thinking about it, it could all just fall apart.

“It’s just a great experience and I’m taking each day as it comes. But maybe that’s just me being supercritical. It’s just a brilliant experience. I am chuffed to bits.

“I’m preparing for the next round by doing lots of singing in the shower. I need to do lots of singing to get my nerves under control, because I have only done little shows, really intimate gigs.”

Clark currently lives in Stratford-upon-Avon with his girlfriend and nine-month-old daughter Primrose, and works as a hair stylist in the town.