JOELLE Moses, the West Drayton singer vying to be named 'The Voice' on the hit BBC talent show, is hoping to drum up local support after narrowly avoiding elimination.
The 21-year-old kicked off the opening live show on Saturday evening, and won praise from all four star judges for her renditon of Mary J Blige's 1994 hit I'm Goin' Down.
Miss Moses nevertheless found herself up for the chop after getting the least votes from the public, but Will.i.am sent her through at the expense of 17-year-old Sophie Griffin.
Speaking exclusively to the Gazette, she said: "It was an honour to open the UK's first ever live show of the Voice, even though I had a feeling that I would be in the bottom two. It's the curse of the first.
"When Will was making his decision, I just zoned out, and I am extremely grateful that he went with me in the end.
"He's an incredible mentor; I went with him because it was my gut instinct, and I liked what he was saying about me having a career as an artist."
The former Uxbridge High student has prior experience in the music industry, having been a demo singer for the likes of Leona Lewis, Toni Braxton and Kylie Minogue.
For this weekend's shows, she will be performing with fellow contestants in the Will.i.am camp, and it will be the turn of Jessie J's and Danny O'Donoghue's acts to battle it out for their place in the competition.
Ahead of Joelle's next crunch show next Sunday (May 13), she said: "I really need for everyone to pick up the phone and get behind me. I don't want to go home yet."
