A STUDENT at The Hammond School in Chester is hoping for a big turnaround when he faces the judges on the hit TV talent show The Voice on Saturday night.
Drama student Lemuel Knights,s 18, has made it through to the blind auditions and hopes that judges Jessie J, will.i.am, Tom Jones and Danny O'Donoghue will press their buzzers and turn around after hearing him sing.
The programme has been pre-recorded but Lem remained tight-lipped as to what happened on the night although he did confirm that he chose to sing Ed Sheeran’s Wayfaring Stranger for his very first audition last summer.
Whatever happens Lemuel will be watching the programme from his home in Sheffield with his mum, two sisters, grandad and friends.
Speaking to The Chronicle yesterday, Lem, as he is also known, said: “I was hoping to go to drama school next year, which is something I have always wanted to do, so I thought entering The Voice would give me a back-up plan.
“I didn’t expect to get through to the blind auditions as they rarely choose 18-year-olds.”
Asked if he got to meet any of the celebrity judges beforehand, Lem replied: “No. They keep a very tight rein on the show.
“If you wanted to go to the toilet or go outside for a smoke, you were escorted out. They wanted to ensure that none of the contestants met any of the judges at any point.”
Saturday night’s episode was filmed at the BBC’s Media City studios in Salford.
Asked if he preferred singing or acting, Lem said: “I am at that stage of my life where everything is opening up to me. It is very scary and daunting but whatever comes to me, I’ll take it on.
Lemuel recently played the tenor Ubaldo Piangi in The Hammond School production of Phantom of the Opera. He also starred in Unsinkable, last year’s joint production between the school and Theatre in the Quarter.
This is not the first time that Lem has faced a panel of TV judges. In 2011, he made it through to the last 12 boys on Simon Cowell’s hit show X Factor.
