Entertainment
Rita Ora in tears on The Voice as she recalls: ‘I wasn’t the normal looking girl in my neighbourhood’
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Rita Ora became emotional on The Voice as she recalled her experiences growing up in the UK as a child.
Memories came flooding back to the singer, who is a coach on the Australian version of the show, after listening to the audition of Rebecca O’Connor, a Tina Tuner impersonator.
Rebecca described how she felt she didn’t fit in growing up as ‘the only coloured girl in the village’, but was inspired by and took confidence from seeing Tina perform.
Rita, who has Albanian heritage, became emotional as she confessed she had felt similarly empowered by the music legend when she saw her as a child after moving to the UK from Kosovo.
Choked up, the Anywhere singer, who turned her chair for Rebecca with fellow coach Jess Mauboy, said: ‘This touches me, right, because when I was growing up – I moved to the UK when I was one – and like you just said, I was not the normal looking girl in my neighbourhood.
‘As soon as I heard Tina – I am going to start crying – because for me, she is my biggest, biggest idol in the world for so many reasons.
Rita broke down in tears recalling how Tina Turner empowered her (Picture: Seven)
‘Because her story is so inspiring. To gain that much success at her age – she didn’t really become a solo artist until her late 30s, and she had all those problems and struggles, and I thought to myself, it’s never too late.’
Struggling to speak, she continued: ‘Thank goodness for artists like Tina, and I am only crying because she did that for me too. And she’s done that for so many other people.’
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‘I can’t speak, I am so emotional,’ she added as the tears coursed down her face.
Rebecca was clearly touched by Rita’s words, as she decided to choose the How We Do star as her mentor.
The Voice Australia airs Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays on Channel 7.
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