A Moray singer has reached the second round of The Voice – with a little help from McFly’s Danny Jones.
Calum Jones, from Buckie, performed Foo Fighters hit Best of You in a blind audition, shown on Saturday night’s episode of the hit talent show.
The 23-year-old wowed judges LeAnn Rimes and McFly’s Danny Jones and Tom Fletcher, who are working as a pair on this series.
Tom was the first to turn, with LeAnn swiftly following suit.
Unbeknown to him, Danny had stepped away from the judging panel to join the house band on stage.
Confused by Danny’s absence on the panel, he was shocked to find him on stage behind him, exclaiming, “Oh, Danny’s there. What’s up, dude?”
Ultimately, he opted to “jam” on Tom and Danny’s team, earning him a spot in the second round and taking him one step closer to the grand prize – a recording contract, £50,000 cash and a trip to Universal Studios Florida.
Fellow judges Sir Tom Jones and Will.i.am didn’t hit their red buttons but seemed impressed by Calum’s talent.
In the montage aired before his audition, Calum’s parents Lorraine and William spoke of their son’s love for music.
They said: “His whole life evolves around his music. He gigs every night pretty much.
“You can find him in a pub in Inverness, somewhere every night of every week, of every year and he has been like that since he was very young.”
Calum said he was determined to put aside his nerves and make his audition count.
Speaking on the show, he said: “I live in a tiny little four-house on top of a hill in the middle of nowhere. It’s a really beautiful place to live.
“I’m a pretty quiet person. I’m not a guy for crowds but what I love to do is build guitars. I’ll happily sit and sand a guitar for six hours a day.
“Some of the pubs I play in are old. My regular crowd is three people at a bar if that.
“It’s not like I am going to get the chance every day for LeAnn Rime looking for a pint, so I’m going to make this one count.
“Coming here today is worlds apart from the small tiny pubs with no one in them. I just need to make sure that I’m not overthinking things, switch those nerves off and do what I know I can do.”
Taking to social media after his audition, Calum described appearing on the show as a “massive honour.”
He wrote: “Just want to say a massive thank you to all of you showing the love.
“I’m still wading through the notifications across all platforms, so if I haven’t gotten back to you yet I apologise.
“A massive honour to have played with Danny Jones from McFly… even if it was unknowingly (still counts… no takebacks)
“Huge thank you to everyone on The Voice UK team.
“Every single one of you folks were so kind and lovely, you guys did a great job of making sure I wasn’t freaking out the entire time & for that, I can’t thank you enough.”
‘I hope you achieve everything you dream of’
One supporter wrote: “You were amazing in your audition and so genuine and real.
“I saw you in the Highlander Bar one night and after one song I said to my friend, ‘This guy is so talented. He is going to be famous someday.” Looks like I was right.
“I hope you achieve everything you dream of and stay true to yourself along the way.”
Another said: “Well done Callum. You’ve come a long way. You’re very talented.
“I loved it when you played in Harbour Bar. Good luck in all you do.”
While one fan added: “Couldn’t be prouder of you. Knew you could do it.
“I can’t wait to watch your growth journey, regardless you will always be a star to your groupies.”
You can watch Calum’s blind audition on STV Player now. The Voice continues at 8:30pm on STV on Saturday.
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