Sofia Watt is no stranger to performing in front of crowds with her band, but the WA teenager is now stepping into the spotlight alone as she takes on the biggest performance of her life โ her audition for The Voice!
Sunday nightโs performance will be the 16-year-oldโs first time on stage without her band Sonatay. And while Sofia admits sheโs never been more nervous in her life, sheโs not afraid of the challenge.
โI decided to audition solo because I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it,โ Sofia tells Womanโs Day.
โI wanted to show even coming from a small town, you can do anything.โ
She may be from the quiet but charming coastal town of Dunsborough, but Sofiaโs voice has already made a huge impact on her community.
Devastated by the destruction of the bushfires in 2019, at just 14, Sofia rallied local bands and organised a charity concert to raise much-needed funds.
โI believe you should always be supporting your community and people in need,โ shares Sofia, who sang crowd favourites by Missy Higgins and The White Stripes to lift spirits.
โAnd if it means that I get to perform, to be up on stage making people happyโฆ then thatโs even better.โ
Growing up surrounded by music, Sofia credits her mother Bronwyn, also a talented singer, for giving her the confidence to perform.
โMum is always the one that I look to when Iโm on stage for reassurance,โ she says.
โMy parentsโ support means the absolute world, I just want to make my family proud.โ
Tuning in to every season of The Voice, Sofia confesses she canโt wait to walk in the footsteps of her favourite past artists.
And one day, she dreams of touring the world just like her musical idols, Adele and Ruel.
โTo be up on stage and have the crowd singing my songs backโฆ It would be a dream come true,โ she says.