LLANTWIT MAJOR’s Cate McHugh is still going strong in ITV’s The Voice and this Saturday (31st October) she will sing in the final, with £50K and a recording contract as the glittering prize.
Last Saturday, in the semi-final audience were her proud parents, husband Nathan, and their five-year-old daughter Lily, who broke down into happy tears when she realised that her mum had reached the final.
In that final, Cate will sing a solo song and a duet with her mentor on the show, Sir Tom Jones. The three other finalists will do the same with their mentors.
Looking back at the semi-final, it struck this reporter that Cate took a calculated risk with her version of ‘Sign of the times’ by Harry Styles. A pretty standard system has evolved in The Voice – start quiet and then get bigger – and then bigger – and then go for an even bigger finish.
Cate let her big finish hang in the air and then came back in with a quiet and emotional final line.
She told the Glamorgan Star: “Arrangement-wise, the song went through a whole host of different versions and feels before we settled on the final cut. We work with an incredibly talented musical director called David Tench who really listened to me when I said I wanted to put a bluesy country edge into the instrumentation for the song.
“I also think there’s something incredibly powerful about the juxtaposition of a very intimate, quiet ending after the explosion of the big note before it. – But maybe that’s just me! (And Sir Tom clearly!)”
In the end, Sir Tom had to choose between Cate, Amãlia Estradas and Molly J. He said: “Well, since I heard them in rehearsal, I was confused, because you three ladies are excellent. And the three of you are different from one another.”
And then he chose Cate. Talking about her fellow Team Tom semi-finalists, Cate said: “We were all going through the exact same thing at the same time, and the vibe was one of absolute support and friendship between everybody, which was lovely!
“As we drew closer to the semi-final performance, people did tend to keep themselves to themselves a little bit more, as the nerves were getting more intense.
“Personally, I have always found that if I isolate myself in times of great pressure, it multiplies those feelings, so I found myself being as social as I possibly could. Chatting and laughing with those wonderful people helped keep me grounded before I went on stage!”
Overall, the team behind The Voice seem to know what they are doing. Cate said: “Each contestant was given the option to decide where they wanted to spend their free time between rehearsal and any costume or makeup commitments.
“If somebody felt that they would be better looked after in a quiet space away from everyone else, then that’s what they did! But we did have one general green room where all contestants and crew came together to hang out and wait for whatever we were needed for next. Considering in the lead-up to the semi-finals, we were all at the filming location for a week with a call time of 6am, not leaving the studio until 10 pm some nights, we spent an awful lot of time together!!
“There are so many logistics and organisational aspects of putting together a show like this, and I absolutely want to acknowledge the incredible work of the crew behind the show. I could not have asked for a better experience and truly enjoyed every second I got to spend on the show!
By Philip Irwin – Senior News Reporter
Llantwit Voice fans keep fingers crossed for Cate ⬇️
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