Jordan Tavita was 23 years old when he appeared on The Voice Australia 2022. An Australian of Samoan ancestry, Tavita lives in South West Sydney and is the youngest of seven siblings. As he made clear on The Voice, Tavita is very family orientated, which made the pandemic-forced isolation while on the show difficult for him.
According to Tavita, prior to his performance on the blind audition for The Voice, he had never sung publicly outside of the four walls of his church. While at school, he once had the opportunity to sing the national anthem, but he declined on account of his chronic nervousness. On The Voice, his nerves show through in the pre-audition footage.
From the moment Tavita started singing Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror as his audition song, he took charge of the stage. A big-voiced, soulful singer, Tavita had three judges turning their chairs in the first 30 seconds. By the time he finished, all four judges were facing him. The above video is of Jordan Tavita’s incredible journey to the final round, which was won by Lachie Gill. Tavita’s individual performances in the different rounds can be accessed easily from the drop-down menu.
In the comments under the video for his audition round performance of Man in the Mirror, Adria Knecht speaks for many viewers of the programme: “He totally captured everyone listening. Incredible performance and he was so genuine, sweet, and humble.” This sentiment would follow Tavita throughout his run on The Voice. After the final, Tavita has featured on a number of stages and platforms. Here is his appearance on the Coconet TV channel in April 2023, performing Tali Maia with Sefo and Pos.
Tali Maia is George Tofaeono Williams’ 1960s translation of Nat King Cole’s ‘Answer Me My Love’. Tavita became familiar with the Samoan arrangement when it was played by his cousins Fau and Valley Patu, who were two-thirds of Tapuotaota Trio while at high school. The Samoan version was first recorded & popularised by The Golden Ali’is featuring Mamaia and his band.
In many ways, winning a programme like The Voice comes with downsides. One is tied into a contract and has an obligatory appearance, while, as coach Guy Sebastian from the programme notes, there is little chance that the show will create a big pop star, as the time frame – the length of time the show airs – is too short. Yahoo Lifestyle goes so far as to say that it might end up better for them that finalists Faith Sosene, Jordan Tavita and, Thando Sikwil didn’t end up winning, as none of the winners has gone on to global fame. Meanwhile, free from contractual post-show commitments, the other finalists are free to pursue any opportunities that arise.
Jordan Tavita’s appearances after The Voice have included a special guest on Thndo’s Reintroduction Tour show in Sydney, a special guest at the 2022 awards for the NSW Council for Pacific Communities, a special guest on Fasttrack, Australia’s biggest talent showcase, and a concert with Chris Sebastian. He has featured on Coconet TV and Samoan TV3.
For Tavita, his toughest week of The Voice produced the performance with which he is most satisfied. Jordan Tavita’s grandmother died a few days before the semi-final. The day of his semi-final was the day of his grandmother’s funeral. He sang Foreigner’s I Wanna Know What Love Is, which you can hear in the above video of his The Voice journey. Tavita says it hurt that he couldn’t be at his grandmother’s funeral, “but I sang that for her. I could just see her screaming on the sidelines.” If you would like to see more from Jordan Tavita, you can follow him on Instagram.