When Great Yarmouth singer, Toni Warne, auditioned for the very first season of The Voice UK, it wasn’t just her spellbinding vocals that wowed the judges, but her inspirational story of battling alopecia and finding strength in her natural beauty; sentiments so vivid that judge Jessie J practically broke down in tears!
Toni’s one-of-a-kind blind audition has gone completely YouTube-viral, amassing an eye-watering 27 million views and more across its various uploads, all while dismantling conventional beauty standards and proving that women can still be considered drop-dead gorgeous, no matter what aesthetics they serve. Music Man readers can watch the magic unfold in the video below…
Taking to The Voice UK stage with a powerful cover of Will Young’s career-defining hit, “Leave Right Now,” Toni’s uniquely soulful and emotive voice is instantly stunning as she nails every line, making Jessie J’s jaw drop.
But that’s nothing compared to her middle eight, as Toni ad libs around Will’s iconic melodies, pouring her heart into every lyric.
By the end of her set, three out of four of The Voice UK’s original judges – Jessie J, Tom Jones, and Danny O’Donoghue – have hit their chair-spinning buzzers, leaving will.i.am as the only judge not completely smitten by Toni’s song.
When Jessie J asks Toni what her inspiration for entering the competition is, the truth comes pouring out. Toni reveals how she’d suffered with the hair-loss disease, alopecia, since she was “a little girl,” and how her illness had “knocked the stuffing out” of her, making her feel as if she couldn’t pursue what was in her heart because she didn’t believe in herself – an insight that set Jessie J’s lip trembling.
At 21, Toni had lost all of her hair, causing her to lose her confidence and switch careers from being a live singer to working in a bank. The Voice UK was her chance to earn respect for her voice alone, not her looks, and reconnect with her true self for the first time in over a decade.
Overwhelmed with emotion, 34-year-old Toni tells the judges, “Music is my absolute passion beyond passions,” earning a round of applause from the entire studio. Jessie J even commented, “Your tone is so old-school that I feel like you could teach me something,” with Tom Jones following up, “You are what I call a real singer […] You sound fantastic!”
Before long, Toni chose to join Jessie J’s team and made it all the way through to the live Final, where she lost out on the crown to Tom Jones’ winning competitor, Leanne Mitchell.
Yet, Toni’s story continued to inspire the judges. Remember, back in 2013, when Jessie J wowed the nation by shaving her head for Comic Relief, and presented the bald goddess look in her music video, “WILD” with Big Sean and Dizzee Rascal? We can’t help but draw the link between this brave move and Toni’s inspirational story, as Toni proved that women can be beautiful, no matter what illness they’re faced with, or what image they rock.
Toni Warne is certainly one to watch — her viral Voice audition has proved that talent and courage speak louder than looks. To discover more about her music, story and performances, check the useful links below this paragraph.