Since wowing Australian audiences with her powerful ballads last November, The Voice winner Alyssa Delpopolo has launched her debut single – with another on the way this month.
She’s softly spoken and reserved with strangers, but put Alyssa Delpopolo on a stage, and the ‘real’ persona comes out. “I feel like singing is a way for me to express myself when I can’t talk,” Alyssa, 20, says. “It’s a way that I just get my emotions out.”
Alyssa won over the audience in Seven’s The Voice last year, under the guidance of judge Kate Miller-Heidke. But to win the national singing competition she had to overcome crippling anxiety. “I was really scared every time (I went on stage),” she admits. “But I worked through strategies like taking deep breaths, channelling my body and trying to really calm myself down.”
Judge Kate also helped Alyssa with her nerves, and develop the confidence to sing in front of a televised audience over one million. The experience was life-changing. “I learnt a lot of things and (really) found myself as an artist.”
Not long after winning The Voice, Alyssa launched her debut single Cruel, and will release her second song You Made Me Crazy this month.
It’s hard to believe that this confident young woman had not sung much publicly before The Voice, just mostly at school assemblies, when at St John XXIII Catholic College at Stanhope Gardens – a short commute from her home in The Ponds, Penrith. Now life has changed completely, and she’s in the studio every week, ‘trying to cook up some more songs.’ The aim is to release an EP by the end of the year and then tour.
Alyssa and her coach on The Voice, Kate Miller-Heidke
“I was really scared every time I went on stage. But I worked on strategies to calm myself down.”
Cruel single cover
Alyssa describes her genre as ‘pop, leaning towards R&B soul.’ Love, bad friendships and even anxiety – and how she deals with the ‘struggle’ of it, all pepper her songwriting. Her aim is to connect with the listener. “That’s the one thing I try to focus on when I’m writing, to write a song where people can relate and say they’ve dealt with the same experiences.”
The upcoming single You Made Me Crazy focuses on a past friendship. “I really wanted the friendship to work out, but as much as you love them as a friend, you just knew it was better for yourself if you let them go.”
Now a graduate of Sydney’s JMC Academy, with a Bachelor of Music under her belt, Alyssa says her ultimate dream is to tour around the world and share her music ‘with everyone.’ “Singing is my life, so I honestly don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t sing or have music around me.”
Still living at home with her two younger sisters, Alyssa admits she still has to do chores – but wouldn’t have it any other way. “Mum and dad are so proud of me. I’m really grateful for everyone in my family. They’ve just been right by my side every step of the way.”
Find Alyssa’s new song You Made Me Crazy on all music streaming services this month.
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