Phillip Island singing teacher Elly Poletti will make her national debut as a contestant on Channel 7’s The Voice next week.

Elly, 32, who is a teacher at Newhaven College and Bass Coast College, will appear on the TV show’s blind auditions next Monday (August 21) and is sworn to secrecy on the outcome, not able to reveal whether she is chosen by one of the judges, Guy Sebastian, Jason Derulo, Rita Ora and Jess Mauboy.

“All contestants sign a confidentiality agreement so we’re not allowed to say,” Elly says.

“It’s to keep the magic alive so everyone will tune in.”

MediaWeek website did, however, write that out of the 70 contestants on this season, there are seven names to watch including Elly.

Elly says when she performed on The Voice blind audition in March before a live audience “bizarrely it was not nerve-wracking at all”.

“The most nervous part was when the audience mid-song shouted out and cheered. It was more like a festival, which is really different for me.

“I’m so used to performing but my audiences sit and listen.”

Career

It’s no surprise Elly took to the TV stage with ease.

While she works during the week as a one-on-one singing teacher, Fridays and weekends she heads to Melbourne to perform at the likes of the Paris Cat Jazz Club, Fitzroy Town Hall and Athenaeum Theatre.

With a “jazz-soul-funk, very bluesy” style, she performs covers of Amy Winehouse, Adele and Aretha Franklin – “big voices” – alongside her six-piece band of musicians.

Her career has also seen her work with such artists as The Black Sorrows, Clare Bowditch, Kate Ceberano, Jack Jones and Kutcha Edwards.

Despite her success, Elly was a relative late starter, with her natural singing talent only being discovered by her year 10 music teacher.

She grew up in the South Gippsland town of Buffalo and went to school in Leongatha, first playing piano from age seven and later trombone.

“I was singing around the music department in year 10 and a teacher said ‘wow you should be singing’. My family thought I could just sing in tune, but the teacher said I should be doing it more seriously.”

Elly did singing as a VCE subject and then studied a music degree followed by a masters in teaching at Monash University.

“One of my university lecturers said I’m the kind of student everyone gets frustrated with because I have a natural talent but at that stage I wasn’t working on it. They said imagine what would happen if I took it seriously and practiced.

“So in university I started to take singing seriously.”

During university she performed with the Wonthaggi Theatre Group in Cabaret, and also Lyric Theatre, also doing a stint teaching at Newhaven College.

After university she moved back to South Gippsland to teach, moving to Phillip Island with her husband Steve Berry and two step-kids in 2021 and starting at Newhaven College again this year.

All the while she has continued to perform in Melbourne, and she also runs a music camp in South Gippsland, Camp Bravo for students from grades four to 12.

The Voice

She says because of her family commitments – and the fact she loves teaching kids - she hasn’t been tempted to break into the overseas market, but could be tempted in the future.

“I also love the beach and living here. It’s great going to Melbourne on weekends but every time I cross the bridge I love coming home.”

Elly says she decided to try out for The Voice now because “I’ve hit that point where I really enjoy singing, it’s so much fun, but the music industry is tough”.

“I want it to be a big part of my life but you’ve got to work hard to get in it.

“The world now is about social media and likes. There’s nothing wrong with that, but you need to get your name out there, a following.

“The Voice is a really good platform to meet cool people and go in the right direction.”

Elly says on Monday night she’ll be watching her blind audition on Channel 7 at 7pm at home with her husband, kids and parents, who also went to the audition.