The Voice Kids: Joshua, 14, moves the judges to tears after bringing mum on stage for emotional duet
29 July 2020, 15:55 | Updated: 28 August 2020, 09:38
Joshua duets with his mum performing 'You Are The Reason' on The Voice Kids UK
It was a moment neither mother or son will ever forget.
Joshua Regala, 14, wowed The Voice Kids judges with his cover of Callum Scott's 'You Are The Reason' and even brought his mum on stage for a moving encore.
All four judges, Will.i.am, Pixie Lott, Paloma Faith and Danny Jones, turned their chairs around when they heard the Irish singer's voice.
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Joshua, from County Meath, stunned the judges with his heartfelt cover of Ben E. King's 'Stand By Me' and says he "still can't believe it" after getting through to the next round of the TV show.
"I don't know if you could see it on my face but yeah I was absolutely scared. I was so scared. But I think I was moistly excited as well," he said.
"I still can't believe it. I still feels like it's a dream you know. Definitely a dream come true.
"I never thought that anything like that would've ever happened to me in my life. Just to be on that show, just to be on telly. That was my first ever TV show appearance."
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Joshua revealed to the judges that he got his singing voice from his mum Ysan, who emigrated to Ireland 18 years ago from the Philippines.
He said: "I have to say I mostly [get my voice] from my mam. I wish I could say that my dad could sing but sadly that's not the case here.
"I think I was around seven when I received my first guitar from my dad. At the age of four my parents enrolled me for piano lessons and then I picked up the guitar along the way and then singing."
The judges then surprised Joshua by asking his mum to come on stage and perform a duet with her son.
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Ysan revealed she hadn't ever sang with her son and wasn't prepared to sing at all.
Speaking to Gerry Kelly on LMFM Radio, she said: "Oh my God it was nerve-wrecking really. It just happened.
"I was just in shock I didn't know what to do because I have never done a duet with Joshua, ever ever so I didn't even know what to sing.
Joshua Performs 'You Are The Reason' | Blind Auditions | The Voice Kids UK 2020
"And then Joshua said, 'Oh mum can we just sing the song that I sang just now?' I said, 'OK'.
"No I didn't know the words. I was looking at his mouth. He said, 'Just follow my mouth mum and think about the song'."
His mum added: "I'm so proud of him. He's a great kid. We're just blessed to have him."
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The pair sang a beautiful rendition of Joshua's audition song 'Stand By Me', bringing judge Paloma Faith to tears.
Joshua had all four judges to choose from, and eventually chose Pixie Lott as his mentor.
Dara Performs 'I Have Nothing' | Blind Auditions | The Voice Kids UK 2020
Reflecting on his choice, Joshua said: He said: "I went with Pixie. Pixie's wonderful. All the coaches are fantastic and amazing but I just feel like the energy that she brought up towards me for her pitch, she kind of pulled me in.
"And just the fact that she said, 'Oh yeah I know what songs will suit you best, that will really showcase your voice'.
"It really made me feel comfortable and ready to join her team."
