The Voice finalist Faith Sosene reveals the moment she gave up music
Queensland singer Faith Sosene will vie for The Voice title on Sunday in a dream turnaround of fortune, just three years after she made a heartbreaking decision to give up music.
QLD News
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Queensland’s The Voice finalist Faith Sosene has opened up about the moment she decided to give up music to commit her life to caring for her sick mother.
The 25-year-old from Ipswich is still trying to come to terms with how her life has turned around, now as one of four remaining singers competing for The Voice title on Sunday.
It comes three years after she made peace with giving up her singing ambitions to care full-time for her mother Susana, whose struggle with heart disease and renal failure continued to worsen.
“That’s what I think about every day,” Sosene said.
“I started looking after my mum when I was 19 but when I got to 21, I was like, OK, this is it – I’m content and I’m happy with it and I love my mum, she deserves everything for what she’s done for me, but in that moment at that age I was like OK this is me for the rest of my life, and I’m happy with it, I’m going to have to give up music.”
“I was so deeply satisfied. It was just the circumstances and what I had to do, so to have this opening on The Voice, saying it’s a dream is an understatement.
“I don’t know what a better word is but if there was one I’d use it. It’s a chance for me to not leave it just at being my mum’s carer. It’s been wonderful.”
Susana had raised the budding singer and her five siblings as a single mother while also taking in and caring for three other children.
She has been her daughter’s biggest supporter, encouraging her to apply for The Voice when auditions opened around the same time her condition improved in 2021.
Sosene, who is the now sole finalist on coach Jessica Mauboy’s team, has released her uplifting winner’s single Words You Should Have Heard and will find out on Sunday night if she has won the title – which comes with a recording contract with Universal Music Australia and $100,000 in prize money.
“I can’t believe I’m living my dream when I was a little girl and before the age of 21 when I decided I couldn’t do this anymore. I do have to pinch myself all the time,” she said.
“It’s been so changing for me in every aspect, especially my confidence. I came into the show scared of what the world might think of me or how they would perceive me, and ever since having our glam team glam me up and Jess coaching me and the music team helping me I feel like it’s important to know you need a great team behind you to reach your goal.
“I feel like a whole different person.”
A proud Queenslander, Sosene has been buoyed by the support of her hometown in Ipswich, including getting a shout-out from Mayor Teresa Harding, and will watch the final at home in Ipswich on Sunday.
“I thought, Oh my God this is a little bit of what Ash Barty went through, just a tiny bit,” Sosene laughed. “But it’s so cool.”
“I love that I get to represent our little city.”
“I just invited pretty much all of Ipswich to my house, nothing fancy, just come in your footy shirts and footy shorts and watch and see what happens.”
Originally published as The Voice finalist Faith Sosene reveals the moment she gave up music
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