The Voice Australia gets its first Indian-origin winner

In the US, The Voice is currently airing season 26 of the reality singing competition, but in Australia, The Voice Australia aired its grand finale for season 13 on October 27, 2024. The four coaches chose one artist each to represent them in the finale who had the chance to win $100,000 in prize money and a recording development package.

The finalists were Reuben De Melo who represented LeAnn Rimes, SKYE who represented Guy Sebastian, Annie Jones who represented Adam Lambert, and Jaedyn Randell who represented Kate Miller-Heidke.

Each artist performed a solo song and a duet with their respective coaches. The finale was the only episode in which results were determined by public vote and not by the coaches, which is how the winner has been decided for the past four seasons.

Reuben De Melo was declared the winner after he sang The House Of The Rising Sun for his solo performance and Coldplay's Fix You for his duet performance with his coach LeAnn LeAnn Rimes. Not only does this mark LeAnn's first win as a coach but it also means that Reuben becomes the first Indian-origin singer to win The Voice Australia.

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The journey of Reuben De Melo on The Voice Australia explored

Reuben De Melo hails from Perth and is a FIFO worker and father of three. As mentioned earlier, the 32-year-old was crowned the winner of this year’s The Voice Australia. Reuben was first seen in the very first network promo for the season. During his auditions, Reuben sang Ed Sheeran’s I See Fire and won a four-chair coach turn.

Reuben disclosed in an October 28, 2024, interview with 7NEWS.com.au that he almost did not make it to the show. It was actually his wife who secretly signed him up for the competition and believed in his talent.

“She applied for me without telling me, and the rest is history," stated Reuben.

The Goa-born singer advanced to the battle rounds which aired from September 15 through September 29. Each coach formed duets as two artists had to collaborate on one song and impress the judges. The winner was allowed to move on directly to the knockouts while the battle's loser was either eliminated, "saved" by their coach, or "stolen" by another coach.

In the battle round, Reuben had to collaborate with Larissa Kovalchuk on Leonard Cohen's composition, Hallelujah. Reuben was able to win the round and he advanced to the knockout stages while Larissa was eliminated.

Next up was the knockouts which aired on October 6 and October 13. Only three spots were open for the seven remaining artists on each team. The three winners of each team were allowed to move on to the showdowns, while the losing four artists were eliminated. The first night saw Team Adam and Team Kate perform and on the second night, Team Guy and Team LeAnn performed.

Reuben had to perform keeping in mind the theme of "Emotional singers". He chose Kings Of Leon's song Use Somebody and won against Duncan Toombs and Laura Glynn. Duncan performed Rag N' Bone Man's Human while Laura sang Ed Sheeran's Perfect.

The Voice Australia singer advanced to the Showdowns, where coaches picked two of their three Knockout winners who would go straight to the Semifinals.

Reuben performed Chris Isaak's Wicked Game in the semifinals and was saved by LeAnn over Letitia Butler who sang Dusty Springfield's Son Of A Preacher Man. Reuben went on to win the competition after earning plaudits from all the coaches.

Kate Miller-Heidke praised Reuben's singing on the night and claimed it was “exceptional,” while LeAnn was excited by his "insane" performance.

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Reuben became the first Indian-origin singer to win the Australian version of The Voice and took home $100,000 along with a record deal.