“Meet the first artist ready to face the music when Australia’s #1 entertainment program of 2021, The Voice, returns to Channel 7 and 7plus after Easter.  

Singing means everything to 19-year old Alley Eley from Melbourne, but in primary school one cruel moment rocked her confidence. Now, after 10 years, Alley uses the setback to her advantage and summons the courage to prove that you can strive for your dreams no matter what others say.

Her unique rendition of Teenage Dirtbag has the superstar coaches enraptured, and leaves the teenager in tears after all four coaches turn their iconic red chairs.

Keith Urban observed:

“We get a lot of fuel from the cheerleaders in our lives, but man we get a lot of fuel from the naysayers who say to us: you’ll never amount to anything.”

Rita Ora added:

“You have just scratched the surface of something beyond your expectations.” - TV Blackbox

A 19-year-old singer who was laughed at as a kid by her teacher has wowed the superstar coaches in a sneak peek at the new season of The Voice.

When Ally Eley, from Melbourne, was nine years old, one cruel moment rocked her confidence as a singer.

“I had a teacher who I looked up to; she liked to sing as well,” Alley explains in the sneak peek.

“The first time I sang, she laughed in front of the whole class and was like, ‘I thought you said you could sing!’

“As a nine year old, I was pretty crushed ... I’ll show her I can do this!”

Ten years later, she’s standing on The Voice stage, blowing the minds of Keith Urban, Rita Ora, Jessica Mauboy and Guy Sebastian with her talent.

After a powerful and unique performance of the song Teenage Dirtbag, Alley breaks down in tears, prompting Rita to rush to the stage.

Giving her a hug, she whispers: “That was amazing!”

“We get a lot of fuel from the cheerleaders in our lives,” Keith Urban says after the spectacular performance.

“But man, we get a lot of fuel from the naysayers who say to us, ‘you’ll never amount to anything’.”

“You have only just scratched the surface of something beyond your expectations,” Rita Ora adds.

“Do you know what your music teacher was, she was intimidated and terrified of your talent,” Keith goes on to say.

“What I just saw was extraordinary.”

Keith Urban took aim at the “shine blockers” of the world as Channel 7 fired the first shots in the battle of the reality TV juggernauts on Monday night.

The network started The Voice at 7pm, half an hour before MasterChef on Ten and Lego Masters on Nine kicked off their seasons. It delivered a strong debut that was big on laughs, drama and, yes, vocal talent, even if it cycled through just seven blind auditions in almost two hours of television.

Responding to the opening performance by 19-year-old Ally Eley, from the western suburbs of Melbourne, the judges asked why she had chosen to cover the song Teenage Dirtbag, a hit for New York alt-rockers Wheatus in 2000. She explained by telling a story about a teacher whom she had looked up to at primary school, but who responded to her first-ever performance, in front of the class when she was just nine years old, by laughing and saying: “I thought you said you could sing”.

“People talk a lot about the people that encouraged us early on, the cheerleaders in our lives, the believers and all that, and we get a lot of fuel from those people,” Urban said. “But man, we get a lot of fuel from the naysayers, the shine blockers, who say to us ‘you will never amount to anything’.

“In life it’s not what happens to us, it’s how we deal with it,” he added. “Do you know what your music teacher was? She was intimidated and terrified of your talent, and she was very jealous.”

Despite the words of encouragement, she opted to go with Guy Sebastian.