In January 2012 , Ellis auditioned for the debut series of '' The Voice UK '' , a reality television singing competition . The show saw Ellis giving a blind audition in front of its four coaches . She sang " Son of a Preacher Man " but it failed to progress her further after none of the coaches turned round to select her to be in their groups . Her audition aired on BBC One in March ; the panel reacted with positive feedback . Tom Jones consoled her : " You seem like you 've already made it , " referring to her theatrical career , while Danny O'Donoghue stated , " I thought you did a really phenomenal job , I really did . I ca n't fault that , all I can fault is myself for not turning around . I am looking for a specific type of girl singer and you 're not it but you will be for 99 % of the UK I am sure . " Her name later trended on social networking site Twitter . Ellis affirmed that it was a big risk to take , but added , " this industry is all about taking risks . It was a risk to be publicly said ' no ' to , but it 's character-building for me and you get back on the horse and you carry on . " She has continued to perform , appearing at a charity concert of '' Children of Eden '' alongside other West End performers at London 's Prince of Wales Theatre in January which provoked Mark Shenton to label Ellis and Louise Dearman as " the twin goddesses of West End musical voices . " Ellis paired with Brian May and singer Irene Fornaciari at the 2012 Sanremo Music Festival on the songs " I ( Who Have Nothing ) " and " We Will Rock You " in February . The same month , she closed the 2012 Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers ' Choice Awards with May and also performed with him at the launch of Pride of Cape Town in South Africa in March . There , she also shot a documentary to highlight her charity work with the Born Free Foundation . After becoming patron of the Wattisham Military Wives Choir , she went solo in the one-off concerts Coming Home and On the Edge towards the end of March and start of April and also led her own BBC Radio 2 '' Friday Night is Music Night '' special with guests Brian May , Ramin Karimloo and Jonathan Ansell
2012 Sanremo Music Festival
Sanremo Music Festival 2012
Kerry Ellis