Shropshire Star

The Voice: Shropshire's Zoe hoping for success in live show with singing partner Ebony

A singer from Bishop's Castle will be hoping to hit all the right notes on live prime-time TV.

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Zoe Hedge, from the town, together with singing partner Ebony Wilson, from Smethwick, will be facing off against another duo and four solo singers on ITV talent show The Voice's Sunday night episode – and are calling for supporters from Shropshire, Mid Wales and the West Midlands to get voting on the night.

The six acts are part of celebrity judge Tom Jones' team on the show.

Zoe and Ebony are appearing as duo Capital B, after impressing Sir Tom in the show's trademark 'blind audition' in the early stages.

Zoe Hedge, left, from Bishop's Castle, and her singing partner Ebony Wilson, from Smethwick, are going on live TV

Zoe, 21, said: "We are through to the knock-out stages and will be performing live on Sunday night.

"At this stage in the competition six acts become three, two of which are decided by the general public.

"It feels really good, we've been rehearsing really hard this week and we've been in London doing press. It feels very surreal."

The pair appeared with Sir Tom and the rest of the team in a chat with Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on ITV's This Morning on Tuesday.

Ebony, also 21, told Holly: "It's going to be insane. It's live for one thing, which we haven't experienced before and we've got the pressure of the public vote, so we hope that we are able to connect to them through our performance."

Zoe added: "We are used to performing to our flatmates and just enjoying that more casual setting but now we really need to step up and prove that we can be here."

The pair met as students at Birmingham School of Acting, affiliated with Birmingham City University, and both are now in their third year and currently live in the city.

Zoe said their theatre work had taught them an ethos of 'performance with a purpose', which they wanted to carry through to their singing. "It's always been about serving as an example for young women and girls and making music as a positive influence on society," she said.

Born in nearby Hope, Zoe spent her childhood and teenage years in Bishop's Castle with her father David and two brothers Daniel and Jacob.

She attended Bishop's Castle Primary School and The Community College, also working at the Castle Hotel there for six years, before enrolling at Birmingham City University, where she began singing with Ebony after meeting her on her very first day of the course. She said: "We entered into The Voice competition just to see if there was interest in us as a duo.

"We took the blind audition just to have the opportunity to perform on television, we didn't expect to get as far as we have."

She said working with Sir Tom an 'amazing experience' and he was just like his public persona.

"He really is – he so lives up to the hype. He's such a legend," she said. "He is funny and kind and just treats us all with such respect, and he's always sharing his stories and wisdom with us to help us improve.

"Our hopes re to get as far as we can. We are learning so much and loving the experience so it would be great to carry on for as long as possible.

"But if we go out at this stage we can't be too disappointed because even having the exposure we have had so far could give us more opportunities. It all feels very positive," she said.

At the start of the competition Zoe and Ebony performed Lauryn Hill and Tanya Blount's version of Gospel hymn His Eye Is On The Sparrow,

quickly impressing Sir Tom and fellow judge Gavin Rossdale.

You can follow the progress of Capital B on Twitter @_capitalb or on Instagram @capitalbofficial. They will be on the second of five live shows at 7.45pm tomorrow.

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