Marty impresses on '˜The Voice of Ireland'

The 34-year-old made the right impression at the weekend when he sang in front of the four celebrity coaches - Bressie, Una Foden, Rachel Stevens, and Kian Egan.

The 34-year-old, who lives in Dungiven and is originally from Derry, did enough to make Bressie and Kian Egan press the red button on Sunday evening for his take on AC/DC’s You Shook Me All Night Long.

The idea behind ‘The Voice’ is that contestants sing on stage while the judges - in this case Bressie, Westlife’s Kian Egan, Una Healy from The Saturdays and Rachel Stevens from S Club 7 - sit with their backs to the performer. As they don’t see the singer, the programme is all about ‘the voice.’ If the judge likes what they hear, they turn the chair around.

The singer is hoping he will go all the way, and land the top prize of a record deal with Universal Music.

Marty said it was his brother, Kevin, who lives in Galway who encouraged him to apply for ‘The Voice of Ireland’.

“My brother sent me the link to apply so I did,” he said. “I didn’t think much of it because it’s hard to get through in these things, I sent them a song as well and they rang the next day at 10 o’clock and said they wanted me down in Dublin.

“I was delighted.”

Marty - lead singer with classic rock band, ‘Bad Penny’ and two-piece band ‘South Paw’ - is making the most of the experience and getting through to the The Battles.

Both Bressie and Kian turned for Marty, with the singer opting for Team Bressie.

Marty said: “It has been a brilliant experience, getting to meet all the other singers.”

Marty said the support has been incredible so far, especially from his daughters, Eva and Erin, and his parents, Agnes and Peter.

“The audience has been brilliant as well,” he said.

Having always had a passion for music, having studied music production, Marty revealed he is opening a recording studio in Derry’s Ebrington Square along with friends.

Marty said viewers can expect to see him on The Voice of Ireland again towards the end of February.

“It has been a great experience and I’m really enjoying it,” said Marty.

The Voice of Ireland airs on RTÉ One on Sunday evenings at 6.30pm.