Rachael Leahcar

Rachael Leahcar was the first Runner-up of the fantasy voice. Her coach was Julia Michaels, she was also previously a member of team Brendon Urie.

## Biography

*Rachael Leahcar (born Rachael Wendy Bartholomew) was born and raised in Adelaide, South Australia (her performing surname is her first name spelled backwards). Leahcar was born with retinitis pigmentosa and (as of 2012) is legally blind with only 10% visual function. She found her love of music at a very early age and has been singing and playing instruments ever since. She started singing lessons at the age of nine and spent a lot of her childhood singing in Italian, a result of spending time with her Italian grandparents. At the age of 12, Leahcar was accepted into the South Australian Public Primary Schools choir. The same year, she auditioned and was accepted into the music program at Brighton Secondary School. Also at the age of 12, she entered Fellini's Search for a Star competition, where she made it through to the grand final and was chosen as one of the top 3 performers of the evening, winning $200 and the judges' encouragement award of $1000 worth of recording time at Quentin Eyres Studio.*

*In March 2009, at age 15, Leahcar entered and won Dino Prizzi's International Festival of Song competition, winning a return trip to Rome to perform on a RAI Uno television program. She was also invited to perform in Benevento while touring Italy on a television program. Leahcar has also performed professionally at many of the Italian clubs and events in Adelaide, including the 2010 and 2011 Italian Carnevale.*

*Following this, Leahcar entered and won the Star Life Talent Search competition, where she received a trophy, $500 for her school and $500 in vouchers for herself to spend. One of the judges of the competition was SAFM radio personality, Andrew 'Cosi' Costello, who was so impressed with Leahcar that he asked her to sing her winning song, "Non, je ne regrette rien", on the radio. He was so overwhelmed with her talent that he also asked her to perform at his wedding reception, which she did.*

*In October 2009, Leahcar released a cover album entitled Rachael's Repertoire, which included ten of her most performed songs at the time. She decided to donate $1 from every copy sold to CanDo4Kids, a charity that has supported her throughout her life. With the success of the first album, a second cover album with ten songs, self-titled Rachael Leahcar, was released shortly afterwards.*

*In 2011, Leahcar completed year 12 and successfully applied for Speech Pathology at Flinders University, but has since deferred this course to focus on a career in music. Leahcar is also an official ambassador for the Royal Society for the Blind and has since done commercials on the Nine Network.*

## Blinds S1

For her blind audition she sang "La Vie en rose" by Édith Piaf, She turned the chairs of Julia Michaels & Brendon Urie. She picked Brendon and joined his team.

## Battles S1

For her battle she was paired with Sasha Allen together they sang "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman. Brendon picked Sasha as the winner and she advanced to the knockouts. Julia then stole Rachael and she also advanced to the knockouts.

## Knockouts S1

In the knockouts she was paired with ZK. She sang the song "Hands" by Jewel, and advanced to the live playoffs.

## Live Playoffs S1

For her playoffs performance she sang "Someone to Watch Over Me" by Ella Fitzgerald. It was enough for Julia to send her to the top 12.

## Top 12 S1

In the top 12 she sang "Can't Help Falling in Love" by Elvis Presley. The Public liked her performance and voted her into the top 11.

## Top 11 S1

In the top 11 she sang "Fix You" by Coldplay. She earned an iTunes bonus for this performance and the public and voted her into the top 10.

## Top 10 S1

In the top 10 she sang "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan. She earned a iTunes bonus for this performance and the public and voted her into the Semifinals.

## Semifinals S1

In the Semifinals she sang "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" by Elton John. She earned a iTunes bonus for this performance and the public and voted her straight into the finale.

## Finale S1

In the finale she sang "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper for her solo. For her Duet with Julia Michaels they sang "Elastic Heart" by Sia. Then finally for her original she sang "Velvet Blue Roses". She received iTunes bonuses for her solo and original performances. After the vote was over it was revealed that the public had voted her to be the Runner-Up behind Jackie Foster.