Eighteen-year-old Rachael Leahcar is one of the top fan favourites in Australia’s singing competition, The Voice. She belongs to Team Delta.

Leahcar’s moving interpretation of "La Vie En Rose" in her audition over a month ago has drawn global attention. She was later named as ambassador for the Royal Society for the Blind, albeit Leahcar is not completely blind. She has roughly ten per cent vision left due to a serious eye condition called, retinitis pigmentosa. (Read a story of her Facebook post on her recent eye tests here.)

In her Facebook page, Leahcar expressed optimism despite her condition.

“No cure but there is always hope for a miracle,” she posted before a smiley emoticon.

Leahcar studied at Brighton Secondary school in Adelaide, and has won numerous awards for her talent in music. She has released two albums to date. Her first CD, Rachael’s Repertoire, was released in October 2009. Her second album, Rachael Leahcar, contained cover songs.

In an interview with Jessica Leo of Herald Sun, Leahcar’s mother, Ingrid Bartholomew described her daughter as a passion-driven teenager.
"She wanted to try everything, she never wanted to be bored, she's just someone that needs to be busy all the time and always try new things."

The Voice was not Leahcar’s first venture into reality-based competitions. She had tried out for The X Factor and Australia's Got Talent before bringing her vocal gift to Channel Nine. Still, Leahcar did not feel any hint of discrimination against her condition.

"Because I don't focus on it (her vision impairment), then I don't feel other people focus on it… I never really felt like it was supposed to hold me back," the young singer told the Sun.

In the “battle round,” Leahcar’s vocal skills got challenged another way. This time, she was not alone on the stage, but was up against Adam Hoek. Leahcar emerged as the winner in the sing-off.

Leahcar stayed in the reality-based show by a strong public vote after singing Jewel’s Hands. Her coach Delta Goodrem, was joined by other coaches Seal, Keith Urban and Joel Madden in a standing ovation for her performance.

Two singers from Team Delta did not make it through after that show. Matt Hetherington and Ben Bennett were eliminated together with Team Seal’s Sam Ludeman and Michael Duchesne.

Having won the hearts of many Aussies, could Rachel Leahcar be the first winner in The Voice Australia?

Below is a video clip of Leahcar’s audition on The Voice. Similar videos have been uploaded, gathering a couple of millions of views all together.

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