Bella Mackenzie Fast-tracked To The Next Round On 'The Voice Australia'

Once again proving that coach Guy Sebastian was right when he said Bella Mackenzie is the “most ready” and “polished” contestant on the 2023 season of The Voice Australia, the Queensland singer has been fast-tracked to the Battles round of the show.

Last night (28 August), Mackenzie, Robbie Hunt and Jaxon Cornell faced off against each other, each performing a Miley Cyrus song chosen by their coach, Guy Sebastian.

Mackenzie’s soulful rendition of Slide Away fast-tracked her to the Battles round – the winners of last night’s Callbacks, which involved three singers from each team of 12 singers hosted by Sebastian, Rita Ora, Jason Derulo and Jessica Mauboy, singing similar songs chosen by their coaches, went straight through to the next round.

Performers like Hunt were given a second chance on the Ultimate Callbacks, and Cornell was eliminated. By the end of this week, each coach will likely have halved their team. You can watch Bella Mackenzie’s performance below.

Elsewhere on the episode, Cohuna-based country singer Dan Daniels, who auditioned on Sunday and won one of Jessica Mauboy’s last places on her team, was eliminated after his rendition of Judy Garland’s Somewhere Over The Rainbow. You can follow the gravelly singer on TikTok.

Meanwhile, Countrytown favourites The Bushwackers, tasked with the challenge of performing an Australian classic, Solid Rock by Goanna, are in with a second chance on the Ultimate Callbacks. We should find out their fate on The Voice Australia this week. Unfortunately, the edit on last night’s episode saw their performance shortened and isn’t currently on YouTube.

“Well if you blinked, you might’ve missed us, but we loved getting to perform Solid Rock by one of the great Australian bands and our good friends, Goanna Band on The Voice Australia tonight,” The Bushwackers wrote on Facebook yesterday. “We didn’t get straight through to the battles but we do get another crack at it next round in the ultimate callbacks. I guess that’s why they call it showbiz folks!”

In 2021, Bella Mackenzie became the inaugural winner of the Groundwater Country Music Festival KIX-Start Competition, earning praise and recognition from one of Australia's most successful country music festivals and Australian country music radio.

The Bushwackers formed at Melbourne’s La Trobe University in 1971. Since their inception, the legendary Australian country-folk group have released 20 studio albums, two live albums, and multiple compilation albums. They won the Country Music Awards of Australia and are three-time Best Country Group winners at the annual Mo Awards.

The Voice Australia continues tonight (29 August) at 7 pm AEST on Channel 7 and 7plus, continuing each Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, airing weekly.