Before stepping onto the Australian Idol stage, musician Eva Ilov was making regular trips from Brisbane’s north-west to Loganholme to hone her craft at Performance Studios.
Ms Ilov, who grew up in Upper Kedron, said she had been working with vocal coach Lisa Lockland-Bell at the academy for more than a year.
“She’s really changed my perspective on singing,” Ms Ilov said.
“She’s helped me build confidence, discipline, control, and because of that training, I’m able to approach music with a lot more intention and artistry.”
Ms Ilov describes herself as a “soul-driven pop artist” and said music had always been part of her life.
“When I was about seven or eight, my granddad bought me my first guitar,” Ms Ilov said.
“Mum didn’t want the gift to go to waste, so she put me in lessons, and then not long after, the vocals kind of came along naturally.”
Auditioning for Australian Idol this season was, she said, a long-held goal.
“Since I got that first guitar and realised I could do this, I was like, ‘Oh yeah, I need to go where the big leagues are,’” Ms Ilov said.
Ms Ilov walked into her audition for Idol, broadcast on the Seven Network last week, without a song prepared for the judging panel.
“I definitely took a huge risk,” she said. “But it pushed me out of my comfort zone.”
“And once I started singing, everything else just faded away.”
The risk paid off and allowed Ms Ilov to showcase her versatile musical abilities to judges Amy Shark, Kyle Sandilands and Marcia Hines, who put her through to the next round.
When she learned she had advanced to the next round, Ms Ilov said the moment felt “surreal”.
“I literally broke down in tears on the stage,” she said. “I knew my dreams were kind of coming true.”
