A 20-year-old Samoan has wowed the judges in his audition for one of the world’s largest singing competitions, The Voice Australia.

Evile Jireh Sisifo-Laloata, who is a vocal teacher, advised in an Instagram post last week for his 44,385 followers that he had a blind audition for The Voice Season 10 which went to air on Monday 9 August.

“I think this is the longest secret I’ve held onto in my life lol but yes here it is! i auditioned for @thevoiceau season 10 and im super excited for you guys to watch it,” Evile wrote on his Instagram page.

“My blind audition will air on MONDAY, 9 AUGUST on @channel7 so have fun having me on your screens Australia.”

The televised show aired in Australia last Monday on Channel 7 with Evile’s rendition of the song “Fix You” by British rock band Coldplay immediately wooing The Voice judges Keith Urban, Rita Ora, Jessica Mauboy and Guy Sebastian.

Mauboy, an Australian R&B and pop singer, songwriter and actress, was mesmerised by Evile's performance.

“C’mon Evile, wow, [your] control, like moved me, completely moved me,” he said.

Urban then asked Evile if he remembered at what age he began singing and why.

In response, the Samoan said: “I started singing at the age of maybe three, I think, and my dad and me and my sister we grew up singing, and I saw my culture with this thing called White Sunday, is where every family in the church prepares an item so that’s where I started.”

“You sang beautifully, I think that was a great song choice for you, it is a good sign of a good artist,” Urban said in reply.

But in a quirk of the show's rules, Urban, a New Zealand-born Australian-American singer, songwriter and producer, expressed regret that he was unable to get Evile to join his after his decision was blocked by one of his fellow judges.

The 20-year-old wasn’t aware that the show’s two male judges – Urban and Sebastian – were blocked by their female fellow judges.

“You know we’ve never seen, I don’t think since I’ve been here (as a judge), two blocks,” said English singer, songwriter and actress Ora.

“That means it is real competition right now. I really, really would be honoured to have someone like you on my team.”

Sebastian, an Australian singer and songwriter and winner of the Australian Idol competition in 2003, told Evile that his voice was “just incredible”.

“Your voice is just incredible, it is so liquid, it is so free, it is unworldly, you cannot teach that. That is just pure passion and I feel you would have been perfect for my team.”

After much thought, amidst screams from the audience, Evile pointed to Mauboy and said he chose her.

In a post on his Instagram page after his performance, Evile said the blind audition was special for him as his New Zealand-based family couldn’t join him, though they watched the performance live from New Zealand on the night of the show.

“This moment was a very special one, due to covid my family couldn’t be there physically!” he said.

“Once I stepped onto the stage the first thing I saw my family on this big screen, I quickly turned away because I knew that I would've been a mess before I actually started singing. 

“This is why I do what I do and I hope someday I would be able to give back to them.”

In a recent interview with Tagata Pasifika, Evile said he chose to join Mauboy’s team on The Voice as he could relate to her story, having been brought up around church and family.

“I went with Jess because I felt an instant connection with her story, and I could relate with her being brought up around church and family not having much.”

Evile comes from a Samoan family of six who live in the New Zealand city of Christchurch.