Diana Rouvas, Winner of ‘The Voice Australia,’ Responds to Voting Controversy

Diana Rouvas, the 35-year-old Australian singer who was on Boy George’s team during the entire competition, won the eighth edition of “The Voice Australia.”

She became the first woman to be crowned the winner of the Australian show since the fourth season when Ellie Drennan of Jessie J’s team won it. However, their stories are entirely different.

Apart from their age difference (Ellie was only 16), Diana had already participated in “The Voice Australia” in 2012, and it was all thanks to her boss.

“It's rigged I can't vote, can't get through, won't connect,” pointed out a fan

BEING A CONTESTANT IN THE 2012 EDITION OF THE SHOW

In an interview, Diana admitted that the boss she had almost ten years ago when she was still working in a factory used to call her to his office every Monday to tell her to audition for “The Voice Australia.”

"Every week, he'd call me in and if I said, 'Hang on,' he'd say, 'Hang on? I wait for no one, mate.' Then I got in my car one day, and I said, 'My God, he's right.' I've been waiting for so many people in my career to do things, but I should've listened to the wise man and waited for no one," she said.

During the first season, Diana chose Keith Urban as her mentor and, due to her outstanding performance and amazing vocals, she made it to the top eight and ended up in the fifth spot.

HER LIFE AFTER HER FIRST TIME AT “THE VOICE AUSTRALIA”

In 2013, one year after participating in the show, Diana admitted to being thankful for all she had gotten but knew that she had to keep fighting for her dreams. Diana, who started singing and performing at the age of four, knew that she had not “made it” yet.

"My parents were in the industry, so I grew up being taught that there is always someone better than you, so you have to be on top of your craft, and I watched my parents have good success and struggle," she revealed.

Apart from that, Diana confessed that, while her time on “The Voice Australia” was an excellent platform for her to get the attention of record labels, it didn’t teach her anything about her singing style or ability.

HER TAKEAWAYS

"We get more comfortable with having cameras in our face, but as for learning about anything you do, for me I feel like I've been practicing my whole life for things like that," Diana added.

She pointed out, though, that after her appearance on TV, more people started going to her shows, which made a lot easier for her to pay the rent and live a better life. However, she was “certainly nowhere near making it or buying anything extravagant.”

Diana’s performance also got her a record deal with Universal Music. Through that collaboration, she released the single “Heart of Goodbye.”

Even though she planned an EP, it was never released and, in 2015, her contract with Universal Music ended upon her request.

COMING BACK AS AN ALL-STAR

In 2019, she came back to “The Voice Australia” as an all-star and, thanks to Boy George’s advice, Diana Rouvas took home the top prize: 100,000 Australian dollars (equivalent to 69.700 US dollars) and a record contract with EMI.

One of the songs that Diana performed during the finals was “Wait For No One,” a sort of tribute to how she felt when her 2012 boss urged her to go to the show’s auditions.

She and her partner Eric Aranda co-wrote and co-produced the song, which she performed publicly for the first time on the show’s grand finale.

"To come back seven years later is pretty exciting, and to do my own original work at the end of it, it's a pretty nice full circle," Diana admitted.

As for her future, Diana revealed that she would like to go on tour and “catch the momentum” that “The Voice Australia” has given her and the rest of the competitors.

Apart from that, she is willing to follow up the release of “Wait For No One” with “some more.”

FACING BACKLASH

Unfortunately, Diana’s victory faced backlash from the show’s fans who took to Twitter to complain about the voting process as some of them considered it was rigged.

The negative messages started even before the show ended as the official site that the audience uses to cast votes went down before the voting closed.

“Voting opened at the end of last week's show… and given the site is down, I guess the winner will be whoever generated the most votes after their performance last week,” shared a user.

“Looks like #thevoiceau website is down - going to make voting slightly tricky...” added another person.

“It's rigged I can't vote, can't get through, won't connect,” pointed out a third fan.

DIANA AND THE NETWORK’S RESPONSE

Following the critics, a representative of the network released a statement saying that the technical issue happened due to the “hundreds of thousands” of people trying to vote and that only a “small number” of people faced the problem.

“However, votes are continuing to flow through. The technical problem has now been solved. We appreciate everybody’s support for the artists and the show,” read the statement shared with Daily Mail Australia.

After winning, Diana addressed the “rigged voting” claims by saying that she just ignored them as people “are going to talk, that’s the business we’re in.” Later she described what she and her coach, Boy George, felt when host Sonia Kruger said that she had won over Daniel Shaw.

“I was in shock. Both George and I had a little F-bomb moment there. He was incredibly and genuinely happy,” Diana admitted, who added that she probably had not “registered” her victory and that, after a “good sleep,” she would probably cry out of excitement.

At the moment, Diana is enjoying her victory and is probably planning what do do next with her career. Her fans can't wait to hear more from her.