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The first six contestants who raised the Wall on Rising Star this past Sunday may seem ready to compete with each other for America’s votes, but before they hit the ABC singing show’s stage, they each experimented with different musical styles—and hairdos.
PHOTOS ‘Rising Star’: Inside ABC’s Singing Show With Ludacris, Kesha and Brad Paisley
Their pre-Rising Star videos have raised our own internal walls of curiosity: Is there anything Jesse Kinch can’t shred on guitar? Does the soul in Joshua Peavy’s vocals come from a higher power? And was Macy Kate totally robbed on The X Factor? The Hollywood Reporter scoured YouTube to find out:
Jesse Kinch
The classic rock blues belter—who is currently expert Ludacris’ favorite—was more of a grunge guy at the tender age of 12, with much a shorter, Beatles-style hairdo. Check out his Nirvana cover below:
Lisa Punch
The Guyana native got through with her cover of Whitney Houston’s “How Will I Know,” but in this 2012 video for the song “One Last Time”—directed by reggae musician Darrell Pugsley—Punch proves to be a photogenic performer, much like her idol.
Mannepat Myra Malloy
The Thailand-based YouTube singer had the highest degree of difficulty performing an Italian language opera ballad, but in this video, she shows a lighter touch with Christina Perri’s “A Thousand Years” when she was just 14 years old.
Joshua Peavy
The inaugural auditionee went the secular route for his audition on Rising Star with Bryan Adams‘ “Everything I Do, I Do it For You,” but this Christian minister hit all the high notes with his soulful rendition of “O, Holy Night.”
Sarah Darling was a familiar face to Brad Paisley after she rose the Wall with her cover of Kacey Musgrave’s “Merry Go Round,” as the 31-year old Nashville singer had previously released two albums: 2009’s Every Monday Morning and 2011’s Angels and Devils, through Black River Entertainment (the same label home to American Idol alum Kellie Pickler). She had success in 2012 with the single, “Home To Me,” which sold over 8,000 copies and peaked at number 34 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs Chart.
Macy Kate
The 16-year-old was plucked out of the Rising Star audience after entering the show’s Instagram contest, but at the age of 14, she was the youngest competitor ever in the Boot Camp rounds of The X Factor’s second season, and in this clip, she clearly has young fans at this Radio Disney event.
Twitter: @MicheleAmabile
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