Suffolk finalist of The Voice Australia hopes to honour late father

A singer-songwriter from Suffolk is hoping to honour his father after getting through to the final of The Voice Australia.

Charlie Pittman from Holbrook has impressed the judges and reached the last four of the singing competition.

The 25-year-old won't know if he has won or not until he watches the show at home in the UK on Sunday morning.

He said: "People are stopping me in the street and asking for photos, it's all very very surreal."

Since the programme has aired he said the support from family and friends had been amazing.

They have even held "watch parties" to celebrate each time Pittman is on.

The singer is half Australian and ended up auditioning for the show a month after his dad, who was originally from Down Under, died.

He told BBC Radio Suffolk: "My dad pushed me to follow that dream and pursue music, so I thought the best way to try to honour him would be to go out there and try to make a name for myself in Australia - that was always the dream."

In the final, which has already been filmed, Pittman sang a duet with his mentor, the Australian singer-songwriter, Guy Sebastian.

"Guy really took me under his wing... he was saying 'what you do is authentic, it's you, just trust yourself' and that really helped me become the artist I think I was on the show," he added.

Filming for the series finished in June with four alternate endings and Pittman won't find the outcome until he watches in the UK.

"I haven't really allowed myself to even think about winning but if I do it's going to be really emotional for sure." he said.

After finding success on the show he hopes to make his life in Australia and believes he can now pursue music as a career.

"I'm now at a point where I think I can actually do it more as a career and not have a second job and have to fight to pay my rent." he said.

The winner will take home more than £50,000 as well as a recording contract with Universal Music Australia.

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