Kirsten Joy Child (born 1986) is an English singer-songwriter who is best known for singing with the pop group

Clean Bandit Clean Bandit are an English electronic music group, formed in Cambridge in 2008. They have had four number 1 hits and ten top 10 hits on the UK Singles Chart. They direct and produce their own music videos, many of which have been nominated for ...

after coming to prominence after taking part in the 2012 inaugural series of the singing talent contest ''

The Voice UK ''The Voice UK'' is a British singing competition television series. Created by John de Mol, it premiered on BBC One during the spring television cycle on 24 March 2012. Based on the original ''The Voice of Holland'', and part of ''The Voice ...

''. Having been chosen by judge

Jessie J Jessica Ellen Cornish (born 27 March 1988), known professionally as Jessie J, is an English singer. Born and raised in London, she began her career on stage, aged 11, with a role in the West End musical '' Whistle Down the Wind''. She studied ...

in the programme's 'blind auditions' round, Kirsten joined other contestants on Jessie's team to compete for a place in the finals. During the 'battle rounds' Kirsten lost out to fellow contestant Toni Warne.

Early life

Kirsten Joy Child was born in 1986 and has enjoyed singing and performing from a young age. Kirsten's father, Grant, was born in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, and mother, Phillipa, was born in

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

. Kirsten was born in South Africa and has three siblings.

Music career

Music featured throughout Joy's school life through plays, assemblies local concerts, including in

Rochester Cathedral Rochester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an English church of Norman architecture in Rochester, Kent. The church is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rochester in the Church of England and the s ...

, singing at church at taking part in local talent competitions. She was a contestant in a "Star4Medway", a local talent competition promoted by the

Mayor of Medway The office of Mayor of Medway is the highest position in the unitary area of Medway, in Kent, England. The Office is currently held by Cllr Jan Aldous, who assumed the post on 5 May 2021. Role The Mayor is elected annually from among the council ...

. This led to the opportunity for Joy to sing one of her own songs opening on the main stage at the

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

Music Festival at

Port Lympne Port Lympne Hotel & Reserve near the town of Hythe in Kent, England is set in and incorporates the historic Port Lympne Mansion, and landscaped gardens designed by architect Sir Herbert Baker, for Sir Philip Sassoon. The estate with an Edward ...

in 2005, where acts included

Girls Aloud Girls Aloud were an pop girl group that was created through the ITV talent show '' Popstars: The Rivals'' in 2002. The group comprised singers Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. The group achieved a str ...

and

Lemar Lemar Obika (born 4 April 1978), known as Lemar, is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. Initially rising to fame after finishing third on the first series of British talent show ''Fame Academy'', he was later signed to Sony BMG ...

. Before starting out as a session singer, Joy performed as a member of the

ACM Gospel Choir The ACM Gospel Choir is a British gospel choir made up of students of the Academy of Contemporary Music. The group first came to public attention in the summer of 2008 when they gained 4th place in BBC One's Saturday night show ''Last Choir Sta ...

in 2006 at the

Academy of Contemporary Music The Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM) is a music academy in Guildford, Surrey, England providing contemporary music-based courses. The school of music has a focus on rock, pop music, electronic dance music and a vocational approach. T ...

(ACM), a music academy located in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

. Joy, Mark De-Lisser and other ACM students featured on the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

's talent-themed television show

Last Choir Standing ''Last Choir Standing'' is a 2008 talent show-themed television series produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom. Broadcast on BBC One in July and August 2008, the series saw amateur choirs competing each week to be the 'last choir standing'. The ...

in 2008. The ACM Gospel Choir reached the finals of the show. An article for Kentonline reported that Kirsten had "shared a stage with

Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, havi ...

, supported

and has sung in front of the Queen". She has also worked with

Producers Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

. She was a member of the United Kingdom national jury in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2012 The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, following the country's victory at the with the song " Running Scared" by the duo Ell & Nikki. It was the first time Azerb ...

. In 2012, the UK version of ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

'' was broadcast on

television and Joy took part as a solo contestant. She succeeded in the 'blind audition' round in attracting the attention of

and joined Jessie's team to compete against other teams for judges Tom Jones,

Will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "Will-I-am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is the founding and lead member of the musical group Black Eyed Peas. ...

and

Danny O'Donoghue Daniel John Mark Luke O'Donoghue (born 3 October 1980) is an Irish singer-songwriter best known for being the frontman of the Irish rock band The Script and as a coach on the first two series of the television singing talent show ''The Voice U ...

. At the 'battle round' stages, Joy was eliminated in favour of contestant Toni Warne.

''The Voice UK'' performances and results

Music releases

Kirsten released her debut EP ''Written in the Sky'' in February 2013. It was produced by Ben Collier and Nari Man.

EP 'Written in the Sky', 2013

She attempted to represent Switzerland at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2015 The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was the 60th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Vienna, Austria, following the country's victory at the with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix" by Conchita Wurst. Organised by the European Broa ...

with the song "One Life". On 25 November 2014, it was revealed that Joy was not one of the nine acts selected by SRF to move on to the live auditions and was eliminated.

Clean Bandit

Since 2016, Joy has been a touring member of

. She also records backing vocals for many of the group's songs. In 2018, it was announced that Joy would become a featuring artist on one of the band's new songs on their second studio album, " What is Love?", featuring on " We Were Just Kids" with

Craig David Craig Ashley David (born 5 May 1981) is a British singer and songwriter who rose to fame in 1999, featuring on the single "Re-Rewind (The Crowd Say Bo Selecta), Re-Rewind" by Artful Dodger (UK band), Artful Dodger. David's debut studio album, ' ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Joy, Kirsten 1986 births Living people English women singer-songwriters The Voice (franchise) contestants 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers