Dundee’s rock ‘n’ roll piano sensation Stan Urban has romped into the semi-finals of The Voice after another stunning performing on the ITV show.
Stan wowed the audience – and the judges – with his rousing rendition of Elvis Presley’s Hound Dog.
And he got a resounding cheer as he was voted into the next round of the competition, which will be shown two days before Christmas.
Olly’s advice
Stan, 79, who now lives in Denmark after a lifetime touring the world as a rock ‘n’ roll piano player, has teamed up with pop star coach Olly Murs since his sensational blind audition last month.
He says some of the musical coaching was “like teaching your granny to suck eggs” but admits the Heart Skips a Beat singer played a huge part in his song choice.
Stan told The Courier: “It was great – I had a really great time again.
“But when they told me they wanted me to do Hound Dog I thought it was a bit clichéd – I would rather have done one of my own songs.
“But they talked me round, Olly said you have to do it, everybody knows it but they haven’t heard anybody doing it for years and he was right.
“There’s a lot of affection for those numbers and let’s face it, I was just there to have a good time – and I did.
“It’s been a brilliant experience for me.”
‘No ego’
Stan, who grew up in Kirkton, says his age may appeal to viewers of the show.
He laughs: “There is a little bit of the ‘aw’ factor, that sort of, ‘aw isn’t he cute,’ and being 79.
“But once they see and hear me play they realise I’m not about to pop my clogs!
“Tom Jones said I was a breath of fresh air, meaning I wasn’t one of the usual young hopefuls either looking to make it in the music business.
“I don’t have a huge ego or anything like that. I just wanted to have a great time and I think that came across.”
He added: “After the first show Olly and I had a couple of online chats and he said: ‘How can I coach you anything?’
“We had voice coaches who said they didn’t want to try and change my singing but they told me a few things about my voice and that was good.
“Everybody was really nice, we got on very well together. They’ve treated me really well.”
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