Talent and hard work opening doors for Kate

A SONGWRITER'S VISION: The winner of last month's Musicians' Club songwriting competition, former WHS student Kate Van Elswijk, overcame a vision impairment to compete on The Voice Australia.
PHOTO: Stuart Munro

A blind Whanganui musician has revealed how she overcame her impairment to compete in the hugely popular TV show The Voice Australia.

Kate Van Elswijk, who last month won the Whanganui Musicians' Club songwriting competition, was initially unsure about entering the Aussie singing competition.

She is legally blind, with a condition called achromatopica. It means she has around 10 per cent vision and can only see three metres ahead in black and white with minimal peripheral vision.

"I auditioned at the last minute - I was really indecisive whether I should or not because TV is a big deal. You are putting yourself out there ... and there are some people who are going to judge you."

Growing up in Whanganui, 20-year-old Ms Van Elswijk had dreams of being a dancer and graduated from the Sharon Underwood School of Dance in 2013, going on to enrol in the Ettingshausens Performing Arts Institute in Sydney.

Despite her hesitation, she sent in an audition video for the The Voice Australia in December 2015, and made it past the audition rounds to the show's live televised section.

That's when she had to sing for the judges and hope that one of them would choose her to join their team.

"When I sang, Ronan Keating turned around at the last minute of my song and I, being visually impaired, couldn't tell that it was him.

"I knew somebody had turned around - I could see the lights flashing - but I didn't know who it was until they started talking. I found out it was Ronan, which was super exciting." 

She believes his style of music matches hers and, with him as a her coach, she made it through to the 12th episode before being eliminated in a duet battle.

"It was an awesome experience and I got meet some amazing people, artists and singers - and I learned a lot about myself."

Though she enjoyed her time on the show, it wasn't without its challenges.

"It was hard at times - everyone has their opinion about you and you have to ignore everything on social media.

"Some of it was positive, though - I had people message me with the same eye condition as me who were inspired, and it gave them hope.

"But then there was the bad side of social media where people rubbish you without knowing the full story of your life. You can't let it get to you.

"It also showed me that you have to work very hard for what you love - you 
can't ride on talent alone."

After she finished, she was keen to push her career in the music industry, but suffered a serious setback.

"I was in a hip-hop class two weeks after The Voice and I felt this snap in my knee."

She had been experiencing growing pain in her legs and they had reached the point where she could hardly dance.

"Going for a 20-minute walk was like the most painful thing ever. It was agony and I was on far too many painkillers."

An X-ray revealed she had been developing stress fractures along the front of her knees for more than three years.

She came back to New Zealand to get surgery for the injury but was put on a lengthy waiting list.

"Waiting ... that was the hardest thing. I was told if I danced with my knees the way they are I could snap my tibia bone all the way through, and that would have meant bone grafts, rods ... nasty stuff."

After the surgery she decided to come back to Whanganui to heal and now teaches at the Sharyn Underwood School Of Dance.

She heard about the Musicians' Club song competition and decided to have a go.

"When I got there I practised for about an hour. I hadn't decided which of my songs to play until I got on stage and got the vibe.

"Someone had played a really fast song so I thought, 'OK, why don't I slow this down for a bit, it's the last song of the night'.

"So I played a piece called Close Your Eyes."

The song is about her boyfriend's mother who died a few months ago.

"It's a really pretty piece ... it made a few of my friends cry."

The song won over the judges and Ms Van Elswijk won first place out of 16 contestants.

While it can take months to write a song, if she feels a connection with the subject inspiration comes quickly.

"For me, it needs to be personal - I've written songs for other people and I find it a lot harder to write for someone else than to write for myself.

"You always take from your experiences, your emotions and stuff you've been through in life and you write it down like you're writing a story."

It has been five months since her surgery and, if all goes well, in four months her legs will mend and she will be back to pursuing her dream.

"Being visually impaired or having some sort of impairment doesn't have to hinder your dreams and your career options," she said.

"You just have to find ways around it and do what makes you happy."