Bethzienna, a talented Welsh singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer, made a significant impact during the 2019 season of The Voice. She gained support from both Jennifer Hudson and Tom Jones after her captivating performance of “Cry To Me,” a soul classic originally recorded by one of Tom’s heroes, Solomon Burke. Her blind audition gained an impressive 2.5 million views on YouTube, showcasing her electric chemistry with the coaches.
This performance was just the latest highlight in a remarkable career that has already taken Bethzienna on incredible adventures, including experiences on movie sets and even at Buckingham Palace.
Growing up in Barry, Bethzienna always knew she wanted to pursue a music career. She credits her performance skills to “The King,” noting the influence of her background. “Attending a Welsh-language school made music a necessity,” she explains. “It felt like we were harmonising from the age of five. Music is a huge part of our culture. One distinct memory I have is realising music’s impact on me while watching a program discussing artists who had passed away—icons and legends.”
“I was doing the usual sneaking downstairs at night, as I and my brother always did, and I just stopped in my tracks. I saw this guy performing. He had a guitar and he was swinging from side to side. It was Elvis Presley doing ‘Jailhouse Rock.’ I was mesmerised.”
Gradually, Bethzienna came forward to the music of her contemporaries,
Her taste for the stage was developing by the time she was seven, when she started entering the Eisteddfod festival, doing so every year until she was 16. Still, barely in her teens, Beth was spotted at an Eisteddfod performance by a television executive who was staging a Welsh Pop Idol show called Wow Factor. She finished in the top three, as did future singing star Duffy.
The acting ambition was also instinctive. “When I was young, my mum said, ‘What do you want to be when you’re older?’ and I said, ‘Everything.’ I wanted to work at Tesco on the checkout, be an engineer, a waitress, or a doctor. I wanted to embody all of these types of characters. I thought, ‘I’ll just be an actress! I loved and still do, storytelling and entertaining.’
Bethzienna wrote a single, ‘Welcome Home,’ for the charity performed by the children of the armed forces. This single went on to have its debut at the National Memorial Arboretum, where Bethzienna met with The Princess Royal. Later, in 2022, after filming and recording in Abbey Road Studios, ‘Welcome Home’ was picked up by Simon Cowell. The single reached the semi-finals of ITV’S BGT.
“I feel like I’m making a difference with Never Such Innocence, and I see it,” she says. “We get to work with all kinds of children, write together, practise the song and then record it and submit it into the competition. If they win, they get to perform it at great places. Last year, the winners performed at Buckingham Palace, which was incredible. It’s lovely to see the effect that music can have.”
Singing with Tom Jones on The Voice was, of course, a pinnacle moment for Bethzienna. “I’d dreamed my whole life of singing with him,” she beams. “Musically, it would be him and Dame Shirley Bassey that I’ve looked up to because they come from the same area. So when it happened, I was like, ‘I’m not going to let this slip.’
“In the knockout round, I didn’t see much of him, but after that, it became a friendship. It was strange to go from admiring him to casually saying, ‘Morning Tom, fancy a coffee?’ He’s the most down-to-earth person I’ve met despite his status.”
Performing on The Voice has given Beth clarity in her artistry. “I used to wonder how to blend acting, dancing, music, and writing without being different characters. Now it feels like it’s all come together as one,” she says.
