Born with the voice of a reggae and soul soloist, a white Jewish musician from Ongar will be attempting to win over the judges on BBCs new singing competition.
Moni Tivony, who lives in Ongar, will be performing his own rendition of Bob Marley's classic track No Woman no Cry on Saturday's broadcast of The Voice – the last in the blind auditions.
The 32-year-old whose love of soul music can be plainly heard – he dubs himself a Jewmaican – will be among the last vying for the votes of Tom Jones, Danny O'Donoghue, Jessie J and will.i.am
He said: "I'm quite a tonal singer. And the face and voice don't go. People don't expect to see a white Jewish guy when they hear me sing
"I've listed to Bob Marley since I was a kid. What I love is the feeling, lyrics, content and the meaning behind it that brings music to the masses.
"What I love is you can't moving to a good reggae song and particularly a good Bob Marley song. You can't knock a great artist like him.
Moni has written songs for Peter Andre and makes money as a Lionel Richie tribute act –
Coming from a musical family, Moni credits his parents for giving him his vocal ability-singing. At school, his class mates were always trying to get him to sing. At 16, he started going to karaoke bars around his local area, growing in confidence and ability.
It wasn't long before Moni was offered a publishing deal which is where he began writing for artists like Peter Andre. He loves Motown and dreams of collaborating with Stevie Wonder.
He said: "I love music. It's my passion and it's what I plan to do until I can't do it anymore.
"Ultimately my goal is to get a record deal and create a lot of hype on the music scene.
"I've been given a gift. And I intend to use it."
Moni Tivony will be performing on The Voice tomorrow (Saturday May 4) on BBC One, 8.05pm.
