13-year-old Riccardo Atherton wows judges on ITV’s The Voice Kids

Riccardo Atherton

Riccardo Atherton, from Rochdale, wowed judges on the debut episode of The Voice Kids on Saturday 10 June.

The 13-year-old was met with screams and cheers from the audience as he performed his rendition of Jennifer Hudson’s version of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’.

All three judges, Will.i.am, Pixie Lott and McFly’s Danny Jones all spun their seats around as Riccardo sang.

Will.i.am told him ‘you sound spectacular’ before Pixie Lott added: “Your voice sounds insane.”

Riccardo told the blonde pop star that Mariah Carey was one of his favourite singers.

She responded: “Me too. I think we have the same influences, so we can do the right songs. I would absolutely love to work with you.”

Pixie - real name Victoria - said it was ‘fate’ and ‘meant to be’ after Riccardo told her that his grandmother was named Vittorina.

He ultimately chose Pixie as his coach as ‘we have the same influences’. Pixie could hardly contain her excitement before hugging Ricardo and following him off-stage to his family.

She said: “He blew me away.”

Speaking on the show, Riccardo said: “Since I was really young, my dream was to go in my primary school choir, but this is completely on another level.”

“I live in Rochdale but I was originally born in Italy. My mother’s Italian and my dad’s English.”

His grandma, Vittorina said: “I love so much to see him singing. I’m more than proud of Ricardo because he’s a special boy.”

Riccardo continued: “My grandma’s here tonight. We just have a lot of fun together. My grandma’s definitely my biggest fan. She flies all the way from Italy to see me perform in anything I do.”

“I want to make my grandma proud and my parents and everyone who’s come to watch - and I hope I do them proud.”