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Making Her Way ‘The Voice Australia’ winner Anja Nissen shoots for the stars
PHOTOS BY LUIS CHAVEZ
Danish-Australian singer-songwriter Anja Nissen won the third season of “The Voice Australia”. PAGE 12 THE ARGONAUT JULY 1, 2021
By Claire Spinner Anja Nissen is a performer to her very core. The singer-songwriter has never been one to shy away from the stage. She has been a competitive singer for nearly 20 of her 25 years. Ten years after winning “The Voice” in Australia, Nissen is determined to break through in the music industry, so she moved to Los Angeles. Getting there was turbulent. Nissen endured unexpected trials on her journey, but her resolution and buoyancy carried her through with grace. For this musician, nothing will stand in the way. Nissen, who lived in the countryside of New South Wales, Australia, grew up around music. Her father was a DJ. Nissen frequently sang around the house, so her mom found a vocal teacher. At first, local vocal teachers wouldn’t take Nissen because she was just 6 years old. Finally, her mom persuaded an instructor to hear her sing and Nissen was on the road to performing in vocal competitions. “I really started doing competitions because I loved being on stage,” Nissen said. “My first performance was a song from ‘Annie’ and at the end I just stayed on stage so starstruck. It made me feel so good. It was just such an amazing feeling being on stage and so magical that I became obsessed with it and knew from a very young age that it was what I wanted to do.” Nissen quickly found success. At age 12, she placed in the semifinal of “Australia’s Got Talent.” That gave her the chance to sing to Princess Mary, the Crown Princess of Denmark. It seemed only logical to audition for “The Voice”. “I was 18 when I did ‘The Voice’ and I definitely did not expect to win,” Nissen said. “The whole thing was really challenging and I just remember being in complete shock when all four judges turned during my audition. “It was like a whirlwind, out-of-body experience. I was a teenager, I had moved from the countryside to the city by myself, it was the craziest thing.” Because the family lived in Australia, Nissen’s brother and sister took a gap year in Denmark to connect to their
