Rachael Leahcar

Rachael Leahcar
Leahcar in July 2012
Background information
Birth name	Rachael Wendy Bartholomew
Born	(1994-02-22) 22 February 1994 (age 23)
Origin	Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Genres	Pop, soul, classical
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, piano, flute
Years active	2012–present
Labels	Universal
Website	rachaelleahcar.com.au

Rachael Wendy Bartholomew (born 22 February 1994), known by her stage name Rachael Leahcar, is an Australian singer and songwriter, born and raised in Adelaide, South Australia. She participated on the first season of The Voice Australia, coming in third place. Shortly after, she signed a record deal with Universal Music Australia. Her debut album Shooting Star, which contained songs she performed on The Voice, as well as newly recorded covers, was released on 13 July 2012. The album debuted at number five on the ARIA Albums Chart.

Rachael Leahcar (born Rachael Wendy Bartholomew) was born and raised in Adelaide, South Australia (her performing surname is her first name spelled backwards). Leahcar was born with retinitis pigmentosa and (as of 2012) is legally blind with only 10% visual function. She found her love of music at a very early age and has been singing and playing instruments ever since. At the age of 12, Leahcar was accepted into the South Australian Public Primary Schools choir. The same year, she auditioned and was accepted into the music program at Brighton Secondary School. Also at the age of 12, she entered Fellini's Search for a Star competition, where she made it through to the grand final and was chosen as one of the top 3 performers of the evening, winning $200 and the judges' encouragement award of $1000 worth of recording time at Quentin Eyres Studio.

In March 2009, at age 15, Leahcar entered and won Dino Prizzi's International Festival of Song competition, winning a return trip to Rome to perform on a RAI Uno television program. She was also invited to perform in Benevento while touring Italy on a television program. Leahcar has also performed professionally at many of the Italian clubs and events in Adelaide, including the 2010 and 2011 Italian Carnevale.

Following this, Leahcar entered and won the Star Life Talent Search competition, where she received a trophy, $500 for her school and $500 in vouchers for herself to spend. One of the judges of the competition was SAFM radio personality, Andrew 'Cosi' Costello, who was so impressed with Leahcar that he asked her to sing her winning song, "Non, je ne regrette rien", on the radio. He was so overwhelmed with her talent that he also asked her to perform at his wedding reception, which she did.