A BRADFORD singer will being aiming to impress the judges in The Voice UK's blind auditions this weekend on BBC One.

Faheem Ashraf, 21, of Wibsey, will take to the stage on Saturday night, hoping that his vocal talents will be enough to turn the chairs of The Voice's star-studded coaching panel of Paloma Faith, Boy George, Ricky Wilson and Will.i.am.

The former Buttershaw Business & Enterprise College student said that the taking part in the blind audition was very exciting and nerve-wracking.

He said: "The actual process of the audition was quite long, with us getting hair and make-up done as well as spending time with vocal coaches and spending the rest of the time psyching myself up.

"When I got on stage my heart was beating out of my chest and I was scared the coaches chairs would not turn round, but once I got into the performance it was fun and I just lived in the music."

Mr Ashraf will perform a cover of the song 'Marvin Gaye', by Charlie Puth and Meghan Trainor on the show and said he has always sang since he was a child but was too scared to go public until he was encouraged by his mother, Anthea, when he was 15-years-old to start performing around Bradford.

He said: "She always encouraged me to sing and got my the equipment I needed to focus on performing, the support I have had from my mum and my family has been amazing and is pushing me to do great things."

As well as his mother, Mr Ashraf has been supported by his two sisters Toni, 27, and Aneesa, 17 and his wider family and friends.

Before entering The Voice, Mr Ashraf worked as an administrator at Virgin Media which involved making sure that permits were in place for workers to carry out cable laying but quit his job to pursue his singing career.

He admitted it was a big decision to leave the security of employment after working his way up from starting at the company on a temporary contract.

Mr Ashraf also said that meeting the coaches after his performance was a 'dream come true'.

"It is hard not to get starstruck and I always tried to keep my calm but it is so hard when you know they are just sat on the other side of those chairs scrutinising you, and when these people are telling you how great your performance was its quite surreal; it was a dream come true.

"Out of the judges I would probably want to work with Will.i.am or Paloma Faith the most.

"Will knows the industry really well and has great style, and Paloma makes the type of music that I want to do, and both are really versatile performers."

Mr Ashraf said that his main aim in the competition is to make it to the live shows and hopefully secure a recording contract with a major label.

"The Voice is a huge platform and is the opportunity I have been waiting for to excel me to the next stage of my career."

The Voice will air on BBC One at 7.45pm on Saturday, January 30.