This year’s most beautiful singing adventure – The Voice – is in full swing with expectant budding artists on stage, and mentors fighting tooth and nail to get the talents on their respective teams.
In the middle of it all, Siri Avlesen-Østli (38) leads the music competition with a steady hand Friday after Friday, after years of experience from, among others, TV 2 Sport and God morgen Norge.
Behind the hammer woman’s apparently calm and steady appearance, something quite different hides.
Gets a shock when she sees the participant: – I had no idea you were doing this
Afraid to fail
A few days before the recordings for The Voice, the 38-year-old tends to be overwhelmed by anxiety and confusion. Concerns that she is forgetting the script and not mastering the role of presenter are emerging.
– The worst phase is three or four days before we go. That’s when the drive goes. I stress that: “Imagine if I can’t remember it”, or I think about everything that could go wrong. I always have to go through a spiral: “Oh, what if it doesn’t work” and “What if I don’t make it”. I always go through a cycle like this. I’m generally afraid of not getting it done, she admits to TV 2.
Nevertheless, Avlesen-Østli knows that she gets it done when it matters, and that the preparations she makes in advance help her.
– But I know that when I come to the recording on Wednesday and Thursday, I am calm – because then I am prepared. I just want to “nail” that role. You have to be one hundred percent when you stand there. I guess it’s the fear of failure, but now I have enough experience that when we get to the live performances, I feel ready. So then it just has to break or wear.
WELL PREPARED: The fear of not being able to do the job of presenter properly worries Siri Avlesen-Østli. But with good preparation and many years of TV experience under her belt, she is equipped and ready when the recording days for The Voice come. Photo: Robert Dreier Holand / TV 2
– I have had no desire for the limelight
The exuberant The Voice presenter has previously been open to TV 2 that it was not a given that she would put on the presenter’s shoes and show herself off to the whole country in prime time.
As a child, she was shy and cautious.
– I certainly did not think that I would be in the limelight. I find it most comfortable to tell stories, and have had no desire to be in the limelight, she has admitted.
For the TV 2 profile, it is the tension and that there is something at stake that really matters.
– I am driven by live broadcasts and the rush you get from it. I’m driven by adrenaline and the thought that: “Now you have to get it done, or you’ll tear down the broadcast”. I am very driven by the red button. That’s what drives me and I would have done it even if it wasn’t on TV. I think it’s just really fun to do something where you have to perform when it matters.
Enthralls everyone: – Completely insanely executed
The shyness in the 38-year-old is considerably less than before, but still lives in her.
– It’s probably still there a bit, I think. Many people think that I am the toastmaster at all weddings, but I do not want that role. I’m terrified of things like that. I thought it was scary to give a speech when my husband turned 40, she shared to TV 2.
When she can “hide” behind the role of presenter, however, she has no problems being a prominent personality who takes the floor.
Watch The Voice on Fridays at 20:00 on TV 2 Direkte, and whenever you want TV 2 Play.
