A young Kiwi singer who grew up believing she had no talent is blowing away New Zealand music fans with her God-given voice.
Sianne Dougherty, a young Maori mum and singer, has a voice to kill.
She stunned our friends from Te Karere yesterday with an impromptu performance that has gone viral on Facebook.
The clip of Sianne singing a cover by Maori artists Maisey Rika and Tama Waipara has garnered more than 8000 likes and has been shared more than 2500 times since it went up yesterday.
Sianne, who lives in Wellington, has opened at national reggae tours, for the likes of New Zealand reggae stars Katchafire and Sammy J.
But yesterday she spoke with our friends from Te Karere, revealing how she copes with the demands of fulfilling her singing career and being a young mother.
At 17 years old, Sianne gave birth to her baby. She told Te Karere despite the joy of the new addition, there were plenty of ups and downs.
"I find it really hard sometimes, lucky I have support around me like my mum and my partner's family... It really really helps, I must say," she told Te Karere.
Sianne's teachers nurtured her singing abilities at high school. It was this encouragement that gave her the push she needed to make music.
"They pushed me to really show what I had inside me, and to show my talent... I didn't even know I had any talent but obviously they could see it and they nurtured it," Sianne said.
Sianne has tribal affiliations to Tuwharetoa in the central North Island and South Island iwi Ngai Tahu.
Her new challenge now is to win a competition that will allow her to open for Raggamuffin's 10th anniversary concert, which will be the final ever.
She hopes to win the Conkarah Aotearoa Quest for Kia Ora Girl competition, which closes on the 9th of next month.
"I want to share my music, that's all I want to do really... share it freely and not have to worry about anything else but my music."
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