THE father of a teenage singing sensation from Penrhyn Bay has spoke of his pride for his son after his The Voice UK Kids journey.

Mackenzie Richards, knows at ‘The Mack Man’, made it through to the knockout rounds of the competition, and had been chosen by judge Will.i.am, before he went out on Saturday night.

North Wales Pioneer:

His dad Barry says he was “very excited” to have been able to watch the 13-year-old doing what he loves best on TV.

“We are all very proud of Mackenzie,” he added.

“It’s been a great experience and he has learnt a lot from having Will.i .m as his coach. All the staff on have been brilliant and that made his experience something he will always remember.”

Mackenzie, a pupil at Ysgol Eirias School in Colwyn Bay, secured a place on former Black Eyed Peas member will.i.am’s team in the initial stages of the Voice UK Kids.

He wowed judges with his performance of Bruno Mars’ ‘Perm’ before performing once more on Saturday night in the knockout rounds.

Barry added: “Mack has been singing since he was eight. He first started when his sister Georgia went to a recording studio for the day. Mackenzie asked if he could have a go and that’s when we realised he could sing.

“He was inspired by his sister as she is also a singer and he has grown up with music all his life. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it through to the semi-finals, but he has made some great friends who he will keep in touch with.”

Mackenzie produces his own songs and cites his musicals inspirations as Justin Timberlake, Bruno Mars and The Black Eyed Peas.

He has recently released an album on Spotify and iTunes called ‘Another Sense’ which features eight of his own original tracks.

He has also released a new song alongside his sister called ‘There to Stay’ and will be performing at Rhyl’s K Fest on August 2.

Mackenzie is also currently competing in the Junior Eurovision 2019 competition.

“He hopes to represent Wales in that competition in Poland,” Barry added.

“He gets recognised when we go out now too. We went to a restaurant to celebrate the day after his blind audition and a few people said ‘that’s the boy off the Voice Kids’.”