The next time Tim McCallum decides to busk in Brisbane's cultural precinct he's likely to draw quite a crowd.
McCallum's incredible singing voice was projected onto the national stage on Sunday night, when the 35-year-old left judges on The Voice in tears.
McCallum's performance of Nessun Dorma during the blind auditions convinced four of the five celebrity judges (the Madden brothers work in tandem) to turn their chairs. He chose to work with Ricky Martin, who will coach him for the rest of his time on the show.
Originally from Geelong in Victoria, McCallum has been a seasoned performer for the last 20 years. The tenor describes performing with the Luciano Pavarotti Foundation as the "pinnacle" of his career.
However it's the humble setting of Brisbane's South Bank, near the piazza, where McCallum is more regularly found belting out tenor arias.
"I go down and find a nice spot that has a flow of people wandering the area and meandering through and I just try to entertain and add to the ambience of the place," he said.
"It's interesting because down there it's a cultural precinct and some people know the songs and the composers you can hear them humming along. Other people walk past and you can see them vaguely whisper something like: 'I know that song, it's from the pasta ad on the tv'.
"As long as it touches people and they enjoy it, it makes my job easier."
Sixteen years ago, McCallum was lying in a Western Australian hospital after an horrific accident, which left him a quadriplegic. He was days away from beginning a musical theatre course when he broke his neck while diving at a beach with friends.
He doesn't remember the next two weeks after the accident, but recalls being surrounded by people who were positive about his future.
"It wasn't hard to come to the realisation that I had two options - I could sit and sulk, or I could sit and sing," he said.
McCallum has limited use of his arms and no movement from the chest down, meaning he had to re-learn how use his diaphragm to make his voice soar.
Exactly how he does it isn't really clear and "it's not in any of the books", he says.
"I was able to retrain my body to use what it has to get what I need. I now use my biceps and shoulder muscles to leverage on my wheelchair some strength to push down. I have very good lung control, and that came through lots of vocal exercises," he said.
McCallum said he chose to move to Queensland in 2012 because relatives and friends lived near Brisbane. His biggest supporter is his wife Mel, closely followed by his assistance dog Roxy who can perform about 50 tasks like switching on lights and picking up objects.
The blind audition show aired on Sunday was filmed about four months ago and the next rounds of the program will see McCallum pitted against other singers, where his fate will be in the hands of the judges. If he makes it past that, the Australian public will be able to vote for him in live shows.
McCallum can't go into detail about what happens next on the The Voice, but what is known is that he left a job as a disability employment consultant in Ipswich to focus on his music career.
"It's a region with high unemployment and an area with a lot of socioeconomic issues, so it's been a really rewarding job.
"It's like my singing. I know what I am doing is having an impact on the lives of others, and for me I just want to be able to help others with disabilities reach their goals and dreams like I'm doing."
Aside from using his time on The Voice to launch his career into the mainstream, McCallum wants to be a prominent disability advocate.
"I have an opportunity to be able to hopefully help others who are going through similar challenges or to get through those," he said.
"I still want my voice to be heard more, I've got stories to tell and songs to sing. The Voice is a wonderful platform to reach more people and it's been the yardstick for the last couple of years."
