The Voice Of Ireland: Season 1: Top 24 - Part 2 - Perform!
17 March, 2012 4:58 PM
After Bressie and Brian's team stepped up last week with some of them namely Conor, Kiera and Claire in particular delivering show stopping performances, it's over to Kian and Sharon to impress as their teams perform in front of the live audience at The Helix. And considering that I more or less disagreed with every decision Kian made in the Battle Rounds but finally agreed with him partially last week, it will be interesting to see how he is with his own team. Some of my favourites performing tonight are Fauve, Elliot and Kellie. So, the question that remains to be seen is who will perform and what will they perform? Oh and will they pull it off? We'll have to wait and see!
Recap and videos after the JUMP ...
Elliot Canavan Doyle
'Take On Me' (A-Ha) - 7/10 - This is a bit of an odd song choice for Elliot, he had a really cool quirky style at the Blind Auditions and the song choice for him doesn't really allow him to show that off. He shows off his abilities as an acoustic based artist but the performance itself just doesn't measure up to his previous performances and it's down to the song choice definitely. I liked it but I wasn't completely bowled over by that song and I would like to see him doing something a little bit different in the upcoming weeks.
Graham Dowling
'Sex On Fire' (Kings Of Leon) - 9/10 - This is a really good song choice and a really good performance overall from Graham. He had a bit of a bizarre Battle Round courtesy of Kian's song choice but he has come out fighting with this song choice, it really does suit him down to the ground, I love the fact that Graham is just a pure rocker and this song, as overplayed and overperformed as it is, suits his voice perfectly so much so that the performance is almost as good as the original, I just loved it.
Kyle Kennedy
'Superstition' (Stevie Wonder) - 5/10 - This came across slightly karaoke in my opinion and as much as I love that song, it's continually used in these competitions and always seems to come across as not a patch on the original song. I think this fell into the trap of being too faithful to the original and although Kyle's vocals weren't bad, it was an incredibly forgettable performance that didn't really do anything for me. Kyle is likeable and has a nice voice but for me, at least, it just isn't unique or different enough to be a stand out.
Sharon Gaynor
'All By Myself' (Celine Dion) - 10/10 - Wow, Sharon is a vocal powerhouse and a half but I wasn't expecting her performance to be quite so polished, this was just stunning plain and simple. I absolutely loved the emotion that she poured into the performance and it really came across in the song as her vocals were as on point as they possibly could have been and the performance generally was as if it was being performed who had been in the music business for 10 years not a few months on a talent show! What a performance!
Jim Devine
'Time After Time' (Cyndi Lauper) - 5/10 - Jim has appeared on his fair share of talent shows but this is the first one where he has gotten to a significant point in the competition, for me, it is perhaps down to the fact that his voice is a little bit dull, he has a nice voice but it's not marketable and for me, this song kind of exposes all the flaws in his voice, it's quite limited in style and this is just too middle of the road, ballads are fine but they sort of need to go somewhere and this song itself doesn't really go anywhere and for me can only be pulled off when you do something a bit different with it which I think Jim didn't quite do, not bad but not memorable or remarkable.
Liam Geddes
'Love The Way You Lie Part II' (Rihanna) - 9/10 - One of the original favourites in the competition, Liam wasn't really on my radar in the Battle Rounds when he delivered a just okay rendition of Yellow and was outshone by his opponent Stephen but he managed to get through and he's now in the live shows. The thing that puts me off him slightly is that I worry that he comes across as slightly overconfident at times but he has a fantastic voice and really surprises me with this performance, of all the males, he's technically the best singer but I prefer the tone of Conor for example. This performance made me like him again as it was current, unique and unexpected and I really loved his voice on it. A job well done in my books anyway!
Fauve Chapman
'Videogames' (Lana Del Rey) - 8/10 - I absolutely love Fauve's voice, it's so unique and different and I think that this is a really good performance to open the show for her team especially as it's one of my favourite songs of 2011. Brian may have criticized it for going nowhere but as Bressie said, that is the charm and appeal of the song so I don't think that she should be criticized for the song itself when it is of that nature. A really nice performance and I genuinely want for Fauve to get through to next week.
Kellie Blaise
'My Funny Valentine' (Frank Sinatra/Ella Fitzgerald) - 9/10 - This is an absolutely incredible performance from Kellie. I have to admit that I was slightly unsure of whether or not this was going to be a fantastic direction for her but she managed to absolutely smash that song choice, the big note was simply deluxe, it was such an amazing song choice for her, it just suited her down to the ground, I really must admit that in my opinion, Kellie hasn't put a foot wrong in this competition so far and I can't wait to see what else she can come up with!
Kim Hayden
'Fix You' (Coldplay) - 4/10 - Kim has sang quite big diva songs so far so it's interesting to see her singing something quite indie and less vocally demanding but all the same emotional. I really like Kim's voice but I found it a tad overpowering at the Blind Auditions so I hope she doesn't end up oversinging this or it could be a nightmare. Hmm, I actually quite like this, the start is a bit shaky to be honest and she goes way off key but as she regains confidence during the middle of the song, she starts to improve, the 'Tears stream down your face' is sang in a lovely tone which reminds me slightly of Hayley Williams but for me, although it was good, comparing it to the other performances, it wasn't vocally up to scratch to be honest which is a pity as Kim has been criticized on You Tube at pretty much every point.
Kevin Keeley
'Crossfire' (Brandon Flowers) - 7/10 - Nice to see that Sharon isn't making Kevin a typical country singer and is actually trying out different styles with him. He has a nice if unremarkable voice and reminds me a little bit of coach Brian Kennedy on this song, I don't know why, his voice on it just resembles Brian's. And therein lies the problem, for me, this song needs a fierce harshness to the voice and Kevin's voice is too smooth, it just doesn't really translate well onto this song which is a pity as he is a talented singer, all the same I expect him to stay.
Vanessa Whelan
'Somewhere' (Sarah Brightman) - 8/10 - I'm not a big opera fan but I can recognize when someone is a good singer and Vanessa is a fantastic singer, the only thing I would say is that in her Blind Audition she did an operatic version of a pop song so I would like to see her doing something like that again rather than doing a conventional classical song. The judges seem to be lapping it up though as they all rave after her every week and I kind of expect for her to go really far in this competition, classical music is still quite popular with the likes of Il Divo and Paul Potts having made waves in the past few years so I do think she can be successful, she's probably the most professional singer left but not necessarily the best but I do really like her and loved that performance.
Nollaig O'Connor
'Shake It Up' (Florence And The Machines) - 8/10 - Another strong performance, so far I would say that Sharon's team have been the best in the first round of the live shows as Nollaig kept the standard up and I loved her vocals on this. Nollaig has that quirky indie vibe to her that is really current at the minute with the likes of Ellie Goulding, Florence and The Machines and reality show contestants like Diana Vickers and she's shown us why she is such a hot favourite, that performance was vocally brilliant, I like her tone throughout the song as it really adds to it overall and I like the way in which she adapts it to her tone, something which I would have liked to have seen a few others doing tonight. Overall another great performance to end the night.
Results
Eliminated Contestants:
Fauve Chapman
Kyle Kennedy
I'm absolutely gutted for Fauve, she has been consistently great throughout this competition and neither her nor Kellie [Blaise] deserved to be in the bottom two especially as they had really unique voices which didn't sound similar to any of their other competitors. As for Kyle, he had a nice voice but in my opinion at least, he didn't really have anything special, he was just a nice singer rather than being a quirky or interesting performer. With that said, I was really sad to see Elliot there and think that him and Fauve performing first may have had something to do with it.
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