The Voice Of Ireland: Season 1: Top 8 - The Semi-Final - Perform!
24 April, 2012 6:12 PM
So we're finally reaching the later stages of the competition, just eight acts remain and pretty soon, it'll be one act per coach as the final four are chosen by the public. At the minute, my hopes aren't so high although Vanessa and Conor both have potential however Brian's team in particular is looking weak. I'm looking forward to see if everyone can step it up tonight and really deliver because for four of them, it'll be the door.
Recap after the JUMP ...
Sharon Gaynor
'Open Arms' (Journey/Mariah Carey) - 9/10 - This is a very emotional song, it's full of vunerability and Sharon may not always be the best at capturing that but she is doing a really spectacular job of this song, it's such a lovely vocal, I really like how much she has progressed in the competition and I have no doubt that her winner's song will be of the highest quality. However, I get the impression that Kian clearly prefers Jim which is a tad unfair as I feel like Sharon could genuinely sell records. However, with that said, I do think that this song choice was maybe not the best, I'd rather see her do something a bit more contemporary, something by Sarah McLachlan or even one of the more emotional Christina Perri songs would have been perfect.
Jim Devine
'The Dance' (Garth Brooks) - 4/10 - I've made it no secret that I'm not a fan of Jim's in the slightest, I'm sure he's a lovely bloke but I find it hard to warm to him because I find his performances all very boring and turgid. I don't know if it's the songs or the way he delivers them but he just leaves me cold and I always wonder if I'm watching the same performance as the others as he always seems to get universal praise especially from his coach Kian who clearly adores him. Maybe I'm the odd one here but I just feel like Sharon has been more consistent in the show and in terms of marketability, I feel like her voice is more likely to sell records outside of Ireland than Jim's country and western voice which I think is limited in its appeal to Ireland.
Kian's Vote: Jim - 70, Sharon - 30
No surprises here, Kian was actually very harsh towards Sharon when in actual fact, I felt that she delivered more emotion than Jim. Oh well, let's hope the public disagreed with Kian. In my opinion, it's a really unfair split, how does he expect Sharon to be able to get through with a 40 point deficit before the public vote comes in?
Vanessa Whelan
'Who Wants To Live Forever' (Queen) - 9/10 - This is just fantastic, I'm no opera fan as you know well but Sharon has an amazing voice, she's head and shoulders above most of the other acts although there are a few who could oppose her. With that said, I think as it stands, she is the act with the most chance of serious success further afield after the show because of how in the whole opera and theatrical music genre is. Her voice is just brilliant, she gets the vibrato spot on. I would love for her to make the final although her opponent is equally talented. Let's see what Kim delivers.
Kim Hayden
'Something's Got A Hold On Me' (Etta James) - 8/10 - A really unique performance, she reminds me a little bit of Christina Aguilera who of course covered this song so that is perhaps why. I really like the performance, it reminds me a bit of her performance of Mercy, it has a very 60's feeling to it and she is definitely one of the performers who I feel has progressed the most in the competition. It's not necessarily her best vocal performance but what it is is her most interesting performance and my attention was piqued almost straight away, talk about talent, Kim has a perfect voice for pop and I really hope she goes far in the music world regardless of whether she makes the final.
Sharon's Vote: Kim - 35, Vanessa - 65
There was very little between these two but Vanessa has been consistently well liked so I'm not totally surprised to see Sharon favouring Vanessa. I'm happy whichever way the voting goes, I think Vanessa will get through but I'd be happy if Kim was to get through as she was also brilliant tonight. I'm happy whatever way the result goes.
Richie Hayes
'One Voice' (Barry Manilow) - 3/10 - This would be a perfect performance if the show was following Andrew Lloyd Webber trying to find his next Broadway star however this is about finding 'The Voice Of Ireland' and as much as Richie has a nice 'voice', it's just nice, there's nothing unique or special about it and more importantly, nothing about it makes me want to hear more. I think it's his panto routes that are causing this but all of his performance are just too theatrical for me, he's not coming across as marketable because quite simply whilst Susan Boyle has brought this type of music to the masses, Richie isn't as good as SuBo.
Alan Fitzsimons
'To Where You Are' (Josh Groban) - 6/10 - Have I turned on the wrong show and is this the new series of Andrew Lloyd Webber searching for a lead for 'Jesus Christ Superstar'? No disrespect to this sort of music, I certainly couldn't pull it off myself but this isn't, like Richie what I envisage being 'the voice' of Ireland, he has definitely made a huge impression from last week but although I'm giving him an average score, it's more because I feel like his stage mannerisms are slightly less theatrical than Richie's are. Emotionally, it's brilliant but for me, Brian's team aren't going to be winning the show, the standard tonight just hasn't impressed me enough.
Brian's Vote: Richie - 45, Alan - 55
I sort of expected this to be honest as although Brian has always been supportive of Richie, he's saved Alan three times now to my disapproval on all three occasions. To be honest, this time I agree with his decision to award more points to Alan but a ten point advantage is unlikely to save him as I just feel like the public clearly aren't connecting with him whatsoever. I suppose we have to wait and see.
Conor Quinn
'Everlong' (The Foo Fighters) - 8.5/10 - This is brilliant, I love his intense style and his voice and I have to say that he is one of the few contestants left who I'm not surprised to see still standing here in the semi-fina. In fact, I will be really surprised if he doesn't make the final unless Pat happens to deliver a better performance than Conor has. The reason I didn't go for the full marks is because I would have liked him to have performed something that saw him put a totally different spin on the original like his performance of 'Kids' a few weeks ago. However, an excellent performance from Conor, Pat really needs to pull out all the stops now.
Pat Byrne
'What A Wonderful World' (Louis Armstrong) - 8/10 - I'm not a massive fan of Pat's, he always left me a bit cold and I've always felt like he's been sailing through due to the female fans who go crazy for him however, this week is a much stronger performance, a lot more unique and interesting than his previous performances. With that said, I still feel like Conor has the edge as I don't see him being massively successful, maybe a few decent singles but I just don't know if he has the individuality to sell records in their masses. Good performance but I still hope that Conor makes it.
Bressie's Vote: Conor - 60, Pat - 40
This is probably the closest battle, both acts have been extremely popular throughout the series and both of them have had their moments. I would side with Conor based on my own personal preference but Pat's female admirers may vote in their droves, there's very little in it already so all Pat needs to do is get more than 20 percent more than Conor in the public vote to make the final, I still think Conor is the dead cert for the final.
Results
Eliminated Contestants:
Conor Quinn
Alan Fitzsimons
Sharon Gaynor
Kim Hayden
The major shock from this list for me is Conor, it's not so much that I preferred him to Pat but more that I thought he would be a sure finalist from the very start. Alan is not surprising at all as he is good but he clearly doesn't win favour with the public easily. The less said about Sharon's departure the better, it was incredibly unfair of Kian to basically decide who went through. Kim was great and really progressed but obviously, Vanessa has been consistently brilliant so it was probably the right result.
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