The Voice Of Ireland: Season 1: Top 16 - Part 1 Perform!
02 April, 2012 8:36 PM
We're slowly but surely reaching the climax of the first series of 'The Voice Of Ireland' and with sixteen acts now remaining, it's time for Bressie and Brian's remaining four contestants to perform for the third time. After Claire O'Loughlin went out in a shocking decision from Brian two weeks ago, let's hope he doesn't mess things up again tonight. And, after appearing in the bottom two last week alongside Jessica, will Kiera Byrne be able to survive tonight's elimination? So far, Sinead, Conor and Kiera are the only three from Brian and Bressie's teams respectively (Conor and Kiera are both Team Bressie) who have made a big impression on me so I'm hoping neither of them goes anywhere tonight.
Gari Deegan
'Lately' (Stevie Wonder) - 7.5/10 - Gari has had a few dodgy performances mainly spurning from the slightly disastrous pitching problems in 'Tracks Of My Tears'. His tone, his confidence and his delivery have improved by about a million percent this week, he seems so much more professional this week. With that all said, as much as I'm delighted that he's come on far this week, he has to play catch-up with the rest of Bressie's team who in my opinion, were more consistent over the past few weeks. The problem for me is that I felt like it lacked power somewhat so it didn't really go anywhere but despite the tiny pitch problem at that point, it was delivered pretty flawlessly. It wasn't brilliant, it was a really good performance though.
Conor Quinn
'Kids' (MGMT) - 10/10 - This is an excellent arrangement of the song, I absolutely love this song choice, I love his atmospheric performances and I just think his tone is remarkable. There's not one artist I can think of who has quite the same inflections or originality as Conor. I just honestly at the minute can't see anyone else standing a chance of winning, Conor has the voice, it's original, it's unique, it's listenable and he has actually made serious progress, the strange posture and the facial expressions are so much less noticeable now. Overall, I think this was not only performance of the night but probably performance of the series so far hence the full 10/10, brilliant performance.
Pat Byrne
'The Day We Caught The Train' (Ocean Colour Scene) - 6/10 - This is okay, I like the spunkiness of the song but for me, the whole WGWG vibe got really boring in Week 1, I want to see something a bit more exciting like the song he performed in the Battle Rounds. I know that he's a favourite especially with the female fanbase but for me, he needs to do something a bit different, a criticism I would similarly say applies to Brendan and Richie. Yes, Pat is talented but I'd like the voice to be someone that can put their own spin on numerous songs rather than sticking to one genre and one style.
Kiera Byrne
Just A Girl (No Doubt) - 9/10 - This is a pretty awesome performance actually, this reminds me slightly of some 0f the album songs on Janelle Monae's second album [The Archandroid], it's a song I have always loved and I think Gwen Stefani is the perfect artist to suit Kiera's very unique style, she has an edge similar to Kiera's. With all of that said, whoever is styling her seriously needs the sack, what in under god are they dressing her up as? She's only in her 20's but they're styling her to look a lot older and seem to be taking inspiration from Angel McKenzie, the Big Brother 10 contestant. Kiera has nothing to learn, she is probably the most professional and most natural performer of all the contestants left, I slightly prefer a few others but Kiera isn't far behind them and I really hope her quirkiness doesn't go against her.
Brendan Keeley
'Walking In Memphis' (Marc Cohn) - 5/10 - This is pushing it more than a little bit to be honest. I like Brendan and he seems like a really lovely man but he's just not standing out for me at all, his performances are all very average rock performances rather than showing off star quality. Brian has left himself in a tricky position as although Brendan is adored here in Ireland, if the show really wants to find somebody capable of making waves in more than just Ireland, they need someone with mass appeal, this is all very retro which is nice but isn't going to go down well in the UK. I like the sort of Rod Stewart rasp to his voice but please Brian, make him more modern.
Alan Fitzsimons
'Without You' (David Guetta feat. Usher) - 4.5/10 - No No No, this is not the right direction for Alan at all. Alan suits adult contemporary, this is modern urban dance, Lady Gaga was disastrous for him last week and he subsequently arrived in the bottom two and I fail to see how this is any better. Alan has a sort of Take That pop vibe to his voice but that does not mean throw every modern song that has been in the charts at him. I don't dislike his voice, I don't dislike him but this isn't the right direction for him. The start to the song is very shaky, the chorus is a bit better but overall, it is not a great performance especially as it feels like he's straining to reach a limit of his voice which isn't natural. The middle riff between the chorus and the 'oh oh oh' is bizarre as he does some sort of dance. It all comes off a little bit karaoke esque unfortunately.
Sinead Fox
'I Love Rock 'n' Roll' (Joan Jett & The Blackhearts) - 7/10 - This hasn't been Sinead's best week, it isn't a touch on the last performance but it was still a very nice performance. I like that Sinead has a fearless attitude towards songs and is able to get stuck into almost any song thrown at her, it was an incredibly sensual performance and it showed off a more outgoing side to Sinead which was nice to see. I would have preferred to see her doing something really Sinead, I know I say this every week but Brian, give her 'Not What You're Made Of' by Lucie Silvas, Sinead was actually tweeting me a few weeks ago and I suggested the song so I'd love her to perform it somewhere. Personally, I don't think that she has been given the best songs for her voice, she seemed much more comfortable in her audition so go back to basics in that way but overall, she remains my favourite of Brian's team and the most marketable in my humble opinion.
Richie Hayes
'To Love Somebody' (Michael Bolton) - 6.5/10 - Argh, I know like it sounds like I'm basically against anybody over the age of about 30 but it really helps when they're singing songs which are relevant, I don't mind this song but some songs just don't age well and this is one, he sang it perfectly in tune and I can't fault his vocal or emotional delivery but like Brendan, he's yet to sing a song post 90's and I can't help but fear that he's trying to cover a genre that is too niche to really make waves anywhere. The fact that I always struggle to say much about Richie is never a good thing, don't get me wrong, I think he has a nice voice but I don't know if I would buy his album or if the mass public would?
Results
Eliminated Contestants:
Sinead Fox
Gari Deegan
Gari Deegan
Ergh, the public seem to always choose contestants I like to go. I would have praised Gari's elimination last week and the week before as I genuinely thought he was a weak link but this week, he outsang Pat in my humble opinion. And for me, Kiera didn't deserve to be in the bottom two, she was excellent. Sinead, I'm utterly gutted for, she's a lovely girl and didn't perform badly tonight, in fact, she was the only member of her team who I found interesting tonight. The fact that Alan didn't bounce back from the bottom two was more noticeable.
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