The Voice UK: Season 1: Top 20 - Part 1 - Perform!
03 May, 2012 5:01 PM
So here we arrive at that vital stage, the live shows, the coaches have divided their teams by two meaning they now each have five acts and will soon have the difficult decision of whittling their acts down one by one until each coach has one act. Of course, it's not just up to the judges as the public can now vote. HOORAY! (Or horror if the Irish voting is anything like the UK one). Tonight, it'll be Team Tom and Team Will who are heading up to the stage to face the public vote for the first time. Who will triumph and who will sink like a stone?
Recap and videos after the JUMP ...
Joelle Moses
'I'm Going Down' (Rose Royce/Mary J. Blige) - 8.5/10 - Poor Joelle seems to always be the show opener, after her Blind Audition being screened first and her Battle also, I thought she may finally have some luck in the schedule but alas, she has the infamous 'death slot'. However, this performance is really very good, I love the song and I have to say as the original is expressing anger, Joelle is doing a damn good job of conveying this in the performance, it's very convincing and very emotive. Her vocals slide from high notes to low notes beautifully, she still reminds me extremely of Tamar Braxton so I would like to see her singing something by her or maybe a contemporary upbeat song by the likes of Brandy or Monica if she gets through to next week. I love her soulful vocals and really want to see her making it far in the competition, I just hope that the slightly shouty part of her voice is corrected in further performances.
Frances Wood
'Ain't Nobody' (Chaka Khan) - 4.5/10 - Frances is dressed incredibly like Cher Lloyd during 'The X Factor' for some reason. This is a bit of an odd song choice if I'm being quite honest, I would expect this for Joelle or Ruth but not for Frances even if this is a slightly different arrangement of the song. It's very rocky, again, it reminds me of No Diggity/Shout performed by Cher during the ITV1 talent show. Frances has a good voice but for me, it's unfortunately not coming through in this performance, in fact this seems to be highlighting all of the flaws of her vocals rather than highlighting how good her voice is as it should be. The chorus is sang in an unnataural tone which feels more like she's shouting than singing and the runs are very flawed, she does slightly improve near the end but I think Frances was capable of a lot more and it's a pity that she didn't get to show that. I just wasn't particularly blown over by the performance.
Jaz Ellington
'At Last' (Etta James) - 7/10 - Jaz has a great voice, there's no denying that, but, as many great soul singers sometimes have a habit of doing, the connection is lacking in his performances, he has yet to fully connect with me as a viewer when he has been performing. Etta James is an incredible artist and Will obviously believes that Jaz has the vocals to do this song justice if he's performing her most iconic song. I'm not loving this arrangement, Jaz has a fantastic voice and it is coming across well in the song but his higher notes feel a bit forced and nasally for my liking, it's like he's trying to combine the song with a 30's Jazz Bar and it's not quite working, for me, he reminds me a bit of Jacob Lusk from American Idol, he has a fantastic voice but he, particularly in the last note has a habit of oversinging when he's trying to get to the big notes and it doesn't translate well in the actual performance. Okay, but I'd like to see a bit more.
Sophie Griffin
'Titanium' (David Guetta feat. Sia) - 6.5/10 - Why choose this song for Sophie? I'd rather see her sing something by Mutya Buena or by Delilah, something that really allows her to show off her vocals, the pace of this song just doesn't accommodate this, the pace of the song is too fast, maybe if it was to an acoustic backing it would work but not like this. With that said, although I'm not loving it, I really like the way she takes the song on, she puts in lots of little runs and licks which work really well for her voice, the chorus itself doesn't come across quite as well as her big notes aren't flawless whatsoever, they are a bit on the pitchy side but she has still done a great job with the vocals otherwise in my opinion. This performance was quite divisive but I love her tone and think that she did it well, the parts when the backing track is stripped back are fantastic, her vocals really come across well, I hope Sophie stays but the other acts' fanbases may not make this possible. Fingers crossed!
Tyler James
'Higher Love' (Steve Winwood/James Vincent McMorrow) - 5.5/10 - Tyler has probably my favourite song of the night so he has big shoes to fill taking on this fantastic song, recently covered by James Vincent McMorrow. Oh no, he's singing the song almost entirely in falsetto which is already getting a bit tiring, falsetto shouldn't be used for most of or the entirety of a song, it just doesn't work for me, for me, his falsetto is far too high for the song, he shows glimpses of a great vocal with some nice soulful notes but they're few and far between so unfortunately I'm feeling a bit let down by this performance, it doesn't really wow me, not the worst of Team Will but definitely not my favourite performance.
Samuel Buttery
'A Little Respect' (Erasure) - 3/10 - Can Tom make Samuel seem any camper? Aside from the comedy quiff and the flamboyant outfits, he also manages to give him a really camp 80's song that does absolutely nothing for him. Samuel is absolutely shouting his way through this song, it feels like there's absolutely no melody to the song and that he is rather huffing and puffing his way through it like he's trying to tell somebody off. Does he really think that anybody would buy into this chart wise? It feels like something a fodder act might perform in their first and last week of 'The X Factor'. Samuel definitely isn't going to be going any further in the competition after that performance, it was a very weak performance to be honest.
Adam Isaac
'All My Life' (Foo Fighters) - 3.5/10 - Tom has finally given one of his acts a really unique, unexpected and more importantly suitable song choice! This is an amazing song, oh, spoke too soon, this is far from an amazing performance, I'm a fan of the Foo Fighters but he is absolutely wailing his way through the song, it definitely isn't living up to my expectations. I don't expect someone singing rock to have an amazing voice but they need to have some sort of tune to their vocals and this is only slightly better than Samuel, his vocals are poor, the chorus in particular is rough, his vocals aren't good enough for the song. And what's up with him when it comes to the comments? He's behaving like he's drunk, he speaks about not wanting to sing prettily and then starts randomly ranting about chipping a bone in his elbow (I think?). How bizarre! Adam was overall better than Samuel, mainly because the song choice was a lot better but I wouldn't be surprised to see him in the bottom two with him after that.
Leanne Mitchell
'Who Knew' (Pink) - 6.5/10 - I adore this song, Pink is a fantastic artist and this song is so full of emotion. Leanne is a really good singer but I hope she doesn't overpower this song by shouting as it's always a risk when singers with belting voices are given songs that aren't by typical belter artists. Hmm, it's taking a while for her to really get into the song, at the start it's a bit warbly and pitchy for my liking but once she hits her sweet spot, which starts at the chorus, her voice is really sweet and almost soprano-esque during this particular part of the song. There's no denying that the song if full of emotion, you can feel the emotion of the song and the final blast of the chorus really gets the anger of the oriiginal song even if the first rendition of the chorus is a bit too mild. It's not perfect and she has plenty to improve upon but after two below par performances, Leanne has nothing to worry about.
Matt and Sueleen
'You Can Go Your Own Way' (Fleetwood Mac) - 5/10 - I'm not a massive fan of country but this is actually a really good pic for their voice as I was thinking that they reminded me of Fleetwood Mac when they harmonized in the Battle Round. Matt's voice on his own is really good, it reminds me of Joe Cocker, Bruce Springsteen and other artists with quite rough, husky vocals. Sueleen's vocals however are really weak on this song, she's singing this song completely flat, there are small hints of a Dolores O'Riordan esque vocal in this performance but it's only a glimpse. With that said, when they sing together, it sounds a lot better, it completely transforms the song. I still think that Matt has a much stronger voice than she does and could easily make it on his own, Sueleen seems like a lovely lady but for me her voice doesn't withstand the song in the same way that Matt's did, his solo vocals and their polished harmonies save an otherwise average performance.
Ruth Brown
'Get Here' (Oleta Adams) - 10/10 - Where in under god did that come from? I didn't see that coming a mile off, honestly, I was expecting her to sing well but not that well and especially not as it's the very first live show, this is so polished and perfected. She reminds me a lot of Jennifer Hudson both vocally and stage performance wise, she really has the potential to sell serious records here if she has the right sort of material because this kind of stuff sells in the UK if it's exceptional and there's no doubt that Ruth is an exceptional vocalist, possibly the best vocalist based on raw talent, in the competition. The fact that she's so young says it all really, Ruth is most definitely going to be Tom's final act unless she majorly slips up in the next few weeks which I firmly don't see happening, amazing performance.
Results
Eliminated Contestants:
Sophie Griffin
Samuel Buttery
I'm gutted for Sophie, I thought her performance was interesting and although I wasn't overly keen on the song choice, I thought that she was one of the most interesting acts to be perfectly honest, I definitely don't think she deserved to go to be honest. Samuel, well, he's not a surprise, although I thought Adam was worse than Matt and Sueleen who joined him in the bottom two. Joelle being in the bottom two, well it quite simply shouldn't have happen and I hope she doesn't fall victim to the death slot again.
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