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We're nearing the end of the blind auditions as the coaches resume positions for the penultimate time this series. Dolores has the most on her team whilst Kian has the least so he'll be hoping to snatch a few more talents this week rather than leaving it to the final week to fill a lot of spaces on his team.

Recap and videos after the JUMP...

Laura May Lenehan - 2/4 - 'Wrecking Ball' by Miley Cyrus - Joins Team Jamelia
Laura May has lost four stone since she was younger, she used to be a lot bigger but she says losing the weight has given her more confidence which she hopes will help her in her blind audition. She has a really good voice, technically, I think she's probably up there as one of the strongest singers this series, she has a lovely mellow tone but her range is very impressive without her having to belt. I think she could pretty much sing anything, the transition between her lower register and her upper range is effortlessly, I loved the breathiness of her voice at times. Kian is the first coach to turn followed by Jamelia. Laura May had already said she would love Sligo man Kian to turn but he gets her name wrong, calling her Sarah Jane, Team Jamelia it is.  


Ryan Parsons - No Turn - 'Sweet Disposition' by The Temper Trap
Ryan is hoping to impress the coaches with his take on this Temper Trap song. I love this track but I'm immediately put off by the fact that he doesn't sing the opening in a falsetto voice, it needs that to create the ambiance that the song is so good at creating. Ryan has a decent voice but he's by no means a stand-out vocalist if I'm being totally honest. The coaches don't seem that blown away, they tell him that it was a good performance but I can see why they don't turn. Jamelia tells him she has a feeling that she will regret not turning for Ryan, it's cold comfort to the upset hopeful.


Nella Dwyer - 1/4 - 'Best Song Ever' by One Direction - Joins Team Dolores
Nella has been living away from her ten year old daughter after moving down to Dublin to pursue her dreams of establishing a career in music. She misses her little girl when she's away but comes back to her parent's house regularly to visit. Nella says that Dolores is the coach she would most like to mentor her because she represents a similar style of music to what Nella is interested in. I love this song choice, it's the Gabrielle Aplin arrangement of 'Best Song Ever' or if not exactly, it's very similar. I love her tone, it's very quirky and unique and has a nice breathy quality to it. Dolores is the only coach to turn, I guess it's Nella's lucky day then, I definitely think they're a good match as Dolores is essentially the type of artist Nella aspires to be. I'm excited for the Battle Rounds to see what Nella is given.


Paddy Molloy - 1/4 - 'Dreams' by Fleetwood Mac - Joins Team Kian
Paddy is hoping to impress the coaches with his take on 'Dreams' by Fleetwood Mac. He has a good voice, the arrangement of the song is good although I'm not sure that it really showcases his voice. Anyway, Kian turns around quite late on in the performance meaning that Paddy is also through to the Battles. He has a strong indie-folk vibe to his voice, there are quite a lot of similar artists already through so I'm not sure how well he will stand out but he certainly deserved to make it through on account of that performance.


Paula O'Neill - No Turn - 'Who Knew' by Pink 
Paula has previously had a career in music when she was part of the Louis Walsh managed girlband Bellefire, until he kicked her out of the band that is. She was dropped from the group just after they were signed because Louis said she looked too old. She hopes to be able to convince one of the coaches to turn with her voice, even if it was image that rather unfairly scuppered her chances of a pop career. She has a good voice but it's clear that she hasn't picked the right song almost right away, I think this song requires you to have absolute control over your voice as you can so easily end up just screaming most of it. Paula messes up a few times and overall, I just feel like it's missing the emotional connection of the original but she is a good singer. Sadly, she doesn't get through.


Sarah Sylvia - 3/4 - 'Joga' by Bjork - Joins Team Dolores
Sarah has a really quirky, individual voice. We've had a lot of quirky girls auditioning so far but I can say easily that Sarah has been my favourite of the indie girls, definitely on par with bluesy Ciara as my favourite girl overall. This is a great song and although she does sound identical to Bjork at times, I actually quite like how she stays faithful to the original but adds her own individuality to the song at the same time. Kian, Bressie and Dolores are all quick to turn around for Sarah but I think it's pretty obvious who Sarah will choose, Dolores snaps up another very strong female for her team.


Paddy Ryan - No Turn - 'Cosmic Love' by Florence & The Machines
Paddy comes along with his mother, he tells us how he learnt to sing by watching You Tube videos. His mother tries to sell co-host Eoghan a blanket she has knitted for 100 euro. I love his song choice but at the same time, it's a bad song choice because Florence Welch is incredibly hard to do justice to. Her voice is magical on this song and although Paddy does a decent cover, it's just not on par with Florence & The Machines. None of the coaches turn for Paddy, I'm disappointed as he had potential but I think he was putting a lot of pressure on himself with that song choice and didn't quite stand out, he sang at the same level for most of the song.


Emma Walsh - 1/4 - 'Young And Beautiful' by Lana Del Rey - Joins Team Bressie
Emma is taking on a Lana Del Rey song, not an easy song to do justice to but she has a good voice. However, although she gets through, she goes out of time very badly quite early on in the song and never recovers. She's lucky that Bressie chose to put her through to his team because the timing issue was very noticeable but perhaps Emma can shock us in the Battle Rounds.


Daragh Kiely - 1/4 - 'Wonderwall' by Oasis - Joins Team Kian
The final 2FM wildcard is teenager Daragh Kiely. Three out of four wildcards have progressed through to the Battle Rounds so far, will Daragh become the fourth? He has a decent voice but I'm sort of bored of this song, I think this is the Ryan Adams arrangement, if it isn't then it's almost identical. It's a decent vocal but it's not wow, he doesn't really have any individuality so far, he sounds a bit too similar to other acts already through in the competition but he can definitely sing. Kian turns for him, Daragh has potential but I think he'll be paired against a similar artist in the Battles so we'll see how he copes then.


David O'Regan - No Turn - 'Just The Two Of Us' by Bill Withers
David says that his mother was keen for him to forget about the singing and concentrate on guitar playing instead. Not exactly a glowing reference, David has a nice voice, it has a nice quality to it but it's not wow and it doesn't really excite me enough to merit turning. I think the song choice was quite poor, his guitar playing was definitely better than his vocals which didn't really go anywhere. David goes home without a place in the Battle Rounds.


Daisy Venezuela - 1/4 - 'Teenage Dream' by Katy Perry - Joins Team Jamelia
Daisy comes from the Philippines originally but she moved over here to work and support her family back home. She says that sometimes she misses her family back at home and on an occasion like this, she wishes that she had them there to support her. Supporting her instead are her boyfriend and her friends. She opens the song in falsetto, very impressive as it's not easy to sustain that vocal and she does a good job of doing so. It's not the most original vocal in the world nor is it the best song choice in my opinion but she powers through the song which isn't particularly easy to sing. I expect Daisy to do quite well in the competition, this wasn't a perfect vocal by any means but she has shown a good range and a lot of vocal ability.

  
Jane Wade - No Turn - 'Roxanne' by The Police 
Jane reveals that she may not be what people would expect her to be upon seeing her, she might strike you as a rocker but although she likes rock music, she is also a massive fan of Justin Bieber. And on that note, she launches into her performance of 'Roxanne' for the coaches. This is actually quite good, I like her tone, it's quite individual but it has a nice smokiness to it, I would have maybe preferred a different arrangement as I'm not sure how well this arrangement allows her to show depth and range. All the same, it's a good performance and Jane deserves to go through, I'm surprised that nobody turns for her and it seems that even the coaches are very surprised that none of the rest have turned. They should have pressed their buttons.

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