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The Voice Of Ireland Season 2: Top 16 Perform - Part 1!
03 April, 2013 12:49 PM
Published by Kevin Mc Stravock
Last week saw another four artists leaving the competition after Bressie had to send Terri home, Jamelia sent Jennifer home, Kian sent Kyle home and it was the end of Stephen on Sharon's team. Tonight, oddly half of each team performs yet again meaning that one will survive and one will leave on each team. Bit of a shame but you never know what will happen.
Recap and videos after the JUMP...
Team Bressie
Shannon Murphy
'Shook Me All Night Long' by ACDC - 7/10 - Oh dear, Bressie really has done a disservice to his acts with this song choices this year, this is really bad, of all songs to pick for an act, this one doesn't work. Shannon is a brilliant artist and her rendition of the 'Of Monsters and Men' song last week was easily one of the strongest performances of the entire series but she should not be singing classic rock tracks, she is a country artist primarily so something by Jewel or even an Indie-Pop song by someone like Feist was bound to work better than this. The performance wasn't bad, her vocals were fine but she was fighting a losing game with this song, I didn't really enjoy it. - VIDEO
Sinead O'Brien
'Let Her Go' by Passenger - 8.5/10 - After that dreadful song choice for her last week, I'm glad that Bressie has went for something a little bit stronger. I love this song, it's a slow track and she is better at fast songs but it's still a strong performance. It's 100% better than her last performance and although I think she has yet to top her battle round performance, this was a very good vocal. What the judges are on when they score her low scores like 5 is beyond me but she has 10 times more stage presence than most of the other contestants in the competition. I think Bressie did a pretty good job with this song for her, I'd like to see her singing 'The Fear' by Lily Allen in the future. - VIDEO
Team Sharon
John Gaughan
'Lightning Bolt' by Jake Bugg - 7/10 - John is a good singer but the thing that constantly comes up during his performances is that despite his strong vocals, he doesn't have a lot of stage presence. He sings perfectly well but I find his performances quite forgettable. He sings this song fine but it lacks any clear tone, his voice is quite generic acoustic male which means that personally, I find his performances a little bit middle of the road. He's a good singer, he sings perfectly in tune but none of his live show performances so far have stood out to me, they've just been okay. This will probably be enough for him to get through to the next round but I personally think that he hasn't shown enough to be a potential winner. - VIDEO
Mark Guildea
'Army Of Two' by Olly Murs - 5/10 - The song choices tonight have been odd, I don't know where this came out of because Mark is a rocker and this couldn't be further from a rock song if Sharon tried. The vocals are pretty bad, they're not outstandingly bad but it sounds really karaoke, the whole feel of the performance seems like something you would see in a karaoke bar, definitely not the standard of a nationwide talent programme. His falsetto in particular is disappointing, I just don't get anything from the performances that makes me think that Mark could win the competition, this wouldn't sell and I really doubt that Mark will be in the competition next week, nowhere near strong enough. - VIDEO
Team Kian
Andy MacUnfraidh
'Dream On' by Aerosmith - 7/10 - Andy is a very good singer, there is no denying that but again, I feel like the coaches are overrating him, this performance was fine. He sang in tune, his tone during the slightly edgier parts of the song was strong and he connected with the emotion of the track. However, I was disappointed that he didn't attempt the falsetto part of the song, that made what could have been an outstanding performance into a pretty good one. I also think that his breathing towards the end let down the solid vocals until that point. It was good, but it wasn't outstanding. - VIDEO
Ray Scully
'Teardrop' by Massive Attack - 9/10 - I love this song, I love the tone to Ray's voice and provided he manages to sing this well, it could be an outstanding performance. I'm assuming he must be performing with a crossloop of some sort, well it sounds like that anyway. His vocals are brilliant, yes it is similar to the Newton Faulkner cover but it's still an amazing performance regardless, the thing that makes this so good is the atmosphere that his performance creates. The song is hauntingly beautiful and this vocal is hauntingly beautiful, there's no question of a doubt that Ray has totally won hands down from his team tonight, he could well have just put himself firmly in the running for the crown. - VIDEO
Team Jamelia
Roisin Carlin
'Tears Dry On Their Own' by Amy Winehouse - 8/10 - Roisin is easily one of my favourite contestants in this show, she may not be the best singer but she has a really strong tone and she has star quality. Naturally, I think that she has the potential to be a big star because regardless of what she is singing, she still manages to captivate the audience. This song choice is quite a big ask but I think she manages to do a pretty good job with it, there are a few moments when it isn't quite as good as I would have hoped it to be however. Overall, I think the coaches are extremely unfair on Roisin, her performance was not bad at all yet they keep going on about her not singing it as well as the original artist, well yes Amy Winehouse was an unbelievable singer so she wasn't going to be able to sing it as well as her. She has a great tone and she did a great job with the song, I really want Roisin to be here next week. - VIDEO
Wayne Beatty
'Closer' by Ne-Yo - 7/10 - Wayne has a fantastic urban tone, that said, I find that he is a good singer but a poor performer. Last week, he blended into the background with his performance because I find that in the live shows, he has not shown a lot of stage presence. I have to re-iterate those words with that performance, it just was not good enough in my opinion. His vocals was a little bit pitchy from time to time and although he was probably more consistent than Roisin, she has way more stage presence, it was a good performance but it was pretty forgettable and I think Keith does what he does but better. I know that Wayne will probably make it through tonight but I think Roisin has more star quality and stage presence. - VIDEO
Results
Team Bressie: The act with the most votes when the public and coaches votes were combined is Sinead O'Brien. I'm really pleased for Sinead, the coaches gave her a hard time this week for no apparent reason and I'm glad the public have saved her.
Team Kian: It's Ray Scully who receives the most votes from the public and the coaches this week which again, comes as no surprise considering that he was fantastic. Andy is left waiting to hear if he will get the second chance vote from the four acts who come second in their respective teams.
Team Sharon: I would happily let both of Bressie, Kian or Jamelia's acts through this week at the expense of Sharon's duo because both of them were weak tonight but it's John Gaughan, the better of a weak pairing tonight who gets the most support from the public.
Team Jamelia: Because of the flawed voting system, Roisin needs to get literally about twice as much public support than Wayne to even stand a chance of getting through and lo and behold, Wayne Beatty is through. I am pretty annoyed at this one because Roisin was a great artist and had far more star quality than Wayne for me. I'm not particularly surprised.
Second Chance: Out of the four who lost out to their teammate, Shannon, Andy, Mark and Roisin, the one who received the most votes will be given a second chance and will proceed through to the Top 10 in a fortnight's time. That act is Shannon Murphy, I'm happy for her as Bressie's poor song choice let her down this week but I'm gutted for Roisin.
Overall, as you can imagine I'm extremely disappointed that we're losing Roisin tonight. She has been one of my favourites from the beginning, yes she wasn't the best singer but she was for me one of the best all rounders, she had natural stage presence and star quality and she offered far more than Wayne, who, great voice aside, lacks connection with the audience and any real stage presence. I can't say I'm surprised as poor song choices by Jamelia, confusing double standards from the coaches who were quick to point out when she didn't sing the best but seemingly ignored pitch problems in other performances (Wayne's song tonight was pitchy at times) and lack of support from her coach all seemed to count against her. It may seem like I'm ranting but Jamelia saying that she would have sent Roisin home in Week 1 if she hadn't been saved by the public was totally unnecessary and will doubtless have had an impact on Roisin's confidence especially as this came on the VT just before Roisin performed. Mark was no loss, quite frankly I thought he would have went in Week 1 as he wasn't much better then. Andy was good tonight but again, I feel like he didn't have much stage presence. Overall, tonight wasn't a great night as aside from Ray, I don't think anyone had their best night.
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This entry was posted on 12:49 PM, and is filed under
Andy McUnfraidh,
John Gaughan,
Mark Guildea,
Ray Scully,
Roisin Carlin,
Shannon Murphy,
Sinead O'Brien,
TV,
TVO Series,
TVOI,
Wayne Beatty
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April 3, 2013 at 4:47 PM
Wow! Sinead was amazing, no wonder she won the vote. Shannon's song was the wrong one but I think I would've picked her for the second chance as well. Her first performance was too good to be forgotten.
I agree on Roisin, she should've made it. Wayne is ok but she is a star.
April 3, 2013 at 7:12 PM
Hi Andy here. If you had watched the show properly you'd know that I had laryngitis and couldn't even talk that day. Thanks though.