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Fifth Blind Audition show now, we've some very strong artists through with Una being the coach with the most acts in her team having been relatively trigger happy in the early stages of the auditions. With quite a packed team already, will having less spaces than some of her fellow coaches affect her chances this week?

Recap and videos after the JUMP...


Ashley Loftus - 4/4 - 'The Blower's Daughter' by Damien Rice - Joins Team Bressie
Ashley comes from a small fishing village, she has previously struggled with confidence so auditioning for The Voice is a big step for her. Ashley has had a tough life, her dad died when she was younger and then she had to face coming out gay to all of her friends and family. She says that she thought people would react badly but was surprised by how accepting people were towards her. She has a really nice, whispery tone, her voice is very vulnerable and breathy. I love the way she loses herself in the performance, her nerves are evident but for some reason that's half the charm of the performace. She gets a four chair turn, it's pretty obvious who is the perfect match for Ashley, Team Bressie it is.


Elaine Ryan - No Turn - 'New York' by Paloma Faith 
Elaine's decision to go on The Voice is a bit of a last ditch attempt before she emigrates to find work abroad with her boyfriend. So the coaches aren't only deciding whether to put Elaine through, they're basically deciding if she will leave the country. Her voice is nice, she has a nice rasp to her voice and she definitely has a good voice, the problem is there's nothing about her to seperate her from some of the females who have already gotten through. I'm disappointed for Elaine but I think it was pretty much just a case of not standing out, as Bressie says there was nothing wrong with the performance, it just didn't wow them. Bressie was a bit annoyed that she didn't get through though.


Paddy Kennedy - 3/4 - 'Candy' by Paolo Nutini - Joins Team Rachel
Security guard Paddy's affiliation with The Voice stems back to Series 1 when he was working in The Helix as the show was being filmed. However this is the first time he has plucked up the courage to audition. Paddy has a slight speech impediment which affects his confidence a little bit but when he sings you can't hear it. Paddy's voice is pretty good, nice raspy tone though I agree with Bressie that as the song went on, he started to oversing the song. The three other coaches had already turned so he maybe just got carried away, he definitely started straining towards the end. Oddly, despite turning for him, Kian criticizes him a bit for oversinging which is a valid point. Nevertheless, Paddy is through, there's definitely some room for improvement but he has something.


Cheryl McCullagh - No Turn - 'Because The Night' by Patti Smith
American girl Cheryl has probably come farther than any of the other auditionees having flown over from America especially for this audition after her father saw an advertisement for the show whilst over for a wedding in Ireland. Not sure why she didn't just audition for The Voice US but she's hoping to get through with this song. It's quite an unusual song for a young girl to sing but she definitely does it justice. That being said, we're told she goes to the actual Fame School in America and you can tell by her delivery of the song, it's polished, perhaps overly-polished to the point where it comes across a bit too theatrical for my liking at least. Great voice but I can understand why Cheryl didn't get through though the coaches were gutted when they turned around.


Malcom Urqahart - 1/4 - 'Baba O'Riley by The Who (Pearl Jam version) - Joins Team Rachel
Scottish born Malcom, now living in Cork is a rocker at heart and plans to stick to his roots with this blind audition. I really enjoy this performance actually, I love his tone, he has a great raspy rock voice but he also has light and shade in his voice. I think he's one of the strongest males in the competition thus far, great performance. I'm kind of surprised that Bressie or Kian didn't turn but Rachel is impressed with the soul Malcom has in his voice and snaps him up for her team.


Sinead Hansard - 1/4 - 'Waves/Hideaway' by Mr. Probz/Kiezsa - Joins Team Una
It's a bit of a family affair for Sinead today as her sister Amy is also auditioning (see below for her audition). They've always been into music, mainly due to the musical influence running in their family, their uncle is Glen Hansard of The Frames. She starts off doing Waves which is nice but doesn't exactly grab me but as soon as she switches into the Kiezsa song, I'm hooked, very creative mash-up and Sinead has a great voice. She has a very rich tone, I have a feeling Sinead will do well.


Korey Power - No Turn - 'Rude' by Magic 
Music student Korey is a big fan of boybands and has been influenced by successful bands such as Westlife and One Diection. His take on this Magic hit is alright but he seems nervous and the performance is quite pitchy as a result of this. I don't think he's quite ready yet, his voice sounded a little thin on the song and as Una said, he did have quite a boybandy voice. There's something there but Korey isn't quite strong enough yet.


Amy Hansard - 2/4 - 'Problem' by Ariana Grande feat. Iggy Azalea - Joins Team Rachel
Now it's the turn of Sinead's sister Amy to take to the stage. After watching her sister get through, Amy is even more determined to make it through. I like her voice, it's quite fragile but there's definitely something there although I wasn't quite sure about the way she sang the chorus. That said I do think she has a very good voice and I like her tone, it's fairly unique. Surprised to see Bressie turning as this isn't usually the type of singer he goes for but I'm not surprised when she picks Rachel as her coach. So the two sisters are on seperate teams, wonder who will get further?


Finbarr Humphries - No Turn - 'The Man' by Aloe Blacc
Finbarr has been a gigging musician for quite a long time although he has had a tough time having developed alopecia in 1995 which caused him to lose his hair. He's a very strong singer in fairness, you can tell that he has been performing for a long time because he's a real professional and his voice can't really be faulted. There's almost a country twang to his voice on this song which adds an interesting element to the performance. I'm disappointed that Finbarr doesn't get through but perhaps the song choice just didn't grab the coaches enough.


Emma Humber - 3/4 - 'This Woman's Work' by Kate Bush - Joins Team Bressie
Emma says that she's going to put a modern spin on this classic Kate Bush song, whatever that means. I actually love this, it's such a tough song to sing but Emma certainly has the lungs for it, she actually does a really good job with it, very strong vocals and a really quirky tone. She reminds me a little of Gabrielle Aplin, she has that similar sort of breathy, folksy tone. Great performance, the fact that she was able to restrain her vocals rather than oversinging the song was impressive. One of the best blind auditions so far I think.


Aimee Canavan - No Turn - 'Ghost' by Ella Henderson
Aimee is taking on quite a tough song, Ghost was one of the standout hits of the year and Ella Henderson has an excellent voice. Not totally sure about the band's arrangement of the song, it sounds a little bit unusual, Aimee has a very nice voice and definitely shows that she's capable but for some reason she didn't really push herself to do the big notes which were really the money notes in the song. Tough task but unfortunately Aimee just didn't seem to stand out enough on this song.


Kate Purcell - 2/4 - 'We Found Love' by Rihanna - Joins Team Kian
Kate probably has more experience than a lot of other auditionees having been singing professionally for most of her life. She wants to give The Voice a try because it appeals to singers of all age groups and she'd like to give it a shot. Unfortunately just prior to her audition she picks up the flu which has affected her voice a little. Even with a slight touch of the flu, I can hear Kate's beautiful voice very easily. Her tone is very clear and soothing, she has a bit of an Eva Cassidy vibe going on. I've said before that I'm not often keen on slowed down versions of dance songs but Kate has such an enchanting way of performing. She completely loses herself in the performance and has such a breathy tone. Great performance.


Niall O'Halloran - 4/4 - 'Lay Me Down' by Sam Smith - Joins Team Una
2FM wildcard Niall was actually entered into the wildcard process by his mother, he has had an interest in music for a long time but it wasn't until his mum entered him that he finally had the courage to give it a try. Well this is absolutely awesome, Niall has such a soulful tone, he surprises me a lot actually as I didn't expect him to have such soul in his voice, it's a bit nervy but when he shifts into falsetto, the performance really takes off. He completely loses himself in the performance and really expresses the emotion of the song. He's a very polished performer but not to the point where it sounds over-rehearsed or theatrical. Niall is a real frontrunner in this competition for sure.


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