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It's finally the final, last week saw two of my favourites, Denise Morgan and John Bonham leave alongside John Sheehy and Helena Bradley-Bates leaving Team Kian with no finalists for the second year in a row, and Team Rachel with two. Tonight the four finalists will sing two songs in order to compete to be crowned The Voice of Ireland. So, who will win? Soul man Patrick? Smooth voiced Kieran? Passionate Emma? Or maybe quirky Sarah?

Recap and videos after the JUMP...



Emma Humber

'Hideaway' by Kiesza - 9/10 - I think Emma probably has a better voice than Kiesza does to be honest so not totally sure about this song choice for her but it's nice to see her taking a risk, even in the final. Right enough, this certainly isn't as good as last week's amazing performance but it's still a bloody great performance. Emma has a really light, mellow tone which works on this kind of track but I would have preferred to see her singing something by an artist with a similar sort of feel to their voice. I think she would have smashed 'Breathe Me' by Sia but this was still good, the pacing was slightly off in the runs after the chorus but vocally, I can't really fault this and I've no doubt that her second performance will be fantastic.



 'This Woman's Work' by Kate Bush - 10/10 - Emma's reprising her audition song for her 'Favourite Performance'. It was between that and the Bell X1 song she covered in the knockouts for me but Emma has been that consistent that any of her performances would fall under that category. This is pretty incredible, that song is so hard to do justice to because your control has to be flawless otherwise you'll just bomb on the high notes. Emma's vocals are faultless on this song, not only that but the emotion she conveys with the song is on the money. For me, she should be The Voice because as talented as Patrick, Sarah and Kieran are, I don't feel like they, well the boys at least, are particularly unique. Emma's voice has such a distinctive quality to it and for me, if the show hopes to find someone who can sell records, not just here in Ireland but outside of it, that person is Emma.




 Kieran McKillop

'She Will Be Loved' by Maroon 5 - 8/10 - This is where I have a slight issue with Kieran, I feel like he's been performing the same sort of songs week in, week out. This song reminds me a little of his 'The Script' performance, vocally Kieran is rarely anything less than flawless but in terms of performance and individuality, it's where he falls down. This is a brilliant performance, don't get me wrong but there's nothing about it that makes it stand out from the hundreds of other very good covers of this song that you will find on You Tube. I don't necessarily think it's Kieran's fault that he perhaps hasn't really stood out, I think the song choices have been too safe. Vocally, he has been fantastic but I do think Emma and Patrick are more deserving.



 'Together We Cry' by The Script - 8.5/10 - This is definitely the right song choice for his best performance as it's the first one that actually made me pay heed to Kieran. In fairness to Kieran, he moves around on stage like someone who knows what he's doing, he has the ability and this is a very good performance as always. I love that this vocal is tinged with a hint of soul but as I said earlier, setting himself apart from other singers is the drawback with Kieran. I don't think his individuality as an artist is quite there yet but it's a really solid performance, one which I can't really fault otherwise. 




 Sarah McTernan

'If I Were A Boy' by Beyoncé - 9.5/10 - Woah, Sarah hasn't had the most straightforward journey in the competition so this really came out of nowhere. Vocally, this is hands down the best I have heard from her throughout the entire competition, everything sounded effortless, I loved the little quirky edge she gave to the song and she just came across so much more confidently than she has in her previous live performances. The high notes, which I expected her to struggle with are made to sound so easy, credit where credit's due, Sarah did a great job with this song. My only slight criticism is that she holds onto the end of every note a little but that aside, brilliant performance.



 'Who You Are' by Jessie J - 9/10 - This is her best performance aside from that amazing performance earlier. I loved Sarah's take on this song because I felt that she meant what she was singing, she didn't just sing the notes of the song, she sang the lyrics and gave it heart. Vocally, this probably isn't as strong as her previous vocal but that isn't to criticize this as there's very little wrong it it. Sarah has really pulled it out of the bag tonight, these are definitely the two strongest performances that she has given in the competition and I wouldn't be too annoyed if she were to win, though I don't see it going to anyone other than Patrick tonight.



Patrick Donoghue

'Man In The Mirror' by Michael Jackson - 9/10 - If this had been based purely on the performance up to the part where the gospel choir came in, it would have been a 10/10 perfect performance. The song suited him to a tee and I love how powerful soul voice on the song but when the choir kicked in, he was drowned out to a certain extent. I think a choir is a very effective addition to a song like this because it works well with the whole style of the song but in terms of the performance, I just found that it made it harder to actually hear Patrick's voice. That being said, his talent is undeniable and I fully expect him to win it tonight because he hasn't really put a foot wrong in the competition.



 'Mama Knows Best' by Jessie J - 9.5/10 - Patrick is pretty flawless vocally, he's definitely the strongest singer of the four remaining though I think the final has been on the whole a very close call between all four of the singers. This was definitely the right choice for his best performance, it was absolutely the performance of his that I enjoyed the most. I love the energy behind his vocals and I'm impressed by how much of a performance he puts on. I also like the conviction in his vocals, this song needs a bit of character and he inserted that into the performance perfectly. This is closer than I expected it to be but I still think Patrick is the most likely winner.

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Prediction 

4th - Kieran McKillop
3rd - Sarah McTernan
2nd - Emma Humber
1st - Patrick Donoghue


Results

4th Place - Kieran McKillop
3rd Place - Sarah McTernan

And the winner is............

Patrick Donoghue
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