‘The Voice’ UK review: Jamie Johnson, Chris Royal perform; will.i.am swears on live TV
“The Voice” UK is at times a show that gets a little too formulaic in the live shows. You get standard performances, emotional packages, and then critiques from the coaches that are never that hard.
So we kind of have to admit that there was a part of us who was very entertained by will.i.am accidentally dropping the s-bomb on live TV. It at least caught everyone on their toes! Granted, we do feel bad for the hosts who have to stand there and beg for the public’s forgiveness.
We’re going to rank the performances from the start of the show by team. (Update: Click here to see the results!)
Team Kylie Minogue
2. Lee Glasson, “Strong” – If we’re being 100% honest, there was a good chunk of this performance where we had no idea at all what Lee was even singing. Part of the blame here probably has to go to the sound levels for drowning him out, but it wasn’t until the final half of the song that he started to come alive. By the time that we were really starting to get into the performance, it was over.
1. Jamie Johnson, “I Can’t Make You Love Me” – You don’t have to, Jamie: You sing like a champ. Despite that fact that we’re partially convinced that Jamie and Lee are actually the same person, Jamie has a richness and soul that shines through every note. He’s not the flashiest guy, but he doesn’t need to be to move you.
Team Ricky Wilson
2. Christina Marie, “Bang Bang” – We know Christina can sing. What we don’t need is to listen to Christina belt out huge note after huge note on the stage. We’re also a little concerned to hear contestants talking about nerves at the semi-final stage. We want to hear about confidence at this point!
1. Chris Royal, “Smile” – We cannot sit here and say that Chris actually came out and delivered on some sort of revelation to music, but this was really pretty and so well-sung. The ending was a little forced, but this was so smooth and proof that you do not have to do too much to succeed at this show.
Team Tom Jones
2. Bizzi Dixon, “Everything Must Change” – We’ve always liked Bizzi, and we really liked this performance. This is actually the first season that we really think that Tom has the best team, and given that he routinely does well in the voting, that’s good news for at least one of his contestants. Bizzi is just a natural performer, and he is one of those people we can imagine performing at arenas rather than just nightclubs. He just doesn’t have that same sort of emotional firepower that Sally does.
1. Sally Barker, “Whole of the Moon” – Sally has the sort of voice that automatically makes you sit up and pay attention. She is not the flashiest singer out there, but there is something that is worldly and important about the way that she sings. We can imagine so many others out there trying to emulate her tone and failing miserably at it.
Team will.i.am
2. Jermain Jackman, “Without You” – This performance was a hot mess of an arrangement. There was about a third of it that we were sure was Will and Jermain trying to make this song into gospel, and then the other part of it was “techno dance number.” It was so weird and wacky that we still have our head spinning.
1. Sophie May-Williams, “Royals” – We admit that we are coming into this performance as someone who does not even particularly love the Lorde song, but this was actually a cooler arrangement. It’s like Will convinced his two artists to go with really big risks, and while one of them didn’t work at all, this one really did. Performances review: B.
Want to know who made it through to the finale? Then just stay tuned, as we will have some results for that coming up in the near future at the link here. If you want to get some more updates worth singing about sent right to your email inbox, then be sure to join our CarterMatt Newsletter!
Photo: BBC