‘The Voice UK’ preview: See Rita Ora, Sir Tom Jones, more perform!

It has become a tradition on versions of “The Voice” all around the world to start off the season with a group performance … even if we don’t exactly understand it completely. Why would you force four completely different artists into performing with one another, hoping that it would be good?

The best thing that we can say about Rita Ora, Sir Tom Jones, will.i.am, and Ricky Wilson below is that they are not completely terrible, but at the same time, they are not exactly batting a thousand here. This performance is somewhat hokey, even if they all have plenty of energy and personality. They will all be much more successful as hosts and entertainers throughout the season. In particular, Tom is great at working his charm in the auditions, and Will’s antics always get plenty of attention.

For now, Ora is the real wild card of the entire show, given that she has never served as a coach before. We know that she is at least reasonably familiar with this world, given that she was a part of the British “X Factor” for one audition round. We also know that she is never short on opinions, and that should help her guiding contestants along. We’ve learned time and time again now that contestants really need someone who will tell them right from wrong, and not someone who will marvel at their talent and nothing else.

We’ll be back tomorrow with a full review of the premiere episode, which will hopefully in the process prove that there is still some substantial talent left in the UK.

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