‘The Voice UK’ review: Kevin Simm, Faith Nelson lead latest Battle Rounds
The second week of Battle Rounds on “The Voice” UK aired this weekend, and we gotta say that unlike most other battles, this show really started things off with a surprise. We’ll be updating this article as the night goes on, but we don’t want to waste much time before getting to the first battle.
Faith Nelson d. Kevin Simm, Team Paloma Faith – Maybe one of the biggest surprises in the history of the entire show. After all, Faith was a decent singer going into the battles, but Kevin was one of the few people who really got all of the coaches interested in the blinds. Maybe he struggled too much with “Spotlight” or Paloma had a better rapport with Faith, but she took who she thought she could help. Granted, Kevin is also moving on. Steal: Ricky Wilson snags Kevin.
Chase Morton d. J Sealy, Team Boy George – The drama is somewhat sapped from the battle in the seal department, given that will.i.am is the only person left and he’s probably not going to use it until the end of the show. Both were fairly solid, but we feel like the winner was pretty clear.
Lauren Lapsley-Browne d. Vivica Jade, Team Will – We’re not entirely sure what Will was doing making them sing “Love Shack,” since we didn’t think this was right for either of them, and it certainly wasn’t too pleasing for us to listen to either. Nobody could steal even if they wanted to.
Kagan d. Dave Barnes, Team Ricky – In terms of the story, we love singing soldier Dave. The problem here, though, is that talent-wise Kagan really is head and shoulders ahead and it’s really not even that competitive.
Vangelis Polydorou d. Melissa Cavanagh, Team George – To a certain extent we do feel for Melissa here, who was pretty clearly the underdog from the moment that she stepped out on stage to perform. She did give a great performance, but Vangelis is, as George put it, a potential winner threat.
Mia Sylvester d. Janina Dyer, Team Ricky – We don’t really love the whole “you made each other better” critique that we got here, but there may be a certain element of truth to it. The two ladies each performed reasonably well, but Mia has a little more upside in this competition.
Tom Rickels d. Colleen Gormley, Team Will – We’re getting near the end of the show, and unfortunately this is the time when fatigue starts to settle in as a viewer. Will’s weird song choices tonight just aren’t doing it for us.
Deano d. Megan Reece, Team Paloma – Who expected getting so sad after this? We actually did think that Deano gave the better performance, but Megan may have been one of the kindest, most-genuine contestants we’ve seen on the show.
Leighton Jones d. Eli Cripps, Team George – Finally, we’ve got the big steal that we have been waiting to see! Both were very good in this performance, and one of the great things about this steal happening here was that the show didn’t just save it for the end of the episode.
Lyrickal d. Marli, Team Will – We really feel like the coaches were really kind to what was ultimately a mess of a vocal. These two just didn’t mesh, and we’re really not that optimistic now on the show’s future.
Rachel Ann d. Aine Carroll, Team Ricky – The love is continuing to be spread around, since these two were very sweet to each other even though Rachel ended up coming up on top. We actually preferred Aine here.
Beth Morris d. Steve Devereaux, Team Paloma – Steve’s a little bit of a hoot, but we could see him being a somewhat-challenging person to get focused. He’s just such a HUGE character, and this battle was predictable from the start since Beth is one of the season’s best.
Want to see our take of last week’s “The Voice” UK episode? Then head over to the link here right now, and you can also sign up over here to get some other TV news on everything we cover, sent right over to you via our official CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: BBC.)