‘The Voice UK’ review: Lydia Lucy, Jordan Gray, Lyrikal, and more perform in first live show
Tonight, “The Voice UK” has to narrow down its field ever so slightly in what is going to be an interesting first live show … albeit one that has a little bit of controversy to go along with it. Before the contestants performed, it was revealed that Beth Morris and Chloe Castro were both leaving the competition for personal and health reasons, respectively. We’re not going to spend too much time diving into that here; instead, let’s just get into the performances.
We’re going to be updating this review live throughout the night, so be sure to refresh this page!
Lydia Lucy, “Somebody Else’s Guy” (Team Wiil) – Probably one of the better performances we’ve heard to start a live show on “The Voice UK.” Lydia can sing, she can dance, she can rap, and she has a chance to be a real pop star after the show.
Lyrikal, “Just Like a Child” (Team Will) – A surprising song choice for sure. Yet, he made it work. While we do think that he needed a little bit more edge on some of the rap portions of the song, his vocals were there and this was a surprisingly-emotional performance for a guy we didn’t think would get this far.
Lauren Lapsley-Browne, “Dreamer” (Team Will) – After two very good performances, this was a clear miss. Weird song choice, and Lauren’s enunciation was such that we have no idea what she was singing for the majority of this performance.
Team Will’s Fast Pass – Lyrikal. Probably smart on Will’s part. Lydia will almost surely get through, and this preserves someone who could’ve been tested more by public vote.
Heather Cameron-Hayes, “Stitches” (Team Paloma) – Great musicianship on the piano. She started a little bit shy and soft, but as the performance went on she got better and better. We don’t see winner upside her per se, but she is certainly a fine singer.
Jordan Gray, “Shake It Out” (Team Paloma) – This was far from a perfect performance vocally, but we’re not that upset given that Jordan still brought such individuality and stage presence to her performance. She’s going to be very memorable after this.
Team Paloma’s Fast Pass – Jordan. Obviously, this was a given due to the connection that she and Paloma have formed.
Kevin Simm, “Missing You” (Team Ricky) – This was a very sweet performance from a guy who probably has felt a lot of pressure put upon him on the show thanks to some of his pre-show fame. It wasn’t the most exciting vocal ever, but he got the job done.
Jolan, “Yes” (Team Ricky) – We didn’t expect him to be better than Kevin, but he was! This was a lot of fun to behold, but Jolan can really belt it out. The one weakness here was that there was way too much going on during the performance on stage.
Team Ricky’s Fast Pass – Another “shocker” that was hardly that, as Ricky opted to keep Kevin on his team into the next round. Jolan’s fate lies with Britain.
Harry Fisher, “Space Oddity” (Team George) – A bold song choice given the recent passing of David Bowie, and the vocals here were certainly on-point! Yet, it was a little odd to see Harry just standing on stage while those weird dancers moved around him.
Vangelis, “Here Comes the Rain” (Team George) – There was certainly a theatrical feel to this from start to finish, and we could feel a lot of the emotion. He does still need to get more comfortable and confident on stage, but we can see that some of the word is paying off.
Cody Frost, “Ordinary World” (Team George) – We know going into this performance that Cody was not necessarily thrilled with George’s song choice, but we do think that she did really pull it off. The sound mix tonight was a little off and you could see that impacted her timing, but she couldn’t really do much about that.
Team George’s Fast Pass – Cody. No surprise here. The coaches for the most part played it safe with their choices.
We’ll have our full take on the results of tonight’s show a little bit later over at the link here! Also, sign up over here to secure some other TV news on all we cover, sent right over to you via our official CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: BBC.)