The Voice UK review: Moya, Deana, NXTGEN, Peter Donegan, & Battle Rounds
Nonetheless, throughout this article we’ll be giving you our honest, upfront take on each battle, including who is rising to the occasion and who is leaving something to be desired. Be sure to fresh throughout for more, as we are updating this LIVE.
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Emmanuel Smith vs. Khadija, “Fallin'” (Team will.i.am) – Emmanuel had the edge going into this battle, mostly because he got four chairs! That’s not something that happened with too many different acts in the blinds. This is a song that we’ve heard a lot over the years, but kudos to these two for being able to bring something different to it! Great harmonies, but we’d give the crown here to Emmanuel just because he had somewhere further to go since this song is so different from his voice. Emmanuel advances! We would’ve been fine with Khadija getting a steal, but that didn’t happen.
Eva Campbell vs. Callum Butterworth, “This Town” (Team Olly Murs) – They are the two youngest members of his team! These are the two rawest members of the team — they do have a lot of work to do and you can hear that in this performance. Nerves and intonation issues did hinder them both from making this the performance that it could be — yet, some lovely notes did break through and you could sense the commitment that the two had. There was this push to make this something greater, and that is probably what the coaches responded to. Eva advances, but Will steals Callum!
Bethzienna Williams vs. Moya, “Never Turn Us Apart” (Team Jennifer Hudson) – This was two singers with big voices taking on each other — this was fantastic. A lot of stage presence and a lot of power. Of course, the irony here is that it’s coming after two of the steals are already used. This is the sort of inherent unfairness of this competition, given that some battles can produce better results for both singers. We would’ve said Moya had the better chance of moving on going in, and that was still the end result. Moya advances, but Tom steals Bethzienna! Consider this that big blind audition moment paying off.
NXTGEN vs. Seth Oraeki, “Young Blood” (Team Will) – A great song choice and one that gave all of these people a chance to shine. Unfortunately for Seth, NXTGEN had so much control over what they were doing that it did feel like Seth was just added to the band rather than standing out on his own right. This was even a comment from the judges! The moment we heard that, we pretty much knew how this was going to end, much to Seth’s misfortune. NXTGEN advances.
Bukky Oronti vs. Gisela Green, “Best Thing I Never Had” (Team Jennifer) – Tom makes it clear that he would’ve stolen whichever one of them didn’t get put through by Jennifer, and that shows more how much respect Tom has for singers with enormous voices on this show! Bukky was, at least to us, the clear winner when it comes to having the power and control tonight — we do think Gisela has a lot of potential and we loved her first performance. This just wasn’t her night. Bukky advances.
Deana vs. Peter Donegan, “Make You Feel My Love” (Team Tom) – The final battle of the night and yet another powerful one. This was such a great song and we think that both Deana and Peter sang it well. To us, this was almost about style versus story. We think that Peter has the better story for this show, given the history between his father and Tom. Yet, Deana is perhaps the more interesting individual performer, someone who could stand out in the industry after the fact. Surprisingly, Tom went with Deana, the unexpected choice! Deana advances.
What do you think about tonight’s episode of The Voice UK overall? Share some of your thoughts in the comments. (Photo: ITV.)