The Voice UK review: Sarah Tucker, Nicole Dennis, & the battles end
After you check this article out, be sure to watch the video below with some of our latest thoughts on the singers! For more, subscribe to CarterMatt on YouTube — that, plus our official The Voice UK playlist, are the best ways to ensure you don’t miss any other update.
Note in advance that there are no more steals left — it’s do or die for ALL of the remaining acts! Be sure to refresh throughout the night for more takes on all of the battles.
Equip to Overcome vs. Marina Simioni, “Team” (Team Tom) – This was a weird battle, mostly in that Tom was MUCH higher on it vocally than we were. This felt a little unwieldy to us with a lot of different stuff going on. Equip to Overcome did completely overshadow Marina, who we still don’t complete get as an artist right now. She’s talented, but there was so much going on back in her original audition! It was hard to really understand what her specific sound would be. Equip to Overcome advance.
Stefan Mahendra vs. Nikki Ambers, “We Don’t Talk Anymore” (Team Olly) – We’re bummed about this battle these are two of our favorites! We also like that this was actually a duet that allowed the two to play off each other, even if we’re not sure that the two pitches every fully matched each other. Nikki probably had the more power of the two, and Stefan appeared a little more uncomfortable without his band or his instrument. We probably would’ve went with Nikki based on this alone, but Stefan advances.
Ayanam Udoma vs. Grace Latchford, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (Team Tom) – This was actually quite lovely. These two are both really shy and timid and while that doesn’t work with every song, there was something sweet about the vulnerability that they brought to this song. They played off each other and you could feel an element of believability in some of the words that they were singing. Our heart was with Ayanam, and on this occasion, Tom Jones agreed. Ayanam advances.
Sarah Tucker vs. Craig Forsyth, “Against All Odds” (Team Jennifer) – This is near the top of our list of favorite guilty-pleasure songs ever, so we relish ANY chance to see it sung well on reality TV. (We’ve definitely heard a ton of not-great renditions of this song over the years.) We can’t exactly say that it was that competitive, mostly because Sarah was such an obvious consensus pick to make it to the finale, even before she came out and nailed that high note near the end of this performance. Sarah advances.
Gabriel Dryss vs. Shivon Kane, “Feels” (Team will.i.am) – The result here surprised us a little. For most of the performance, it felt as though Shivon had center stage and she even got a rap feature in the middle! While Gabriel is clearly the better dancer of the two, Shivon’s creativity and artistry suggest that she’d get the edge. That wasn’t the case. Neither was vocally spectacular throughout, but clearly Will see something that he liked in Gabriel. Gabriel advances.
Harrisen Larner-Main vs. Lauren Hope (Team Olly) – Both Harrisen and Lauren have incredible voices, so when you start to cancel that out, you have to start asking some other questions. Take, for example, individuality. What matters the most there? How can someone stand out above the rest of the pack? That’s what Harrisen brought to this performance, from his style to his interesting, earthy tone. That got him through. Harrisen advances.
Luke Swatman vs. Nicole Dennis (Team Jennifer) – Consider this your reminder that the coaches screwed up on the steals. One of these two deserved another chance, since this was one of the best Battles of the entire season. These are two skilled, professional vocalists who both know what they are doing up there. Luke showcased a lot of power, and Nicole an incredible range. We’re not sure what the mainstream potential for either one of them is just because they are both so theatrical in their leanings, so this came down to who Jennifer thought she could work with more moving forward. Nicole advances.
That’s it for the battles! At least we ended on a high notes with Luke and Dennis.
What did you think about tonight’s The Voice UK, and some of the battles that we saw here overall? Sound off now in the comments. (Photo: ITV.)