‘The Voice’ UK review: Karl Michael, Laura Oakes, Sarah Cassidy turn heads
As we near the end of the blind auditions on “The Voice” UK, the producers have still found a way to keep some great singers in their back pocket. At least three performers during Saturday’s episode have a decent shot at going far in the competition, and while there were a good many singers in here who seemed just desperate to emulate one of the coaches, there were others who took advantage of this stage to rock their faces off. Heck, we think the last person who tried out tonight could win the whole thing.
Sarah Cassidy – This was our first singer with an enormous voice: it went completely all over the place, even to the point where we would advise that she try to utilize a little bit more control in the future (an we are by no means music judges). Nevertheless, everyone but will.i.am (who was ironically the coach she wanted) turned around, and she ended up selecting Jessie J.
Emily Worton – We really don’t have much of an idea of what will.i.am was pulling here. He acted during the audition like he wasn’t going to turn around at all, and then suddenly out of nowhere he decided to press his button. There is some creativity here, so she should be able to last for another week or two.
Nick Tatham – We wrote a little bit about Nick during our preview article, and how he uses music in a way to find his place in the world despite having Tourette’s syndrome. He didn’t get a chair to turn around, but he was this season’s recipient of “play something again,” just so he could prove to the coaches that they missed out on something.
L.B. Robinson – We saw all sorts of people try to come on this show and sing one of the coaches songs, and by and large it’s a pretty bad move. However, L.B. got away with it by doing Tom Jones’ “She’s a Lady” and won him over.
Barbara & Carla – This may be one of the stranger acts we’ve seen on the show: two older women with incredible voices, and are singing opera despite being rockers and bikers. Will.i.am turned around after the first note. and the others all followed.
Laura Oakes – We don’t know why someone who doesn’t like the spotlight wanted to be on the show, but Laura seemed certainly happy that she managed to advance to the next round with Danny O’Donoghue. We didn’t love the vocal, but there were some nice moments.
Jessica Steele – Jessica was shown side-by-side with Laura, and her story was somewhat similar. The main difference was that she has faced a great deal of rejection from other competitions, and this was her shot of redemption. Seeing her not get a chair to turn around really stung.
Karl Michael – What happened to this guy? He had a record deal, and saw it disappear days later. But he is absolutely brilliant at what he does: a strong singer with a killer voice, stage presence, and a look that the ladies are going to love. This has to be the strongest member of Danny’s team, and we loved the show’s fake-out where they made us believe that he was going to pick will.i.am with the music.
Who was your favorite during the blind auditions this week? If you want to read some more highlights from this season, you can do so by heading on over to the link here.
Photo: BBC One