‘The Voice’ UK review: Stevie McCrorie, Lucy O’Byrne, Hannah Symons shine in premiere

Tonight, “The Voice” UK is upon us! This gives us a chance to see if there is any new, surprising, or interesting talent on the scene still in the UK. We worry a lot about this show; there is not a winner from this show with a significant resume in the music industry now, and the talent pool may already be pretty well picked over.

Below, you can see some of the notable acts who performed, and advanced, on the premiere of the show. Rita Ora joined the panel, and we want to give her a quick shout-out for doing a great job. The way she came out of the studio to support a young contestant after a bad audition was really sweet.

Below, take a look at who we thought were the top five performances of the audition show.

5. Matt Eaves, “House of the Rising Sun” – How did this guy not get through? Not every note was perfect, but he poured his soul into this! Simply a wonderful performance.

4. Lucy O’Byrne, “Ebben Ne Andro Lontana” – We have no clue how an opera singer is going to fare long-term, but this was sensational enough to get will.i.am’s attention.

3. Hannah Symons, “Powerless” – A very good song, and a sign that she could be dangerous the rest of the way.

2. Stevie McCrorie, “All I Want” – Simply lovely. We thought the longing in his voice was wonderful and tender, and we genuinely fell for the story he was telling in this song. Not bad for a Scottish firefighter, no? Rita Ora REALLY wanted him, possibly in more ways than one. Him picking Ricky may have been the best for him.

1. Howard Rose, “My Generation” – Love the tone here. Sometimes, the uniqueness of a sound matters more than anything else, and there is something here that we could see on a great folk-rock record. Our favorite of the night.

What did you think about the premiere of the series today? Share with a comment now, and head over here to get some further news worth singing about via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: BBC.)