First up: Team Will's Joelle vs Jenny. The show has hardly started and there's a diva-off already. I can sing/shout loud! So what, I can sing/shout even louder! It's a belter-fest and we're not really fussed on that kind of thing here at EuropeCrazy HQ. We decide that Joelle's our fave out of these two, she's not perfect but the raw material is there, and she has a cool hairstyle too. Will chooses Joelle: good choice.
Team Danny's Max vs Bill are up next. Max went to stage school and Bill didn't. We liked Bill in the blind auditions and he's got lots of potential so we cheer him on, but Danny chooses Max, the guy in the hat who is far too cocky. Mum declares that Danny will regret this decision. And the hat is annoying her.
Time for Team Tom's Aundrea vs Sam. A little less conversation? A little less screaming more like! Our ears are very tired by the end of this one. Aundrea's yet another one who falls into the oversinging trap and Tom punishes her for this by choosing Sam.
On to Team Jessie's Kirsten vs Toni, and it's another squeal-fest on "Think" a song which we really don't like at all. Admittedly they are both pretty good at what they do if you like that sort of thing. Toni, the one with the alopecia, gets Jessie's vote.
Back to Team Danny next: Bo vs Vince (Freeman): a most mismatched pairing, both in gender and vocal style. Bo, who could probably make a decent living as a Dido/Dolores O'Riordan/Diana Vickers tribute act, has already had a lot of media coverage in recent weeks so it was no surprise really that she was chosen over barefoot rocker Vince. She really needs to get her own vocal style though. Word of advice, Vince - go over to Sweden and enter The Voice Sverige, they will probably love you.
I was looking forward to the next part of the Tyler James adventure and he was paired with Heshima for Team Will's next vocal battle. "Yeah 3x"? Que? Bizarre song choice, but Mr i.am. knows what he's doing. Ty's quiff is reaching Jedward proportions. We spend the rest of the song talking about Eurovision (!) Yay! Will picks Tyler and is rapidly becoming my favourite judge.
It's Vince (Kidd) vs Jessica in Team Jessie's next duel: a rather messy take on "We Found Love". Jessica's veering too far from the melody so we choose Vince. So does Jessie. We're agreeing with most of the choices so far....
Back to Team Will for the Jay vs Jaz duel. Jaz of course was the guy who got all the attention at the end of the show last week singing "Ordinary People" (which soared into the iTunes chart afterwards) - and he's also managed by Andrew "Starman" Stone don't you know :) Anyway this was the toughest duel of the night, and it's a shame that someone has to go. Why did Will put them together? Jay has that Will Young quality to his voice and we'd have liked to see him go further. Will said Jay's better than Justin Timberlake - but he puts Jaz through.
And finally to Team Tom's Deniece vs Ruth duet. We could have done without Ruth's sob story - the X Factor is that way, love - but we really can't stand Deniece purely for the reason that we always hated Five Star, therefore we're supporting Ruth. A bit too much oversinging of "No One" - I'd have appreciated a more understated approach in the style of Alicia Keys, and some vocal control would be nice, but hey ho. Ruth wins the duel and we're happy with that.
So that's it for part 1 of the Battles.
More of the same in part 2:
Team Jessie: Cassius v David: "Beat It". I missed most of this but it seemed OK. Cassius through.
Team Tom: the battle of the big belters, Barbara vs Leanne. Mum: "Someone should push the two of them over the edge of glory". The younger woman wins out, and not for the first time...
Team Will: Frances vs Kate: "Ironic": in the midst of all these belters there's the 'aren't I so quirky?' brigade. Frances with her please-please-please-pick-me face won, although we preferred Kate.
Team Danny: Aleks vs Emmy. He's far too nervous, she's singing over the top of him, but Aleks gets the vote. Is it the 'raw talent who needs development' argument? Or is it just cause the show probably needs a cute teenage guy in the line-up?
Team Jessie: Ben vs Ruth Ann: They sing Whitney. Ready to combust. Ruth Ann wins. Hmm.
Team Tom: Matt & Sueleen vs Lindsey. As in the blind auditions, I declared that Lindsey is Shirley Clamp's sister, separated at birth, and we wanted to keep her in, because we don't get Matt & Sueleen. Tom did. We did not take this well.
Team Danny: Murray vs Hannah, doing "Kids" which was never one of my favourites and I didn't really care who went through. Danny picked Hannah.
More of the same in part 2:
Team Jessie: Cassius v David: "Beat It". I missed most of this but it seemed OK. Cassius through.
Team Tom: the battle of the big belters, Barbara vs Leanne. Mum: "Someone should push the two of them over the edge of glory". The younger woman wins out, and not for the first time...
Team Will: Frances vs Kate: "Ironic": in the midst of all these belters there's the 'aren't I so quirky?' brigade. Frances with her please-please-please-pick-me face won, although we preferred Kate.
Team Danny: Aleks vs Emmy. He's far too nervous, she's singing over the top of him, but Aleks gets the vote. Is it the 'raw talent who needs development' argument? Or is it just cause the show probably needs a cute teenage guy in the line-up?
Team Jessie: Ben vs Ruth Ann: They sing Whitney. Ready to combust. Ruth Ann wins. Hmm.
Team Tom: Matt & Sueleen vs Lindsey. As in the blind auditions, I declared that Lindsey is Shirley Clamp's sister, separated at birth, and we wanted to keep her in, because we don't get Matt & Sueleen. Tom did. We did not take this well.
Team Danny: Murray vs Hannah, doing "Kids" which was never one of my favourites and I didn't really care who went through. Danny picked Hannah.
When all those chairs swung round in the blind auditions for Indie and Pixie, I wondered if the judges had lost their minds, as this pairing stood out from the rest of the contestants for all the wrong reasons. Jessie paired them with the infinitely better Becky. Of all the vocal 'belters' Becky particularly impressed and has genuine potential - thankfully Jessie made the right decision here.
Team Tom paired Adam with Denise on a pretty awful version of "Use Somebody". Adam won, and it will be interesting to see how he progresses.
Back to Team Will and one of the most controversial choices of the evening. Sophie was up against J Marie, the latter was very impressive in the blind auditions. Oh no, not "Firework". I hate "Firework" with a passion - why no more subtle songs? This was overcooked beyond description, although both did pretty well if you like that kind of thing. Fine so far, but for a programme called "The Voice" which is all about, um, the voice as it were, apparently it's all about the age too. Although we thought J Marie was clearly better, the criteria for not choosing her was....that she was 27. Does singing talent have an upper age limit then? Or is this a really stupid question when you consider the age of the oldest judge on the show?
Finally, David vs John James, tearing up "Dakota" by the Stereophonics. Of course we like our curly haired boys on this blog but I'm still not sure if I like David, the winner of this battle, all that much.
So that's it. The live shows begin on Saturday 28th April. Hoping for a better variety of song choices otherwise we'll need to turn the volume down.
At the moment we haven't picked a favourite team yet. But there will always be a place on this blog for a gratuitous picture of a certain Mr O'Donoghue....
Back to Team Will and one of the most controversial choices of the evening. Sophie was up against J Marie, the latter was very impressive in the blind auditions. Oh no, not "Firework". I hate "Firework" with a passion - why no more subtle songs? This was overcooked beyond description, although both did pretty well if you like that kind of thing. Fine so far, but for a programme called "The Voice" which is all about, um, the voice as it were, apparently it's all about the age too. Although we thought J Marie was clearly better, the criteria for not choosing her was....that she was 27. Does singing talent have an upper age limit then? Or is this a really stupid question when you consider the age of the oldest judge on the show?
Finally, David vs John James, tearing up "Dakota" by the Stereophonics. Of course we like our curly haired boys on this blog but I'm still not sure if I like David, the winner of this battle, all that much.
So that's it. The live shows begin on Saturday 28th April. Hoping for a better variety of song choices otherwise we'll need to turn the volume down.
At the moment we haven't picked a favourite team yet. But there will always be a place on this blog for a gratuitous picture of a certain Mr O'Donoghue....
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