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The Voice UK is at the elimination stages prior to the Live Shows. After the blind auditions the acts have to go head to had this weekend in a singing battle, literally.

Two acts performed against each other in a makeshift fighting ring. First up were two female acts that were part of will.i.am's team. Jenny Jones v Joelle Moses – “I’m Every Woman”, originally by Chaka Khan. The act that went through was Joelle Moses which was no surprise.

Next up though was not so easy. Two male acts belonging to Danny's team fought to the singing death. Max Milner v Bill Downs – “Beggin’”, originally by Madcon. Both performed to the extreme leaving a hard decision for their mentor. In the end Danny opted to take through Max.

Two from Tom Jones' acts were next. Sam Butterly v Aundrea Nyle sang  “A Little Less Conversation”, an  Elvis Presley standard. Sam was selected to go to the next stage. Jessie J chose to put Kirsten Joy v Toni Warne performing “Think”, by James Brown. For this blogger Toni came out the strongest. By the end of the performance though it was a tie. Jessie J looked more than once as if she would would wet her pants in excitement..The girls got a standing audition from the audience. Jessie opted for Toni.

So back to Danny and Vince Freeman v Bo Bruce performing “With or Without You”, by U2. Vince had to try and tone his powerful rocking style down whist Bo needed to do the reverse. Predictably Bo went through. Back to will.i.am and Tyler James v Heshima Thompson performing  “Yeah 3x”, by Chris Brown. Both performers were not happy with the chosen track. It was a case of suck it and see. Tyler won through.

The next two acts were from the Jessie J camp and both said they loved each other. It is a competition though and only one of them would survive. Jessica Hammond v Vince Kidd performed “We Found Love”,by  Rihanna and as they say they smashed it. Vince won through.

Will.i.am's Jaz Ellington v Jay Norton singing “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”, Marvin Gaye were the penultimate acts.Jaz triumphed, unsurprisingly.  Ruth Brown v Deneice Pearson singing  “No One”, Alicia Keys, were last but certainly not least. Tom Jones had a difficult choice.  Ruth was emotional even in rehearsals. The song meant much to her after the loss of her father. So who would be the last act through from tonight's show? Both were good but Ruth has such a powerful natural voice for a girl so young. Like a young Aretha. Once again she brought tears to Tom Jones eyes. Who did he pick? Why Ruth of course.

Battles was aired on the BBC 7pm to 8.30pm Saturday April 21, 2012, Britain's Got Talent on ITV having lost the ratings war has surrendered and moved its timing slightly.
The second Battles show will be on the same channel Sunday April 22 at 7.30pm.

Tags: The Voice UK, Battles weekend, will.i.am, Jessi J, Tom Jones, Danny O'Donoghue, singing contest, BGT, BBC

 
 
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The blind auditions of The Voice UK where completed last weekend. On Saturday April 21 the competition proper will begin. Each of the four judges currently has ten acts but these are to be whittled down to five each. Presumably in spite of the high drama and histrionics each judge will have an idea who will be their top performers.In order to hype up the show programmers have scheduled the Voice for two weekend shows. These will be aired on Saturday at 7.00pm and Sunday at 7.30pm

Britain's Got Talent has lost the weekend TV ratings war and looks set to be rescheduled. This is good news for The Voice UK and the BBC.

The Battle weekend will showcase the performers in the ring pitting their talents against each other. The judges will need to make their selections carefully. No matter how good each performer is though the 40 acts which will begin the first show on Saturday will be reduced to 20.

The way it will work is that each judge will divide their ten acts into five pairs. They will receive some intense coaching before they have to perform. Each pair will compete against each other. They will perform the same song, at the same time. It will be up to the judge, come mentor to choose who wins in each pairing.


The pairings secret is out and the details are:

Team Will.i.am
Heshima Thompson vs. Tyler James
Joelle Moses vs. Jenny Jones
Frances Wood vs. Kate Read
J Marie Cooper vs. Sophie Griffin
Jay Norton vs. Jaz Ellington

Team Jessie J

Jessica Hammond vs. Vince Kidd
David Faulkner vs. Cassius Henry
Toni Warne vs. Kirsten Joy
Ben Kelly vs. Ruth Ann St Luce
Indie and Pixie vs. Becky Hill

Team Tom Jones

Adam Isaac vs. Denise Morgan
Matt and Sueleen Fletcher vs. Lindsay Butler
Deniece Pearson vs. Ruth Brown
Barbara Bryceland vs. Leanne Mitchell
Aundrea Nyle vs. Sam Buttery

Team Danny O’Donoghue

Bill Downs vs. Max Milner
David Julien vs. John James Newman
Aleks Josh vs. Emmy J Mac
Hannah Berney vs. Murray Hockridge
Bo Bruce vs. Vince Freeman
 
 
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The Voice UK continued at 19.00 on BBC1 in the UK, March 31, 2012. This week's episode was more of the same as the blind auditions continued. This week though TVUK had to fight harder to dominate the viewing figures.

Last Week Britain's Got Talent kicked off on ITV. Last week both of these "talent" shows were aired at different times. As TVUK ended flip the remote and BGT was just starting on ITV. This week the two programs overlapped by 20 minutes. Fair enough with channels such as ITV plus one you could watch BGT later but this overlap was bound to affect viewing numbers.

Just prior to the show the mailonline reported that "Five of the 11 contestants in tonight’s episode have already had their shot at stardom – including a Brit award winner." It seems that this talent show is not averse to including slightly familiar faces.

First up went to will.i.am's team although Heshima Thompson had the pick of the four. As a previous backing singer to Amy Winehouse he has the experience as well as the voice. A perfect team member for will.i.am though

Second up Barbara Bryceland performed Wild Horses. The four judges had obviously decided i was a slightly older lady perfect for Tom Jones team. Thankfully for her he "turned around" and off Barbara went to Tom Jones team.

A younger contestant next with David Julien. Current from the first note. Quick as a flash will.i.am and Danny turned around. He opted for Danny. A belting female singer next in Kerry Ellis. Sadly she finished with no takers. Having starred in various musicals this woman was no amateur. She did however come across as a bit of a karaoke come pub singer.

Each judge can only select a total of ten singers so it is already getting harder for some to get selected. So on it went. Tonight's show included a duo and of course stand out performers as well as oddities. For some being judged simply on their voice is not enough. It is the whole package that is a winner. Judges eeked out decisions for a little drama and tempted each other to turn around. Sometimes that had to be a cn to suck them in.

Shansel Huseyin was a first. An opera singer performing Nessum Dorma. Unfortunately for Shansel there were no takers. The judges went on to praise her but it was not her night. With the live shows starting next week tonight's included clips of auditions not aired in full. Perhaps tonight's show was a little less entertaining than the first one lats week. Still onwards and upwards to the live shows and hopefully an entertaining competition.

Personal performance of the night - Vince Freeman - Sex is on Fire,

 
 
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Saturday night TV entertainment in the UK tends to be more of the same. Tired talent shows, repeats, dire game shows and the like. Tonight, March 24, 2012, a new show kicked off at 7pm on BBC1. Yes The Voice UK is another singing competition but at least the format is new to British audiences. It has a different set of coaches and a fresh feel to those we are more used to

It may not be new to the world but The Voice is to the UK and looks set to be a winner.

The coaches certainly have a good musical pedigree. Sir Tom Jones, Jessie J, will.i.am and Danny O'Donoghue all performed together before the show proper began. A rendition of The Black Eyed Peas, tonight's gonna be a good night, and let the fun and games begin.

Tonight was the blind auditions. Each coach sat with their back to the singers as they were auditioning. One, more or all of the coaches can turn around and choose to select an act. If more than one hits the "I want you" button the act can decide who they want to work with. Each coach will end up with 10 acts and the competition will begin the search for The UK Voice.

The idea with this format is that each singer is simply judged on their voices. Whether they are not so young, chunky, look nothing like a possible singing superstar or the like is immaterial

First up was Jessica Hammond. All the coaches wanted her. She had the pick of the bunch. Will.i.am all but grovelled for her to join his team but in the end she went for Jessie J. Next was Sean Conlon. In spite of talent and a past career as a member of boyband 5 he went home empty handed.

Sam Buttery sang Set Fire to the Rain. All but Tom Jones thought it was a girl singing. Tom jumped at the chance of coaching Sam. Next up was 34-year-old Toni Warne. A battle with alopaecia since a young age had taken its toll on Toni. Then a few years ago she lost all her hair. Her audition was powerful but her story brought the first tears of the Voice UK. Toni joined Jessie J's team.

So the show progressed in this way. Entertaining in its own way. More were selected others sent home. The final act of this week came around and will.i.am still had to manage to secure an act. J Marie Cooper wowed the coaches and the studio audience. She received a standing ovation from the coaches. In the end she opted for will.i.am as he was the first coach to turn around.

The show ended with Tom having three acts, Jessie three, Danny one and will.i.am one. Next week the blind auditions continue as the coaches continue their search for The Voice UK.