After what feels like years, waiting for
The Voice to finally air – it did, this weekend! Obviously, I would be tuning in this season because of the new, highly anticipated judge, Rita Ora. I hadn’t watched the Voice since Jessie J was a coach on the first season, so I was excited to see how they were going to keep us tuned in this time around. What did they do? Hire Rita Ora as the new judge. Life made. Rita joining the judging panel was exciting for the fans however I cant say the same for the public. You could say it caused quite a stir in the 'wonderful' world of media. I knew people were going to be unsure about her new role but I also knew as soon as the first episode aired everybody would see the real Rita Ora. We haven’t had much music from her, so having the chance
to see her on Saturday night TV is a treat! Even if I already know what
happens up to the battles.
I was lucky enough to attend most of the
auditions, from the blinds right through to the Battles. The auditions took
place in Media City Salford, which is a 20minute tram ride away from me,
so everything worked out perfect. I loved being in the studio and being able to empathise with the nervous constants and obviously, Rita (first time and all). The studio is
so much smaller in real life, its freezing and the lights made my eyeballs dry
up. I applaud Rita, Will, Tom and Ricky because they worked
approximately nineteen-hour days. Considering I was wiped after one round of
auditions which was *only* six or seven hours, I don’t know how they kept their
energy levels up. I never thought sitting down for seven hours could be so
tiring.
So Saturday night, 8.05 million people
tuned in to The Voice. Considering a new season of the previously popular Stars
in Their Eyes was on at the same time over on ITV, it only managed to pull in
3.68 million viewers. It was a successful night for The Voice and The BBC
in terms of ratings. I do hope this is a means to go on because the programme
has potential and so do the contestants this year. The whole dynamic of the
show is innovative and concentrates on what really matters, so why do the
public favour X Factor over The Voice? Probably because they play up to drama
and create sob stories to make their contestants seem a little more
interesting. At least with the BBC, there is no boring adverts every 5 minutes!
Each week, I have decided since I am seeing everybody's audition for the second time that I will kind of 'review' or just write down my thoughts about the contestants that stood out for me. Here we go...
Letitia George - first chair turner
Letitia was the first contestant of the
blind auditions; her audition was one that distinctly stuck in my mind since
the first blinds in September. As soon as she stepped onto the stage, her
presence filled the room and then the sweet sound of Sam Smith’s ‘Stay With Me’
began playing. The room instantly rose to their feet and clapped along as she
paraded the stage, clearly loving the support from the audience. We, as the
audience were in the perfect position because we could see the judge’s
reactions and obviously we could see Letitia. Ricky turned first, and then Rita
chinned the button, Tom wasn't far behind and at this point the audience was
going crazy!
What made her audition memorable for me
was how confident she was in herself and this was portrayed in her performance.
Oh and obviously that chicken question, Letitia definitely gets some sort of
award for asking Tom Jones how spicy he likes his chicken. I’m laughing just
thinking about it. Either way, after the judges battled for her, she became the
first member of Team Ricky.
Howard Rose - Guitar, beard & easy on the eye
Howard rose took on The Who's - My
generation in his blind audition. His soft voice kept the audience mesmerised
and his unique tone gave me instant goose bumps. Reaching notes so high that
even I couldn't dream of hitting them. Knowingly, Rita gave Tom the stern nod
of approval and silent 'he's just right for your team'. The performance started
off slow with just a man and his guitar, however after Rita's "he sounds
hot" comment, the drums kicked in and the performance boomed. Leaving me
prancing around the room and bopping my head along, every thing about his
performance perfectly portrayed his musical range. Rita couldn't keep still in
her chair, and although I’m sure she'd have loved to turn, the judges only have
12 places and Rose is more Tom and Ricky's musical style. I've found when
you're watching; it sometimes can be a bit predictable in terms of who is going
to turn. Take the Tom Jones - welsh people example. Howard Rose chose Tom and
he became the first member of Team Tom.
Ryan Green - Rita’s first baby
I was in the
studio when Ryan Green graced the stage, I was interested to see what he was going
to sing as he sat down at his keyboard. And then I heard the first second of
Coldplay’s – Magic and instantly knew Rita was going to fall in love. She
covered this song a lot last year and it's my all time favourite cover by her. All of us instantly looked at Rita because she knew we knew. “Yes” she squealed in her chair, “yes” she knew exactly what her next move was going to
be. Swinging her leg up, she used her super high platforms to press that button
followed by “I knew it” – girl, we knew it too! Was anybody else dying
whilst she was singing along with him? Gah. Props to Ryan for keeping his cool
and finishing the song flawlessly. Rita was the only judge to turn for Ryan and now she has had her first baby. Congratulations Rita and welcome to Team Rita, Ryan.
Hannah Symons - More
like PowerFULL
Singing a song
that a previous contestant sung on was pretty amazing for the whole voice
contestant controversy. Hannah sang Rudimental’s Powerless which featured Becky
Hill (Season 1 contestant) and we later found out that Hannah actually co-wrote
the song with “her friend” Becky! Seconds into the performance, Will was
millimeters away from pressing his button, its ironic she is singing a song
called Powerless as this is one thing her voice definitely isn’t. Rita
followed, Tom’s hand was by his button and as soon as Will hit his button,
Ricky followed. Her voice filled the room and instantly gave you that good
feeling. sneaky Rita Ora was next to hit the button with her... bottom! “Rita, you’re
so naughty”. Watching Hannah’s audition back, one thing I noticed was how much I was smiling through it, her performance was so energetic and made me want to
get up and dance until my legs collapsed. Her voice did dwindle towards the
end, but 3 out of the 4 judges turned so wouldn’t you be just a tiny bit
excited? Lets welcome the second member of Team Ricky!
Stevie McCorie –
Got all he wanted
Stevie’s opening
line of Kodalines – All I Want made the hairs on the back of my neck stand UP!
His voice is unreal and it just felt so natural. Again, another voice unlike
anything I’ve ever heard before. Rita
was the first to turn by again using her chin to hit the button – each to their own. Not only
can Stevie have a voice sent down from heaven but he’s quite alright looking.
After Rita turned and finally saw what he looked like, her reaction was
priceless leaving her to melt into her chair. Tom soon pushed his button when
Stevie hit the songs climax and Rita was not happy! She probably knew that she’d
loose him to Tom because of his style of singing. Next thing you know, it’s the end of the song and ALL four judges
have pushed their buttons and the four chairs have turned round. A very deserving
reaction from everybody, no wonder his audition was left until the end of the
program! Ricky rightfully won him over and so Stevie McCorie is the third
member of Team Ricky.
I'd say Week 1, Episode 1 was a success! I have a good feeling I'm going to really enjoy this season and so with each new episode I will continue to update you on what I'm thinking and any extra juicy goss from when I saw it in the studio!
I want to know what you thought of the episode 1!
Soph x
