The Voice UK Series 3 – The Semi Final: Top 8 Perform

 Team Tom

Sally Barker –  “Whole of the Moon” – 7/10 – The more Tom gets to know Sally, the funnier she becomes. She’s finally relaxing to the process. She loves the hair, the make up, the costumes. She’s going for a little more tempo this week, with a mid-tempo rock song. Her voice is precious but to me, it’s not as shiny here as it is when she does her usual thing, she’s way more emotive with ballads. Kylie thought it was a fantastic change of pace. She loved hearing another side to her performance. Coach Tom is teary again. He congratulates her for singing that song the way she sang it. He didn’t want to lose the lovely Sally but she wanted to do something more uptempo so he was glad they found this song.

Bizzi Dixon – “Everything Must Change” – 6,5/10 – Tom believes Bizzi keeps getting better. He loves he can do both uptempo songs and ballads. To get Leicester’s support, Bizzi went all Jack Bauer on them, only having 24hs to get them on his side. Sally is also from Leicester, so either way, he’s happy someone from his hometown will be in the final. Vocally this is rather impressive, the high notes he hit towards the end sounded amazing but other than that, the performance was pretty forgettable up until that point. will likes the fact Bizzi knows who smooth Bizzi is. Kylie felt it was smooth as honey.

Team Ricky

Christina Marie –  “Bang Bang” – 9/10 – She was physically sick last week because she was so nervous. She managed to get through the performance either way and ultimately, got Ricky’s fast pass. She didn’t actually have many friends during school, so when she had a tough day, she would just go home and listen to Mariah Carey and Michael Jackson. While last week’s song choice was a much better pick, Christina keeps impressing with her powerful pipes and cool arrangements. She managed to turn this jazzy tune into an epic, stunning number. I’d be shocked if she’s not the winner. “There was a lot going on but it’s really you what’s going on. You blow my mind, is there anything you can do?” Kylie wonders. Ricky feels she’s been a star since the beginning.

Chris Royal – “Smile” – 7,5/10 – He loved every single minute last week. Two days before his battle, his dad passed away. He remembers him looking forward to watching him and that was the hardest thing for him. Chris has some issues with his pitch and is flat at first though he recovers nicely. It’s not as rearranged as Christina’s song, yet is a pretty stellar heartfelt jazz cover. The little scat at the end was just lovely. Kylie felt he was in his zone, the performance was just stunning for her. Ricky is glad Chris chose that song. will says Chris’ voice was crystallized and burning hot, which as usual, makes no sense.

Team Kylie

Lee Glasson – “Strong” – 8/10 – To Kylie, Lee is a natural warrior. The pressure is starting to show, so Kylie gives him the weirdest pep talk, using a weird accent and all. His voice is barely audible the first few lines but then it turns into a passionate, moody performance. His delivery is so emotional, it is hard not to feel what he was saying. Lee felt it was his best and I tend to agree. Tom thinks he’s gonna go far but not in that car. Ricky thinks the song worked really well with him and it’s were he sees him going. will felt it was like a suffix.

Jamie Johnson –  “I Can’t Make You Love Me” – 8,5/10 – Kylie is now gonna be Jamie’s roadie so we see the two of them in Jamie’s mini. “You don’t see a roadie in high heels very oftenly” she says. Such an overdone song, why couldn’t Kylie give him a current song like she gave Lee? That aside, Jamie did a wonderful job with this done to death ditty, giving us an effortless, heartfelt take on it. It was so beautiful to hear Jamie sing something so emotional for Kylie. “To be 19 years old and sing with that emotion, it’s as though you’ve lived that song” Tom says.

Team will.i.am

Jermain Jackson –  “Without You” – 7,5/10 – Family means a lot to him, he’s got two older brothers and a twin sister.  No matter how proud his brothers are, they won’t let it show. He’s going for an electronic tune? Shockingly, it’s not as bad as I expected it to be. He sounds way better than he did last week, his pitch is controlled and the song is arranged in a way he’s able to showcase his soulful sound. Plus that prolonged note at the end, with the weird mic movement, was a showstopper. Maybe Jermain is a better singer than I intially thought after all. Tom think his range it’s what’s so appealing about him. To Ricky, it’s his confidence.

Sophie-May Williams –  “Royals” – 7/10 – She wants to do something modern and make it retro, basically because she’s done anything modern yet. “Retro futuristic sophistication” as will describes her. She’s sticking to her jazz roots, which applies to the older generations as well. Such a cool version of this song. Her vocals were lovely, will was spot on with his description, something I can’t believe I’m saying. The problem is, I’m not entirely sure it translated that well for the audience since there wasn’t much singing there. She’s dressed in something that Kylie would wear. “You look like a star and you sound like a star” Tom tells her.

The vote is now open. But before finding out the resutls, we’ll get one more performance from each team.

Team will – “Let’s Dance”

Team Ricky – “You Really Got Me”

Team Tom – “Dancing in the Streets”

Team Kylie – “Into the Blue”

Shakira – “Empire”

It’s Team Kylie’s turn. This is a tricky one. Both guys were good, so who knows? The artist with the most votes is Jamie Johnson, which means Lee Glasson is eliminated. Jamie can’t believe it. He asks everyone to keep supporting Lee as much as they can.

That’s it! Next week, it’s the final! And if you cannot get enough of me, make sure to follow me on my blog. Until next Saturday!