Saturday, 15 June 2013

Team Will's Leah goes through to the live final of The Voice series two as Cleo crashes out

There could only be one! Team Will's Leah goes through to the live final of The Voice series two as Cleo crashes out of the competition

They were arguably the two strongest contenders for The Voice UK series two crown.
But with Leah and Cleo both in the same team - with Will.i.am as their coach and mentor - there was never any hope to see them both in the grand final.
And on Saturday night's semi-final knock out, it was Leah who pinched the top spot - beating Cleo to the live finals despite both giving belting performances.
Going through: Leah won a place in the final of The Voice UK series two on Saturday night
Going through: Leah won a place in the final of The Voice UK series two on Saturday night
Both Cleo and Leah had been showered with praise after they made their semi-final performances with Jessie J, Sir Tom Jones, Danny O'Donoghue and Will all lavishing praise upon them.
And as Leah excitedly accepted her place in the final, Cleo graciously admitted defeat and championed her teammate.
'I knew I was going home and I didn't even prepare anything for next week,' Cleo said, revealing she'd given her all with her performance of En Vogue's Don't Let Go earlier in the night.
Looking on the bright side, she said: 'I am leaving on a good note. I feel like I have won. Thank you so very much.'
Going home: Cleo failed to win enough public votes despite giving a storming performance
Going home: Cleo failed to win enough public votes despite giving a storming performance
And clearly impressed with her performance, Will said: 'I wanna say you really inspired me, Cleo. What we went thorough in rehearsals - you are an amazing artist. If I could hang out and we could work together...' - suggesting the two could hook up musically in the future.
With eight contestants battling out in the semi finals, only four could advance to the final round, with Mike from team Tom, Matt from Team Jessie, and Andrea from team Danny joining Leah for next weekend's grande finale.
Joseph, Ash and Karl were the other contestants to crash out of the competition along with Cleo.
However the night's best performers had argualbly been Matt, Leah AND Cleo regardless of her failure to go through to the final round.
Coaching through: Danny, Tom, Jessie and Will prepared to watch their contestants perform in The Voice Semi Finals
Coaching through: Danny, Tom, Jessie and Will prepared to watch their contestants perform in The Voice Semi Finals
Burning desire - to win: Matt said he dedicated his performance to his mother who watched from the audience
Burning desire - to win: Matt said he dedicated his performance to his mother who watched from the audience
'You set the stage alight!' hostess Holly Willoughby, congratulating Matt after his performance of Alicia Keys Girl On Fire.
'Matt just burned down the stage literally,' Will said, reading a tweet he sent during the performance, before adding: 'I feel really proud that Jessie and you guys have formed a bond - originally from my team. I want to see you go all the way.'
Matt's own coach, Jessie was also quick to congratulate the soulfully voiced singer.
'I just see it in your eyes, hear it in your voice, how much you want this. That was amazing, Jessie said, stating the 'tiny' hairs (after she shaved her head for charity) were standing up as a result of the performance.
Former Cleopatra star Cleo was also praised on the night - having won a place in the semi-finals from the public vote last week - a move that humbled her as she thought people had her pinned as being unworthy of getting a second chance.
Giving it everything: Cleo belted out a song by En Vogue - winning over the judges and the studio audience
Giving it everything: Cleo belted out a song by En Vogue - winning over the judges and the studio audience
'Giving it everything she's got' (as per the words of Holly), Cleo took to the stage to sing Don't Let Go - the classic tune by En Vogue.
'The amazing thing that the public sees via this show is that there is a fine line between survival and giving up,' Jessie said after the performance, comparing herself to Cleo as she too gets chewed by the press on occasion.
She praised Cleo's performance, adding: 'Female to female, bad press to bad press.'
In true bonkers form, Will said she was like a 'swordsmith' and that she 'decapitated' everyone - which is a compliment.
'I'm always thinking that I'm going to go home and surprised that I make it through,' Cleo told Reggie after her performance, praising Leah as her personal favourite to win.
Killing it: Leah - who has already had chart success thanks to her performances on The Voice - impressed with her Semi Final song
Killing it: Leah - who has already had chart success thanks to her performances on The Voice - impressed with her Semi Final song
And indeed, Leah did go on to defeat teammate Cleo with her own show stopping performance, taking to the stage to sing the Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel, Killing Me Softly - popularized by The Fugees and Roberta Flack.
'I hope it came out as well on TV as well as it did in here,' Danny said, praising Leah's performance.
Jessie took the opportunity to congratulate Leah on her number 5 iTunes track from last weekend - although she warned her not to play it say 'Do you're own thing. I think you can be riskier.'
'First off, it's very rare you come across gifted singers,' Will reported - praising her 'incredible range' and 'crazy work ethic'.
Team Jessie: Ms J returned to the stage with her contestants Ash and Matt
Team Jessie: Ms J returned to the stage with her contestants Ash and Matt
Watch and learn: Jessie took her boys to the Capital Summertime Ball so they could watch her perform live
Watch and learn: Jessie took her boys to the Capital Summertime Ball so they could watch her perform live
Earlier in the show, Jessie J's team had been first up to perform - having hoped to prepare her contestants for the limelight after taking them to the Capital Summertime Ball the week before so they could see her perform in front of thousands of fans.
Impressed by his coach, Ash gushed: 'Jessie has taught us that it doesn't matter who you are singing in front of, you have to give it 150% all of the time - and that is what she did.'
He then had the pleasure of singing Rihanna's song Stay with Jessie herself and his fellow contestant, Matt.
X Factor? Ash sang a classic song by US superstar and former Fugee Lauryn Hill
X Factor? Ash sang a classic song by US superstar and former Fugee Lauryn Hill
Ash, talking ahead of his own performance of Lauryn Hill's classic tune X Factor, revealed his fears that he was a weaker contestant than his team mate Matt.
'I went to see Jessie at Wembley and it made this thing real for us and i want this now,' he said after his performance.
'Can I just say how comfortable you looked and how proud i feel. Vocally great and one of my best songs ever. I'm glad I got to see it from a front row,' Jessie gushed after he sang.
Will called the performance 'fantabulous' while Danny called it 'flawless' and Tom declared he was doing Wales proud - however Saturday proved to be the last time he would perform as a contender on The Voice as he left the show after failing to secure viewers votes.
On fire: Matt gave a great performance of an Alicia Keys song, winning praise from all the judges
On fire: Matt gave a great performance of an Alicia Keys song, winning praise from all the judges
Matt was next to take to the stage with his storming performance of Alicia Keys song, getting rather emotional after the performance as she spoke to host Reggie Yates back stage as he revealed he was dedicating the performance to his mum.
Danny had his next team up to perform next, revealing that he had brought his contestants with him to Radio 1 earlier in the week.
'If you don't have the backing of radio, you're not going anywhere,' Danny said to the cameras, reasoning that his contestants would need to learn how to deal with the media as part of their (hopeful) music careers.
The trio messed around with Scott Mills for a live broadcast, and for the live show the three performed together for a cover of the Passenger song Let Her Go.
Team Danny: The Script frontman joined Karl and Andrea for a group performance during the night
Team Danny: The Script frontman joined Karl and Andrea for a group performance during the night
Karl, who has struggled with confidence issues throughout the competition, took to the stage to sing I Believe I can Fly by R Kelly.
Getting great feedback from all the judges with Jessie saying she felt she really did believe that Karl can fly.
Will.i.am took it further, saying: 'I believe you can sing,' improving a rap to congratulate the performance.
Soaring voice: Karl sang I Believe I Can Fly by R Kelly for his semi final performance
Soaring voice: Karl sang I Believe I Can Fly by R Kelly for his semi final performance
Andrea - who has so far avoided the public vote as Danny gave her a fast pass to get to the semi finals - took to the stage to sing One Of Us by Joan Osbourne.
'It's been an amazing journey and I've thoroughly enjoyed my time here and I have grown as an artist,' she said of her experiences to date.
'She is just a beautiful singer,' said Tom. 'She's angelic and she touches me. She did it again tonight.'
'I thought it sounded enchanted,' said Will also praising Andrea. 'It looked amazing and sounded amazing. If God was one of us, he would have secrets. This raised some interesting questions,' he added, taking things to an unexpected philosophical level.
Meanwhile Danny revealed he struggled to find a song for Andrea.
Voice of an angel: Andrea sang One Of Us for her song and was praised for vocal ability
Voice of an angel: Andrea sang One Of Us for her song and was praised for vocal ability
'She plays guitar and writes her own material and it's hard to find material that is as good as the songs she writer. You've done me proud, and your family proud, and Ireland proud,' he said, praising his act - and she went on to make it through to the next round.
Next up was team Will - who had the delight of going shopping with the Black Eyed Pea earlier in the week.
Girls Leah and Cleo had fun running around shops and then singing in a studio together.
So dope: Will.i.am did a spot of graffiti artistry while his contestants Cloe and Leah performed together
So dope: Will.i.am did a spot of graffiti artistry while his contestants Cloe and Leah performed together
Breakdance Eyed Pea: Will also wowed the audience with some ambitious dance moves
Breakdance Eyed Pea: Will also wowed the audience with some ambitious dance moves
They then took to The Voice live stage to perform a rocked up version of Blondie's classic Rapture - with Will even creating some artwork as they sang and impressing with some break-dancing.
Leah - who already has a number 3 in download charts thanks to her The Voice performances - was first from Will's team to perform solo.
She took to the stage to sing the Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel, Killing Me Softly - popularized by The Fugees and Roberta Flack.
She expertly sang her track, with Cleo giving her performance soon after - with both their performances putting Will's team in the lead - according to responses online.
Early success: Leah has already entered the charts with her live The Voice music
Early success: Leah has already entered the charts with her live The Voice music
Hoping for seconds: Cleo - who already had success in the past as part of band Cleopatra - entered The Voice to try to get back into the charts
Hoping for seconds: Cleo - who already had success in the past as part of band Cleopatra - entered The Voice to try to get back into the charts
Joseph and Mike were treated to a night of drinks with Tom Jones during the week - giving them some dutch courage to help them improve their people skills.
He took them to The One Show to showcase their personalities - an honour that the boys seemed terrified by, but took in their stride as they went out on air live.
The three of them then performed Games People Play by Joe South for their team performance.
Connected: Sir Tom Jones - who appears to be friends with everyone - was keen for his acts to step out their shells
Connected: Sir Tom Jones - who appears to be friends with everyone - was keen for his acts to step out their shells
Shy boy Joseph was the first of Team Tom to sing live solo, choosing End of The Road by Boyz II Men for his semi final song.
Saying he was so glad Joseph chose the song, Will said he killed the track and he would gladly prepare a plate of beef for him in respect.
Tom praised his act, pointing out that Boyz II Men were four men, 'but one Joseph is enough'.
Solo man: Joseph wowed the judges with his rendition of Boyz II Men's End Of Time
Solo man: Joseph wowed the judges with his rendition of Boyz II Men's End Of Time
Mike was then the last to give a solo performance, singing Picking Up The Pieces by Paloma Faith for his round.
As a country singer, Mike gave the song a country twist - which impressed Will who claimed 'if you close your eyes you sound like you're from middle America.'
'Mike has a natural country voice,' Tom concurred, adding: 'It's natural and real and he's not copying anyone.'
And the young hunk did indeed strike a chord with the viewing public as he was crowned the champion within Tom's team for this week - securing a place in the final ahead of Joseph.
Country boy: Hot singer Mike gave an interesting performance of Paloma Faith's Picking Up The Pieces
Country boy: Hot singer Mike gave an interesting performance of Paloma Faith's Picking Up The Pieces



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2342273/Team-Wills-Leah-goes-live-final-The-Voice-series-Cleo-crashes-competition.html#ixzz2WKCARBzI
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