Big voices and divas-in-training lead The Voice knockouts as will.i.am and Ricky Wilson cut their teams ahead of live finals
By MARC ANDREWS
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On Saturday night it was Kylie Minogue and Sir Tom Jones who were on knockout duty, but on Sunday night's The Voice it was the turn of will.i.am and Kaiser Chiefs' frontman Ricky Wilson to chop their teams down from seven to three ahead of the live shows.
When it came down to Ricky's choices he went for big-voiced Chris, diva-in-training Christina Marie and young Emily who proved to be a difficult final choice for him.
will.i.am's final three went to girl with a big voice Iesher, man with an outstanding range Jermain and also sweet Sophie May who as he pointed out is like something from The Great Gatsby.
Team Ricky and Team will both had to whittle their teams down from seven to three on Sunday's The Voice
Team Ricky is official: (L-R) Emily, Christina Marie and Chris with host Marvin Humes (far left)
Team will (L-R) Sophie May, Jermain and singing powerhouse Iesher
The first knockout blow came from Team Ricky.
'I think I have the strongest team, I'd be daft not to,' Ricky declared up front. 'I have to whittle it down from seven to three - it's going to be so tough and it's stressing me out a bit to be honest.
'What I'm looking for is just the best three. This isn't just going through the lives but winning it. It's the biggest test for me and the biggest test for them - I can't say good bye to any of them really.'
It was Ricky's turn first to whittle his team down from seven to three
Jessica was the first from Team Ricky to take the stage. It was her second time on The Voice and she was stolen from will's team initially.
The fiery-haired beauty chose 'La La La' by Naughty Boy feat Sam Smith and said she wanted to pick a song that wasn't her 'and make it me'.
Working the stage and selling the song with a dynamic and very individual performance, Jessica proved that she did indeed have that X factor which any winner of a TV talent show would need to have a sustained career.
Jessica transformed her song choice into a truly unique, and very her, performance
Second up was Chris singing for a place in the live shows who Ricky called 'an unlikely but perfect pop star'.
He chose Over The Rainbow from The Wizard Of Oz most famously sung by Judy Garland and amply demonstrated his huge vocal range.
'That was beautiful,' Kylie said. 'Have you got your handkerchief?'
Chris chose the old chestnut 'Over The Rainbow' to showcase his vocal range
Third up was 16-year-old Beth who rocked up on stage with her guitar who Ricky initially turned around because of her 'pure personality'.
She chose for her song choice Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus. 'This is where I totally get to be me,' she revealed and saying that she was three-years-old when the song originally was released.
Putting on a suitably rocky performance, Beth proved to have plenty of personality.
She isn't a teenage dirtbag but Jade sure sang the song well
Fourth up was Christina Marie who Sir Tom called 'one to watch' and Ricky called 'a powerhouse'.
Kylie said that Christina Marie's diva voice raised the bar and suitably she chose to sing Mariah Carey's Vision of Love powerballad.
'This is my one shot,' Christina Marie said before she took the stage. 'And I've got to give it everything I've got.'
Eventually owning the song after a somewhat lacklustre opening, Christina Marie's soared over the song and owned it completely, even managing the extremely high notes that Mariah is famous for.
Christina Marie took on the challenge of covering Mariah Carey's very first hit
Fifth up for Team Ricky, and a hard act to follow after Christina Marie, was Jazz.
'She is fierce and can be more real than anyone else,' Ricky said of Jazz who chose Beyonce's Work It Out to cover on the night.
Taking to the stage in a lime yellow dress, Jazz gave it plenty of Beyonce during her performance although will.i.am looking particularly unimpressed by her talents.
Jazz covered Beyonce's Work It Out in a dazzling lime yellow outfit
The penultimate contestant for Team Ricky was Max who wandered on with his acoustic guitar.
'Max is my Scottish Judo champion,' Ricky said. 'And my heartthrob'.
Max chose Gabrielle Aplin's Home to sing and after a slow start by the time he got to the chorus he was owning the song and impressing the judges with all four tapping along to the handsome hunk's performance.
Max looked and sang like a teen heartthrob during his performance
The final contestant for Team Ricky was Emily from Blackpool.
She chose Slip by Stooshe saying she had chosen it because it was young and fresh and would show off her voice.
Dressed in a satin green jump suit, Emily proved to be a surprise bundle as she strutted her funky stuff across the stage and turned a mild pop hit into a storming big band stormer.
Blackpool's Emily proved to be a real wildcard with an inspired song choice
When it came down to Ricky's choices for his three he said 'from the beginning I promised I would fight for them and see them through as far as they could go'.
He was talking about Chris with his huge vocal range who was 'speechless' when he found out.
The second choice for Ricky was Christina Marie, an obvious choice and perhaps even an obvious choice to be eventual winner of the series too.
Ricky's final choice was between Jazz and Emily and he had to confer with the other judges before finally deciding that it would be Emily 'because of what they can do'
After Team Ricky, it was his turn to cut back his team from seven to three
After Team Ricky's seven it was the turn of Team will.i.am to take to the stage.
'My team is pristine to the extreme,' he said. 'I'm just looking to being blown away. Bring the fire and bright the heat - that's how you're going to compete.'
First to sing on his team was androgynous pop star ready James who will said reminded him of David Bowie or his creation Ziggy Stardust. His song choice was 70s classic Love Hurts by Nazareth.
With lipstick on and hair brushed to the side, James gave an inspired vocal performance though he still looked a little uncomfortable on the stage.
James had a very androgynous quality about him as he sang his way through Love Hurts
Second up was 19-year-old Iesher who blew will away when he first heard her during the blind auditons who he called 'a little powerhouse'.
She chose to sing Whitney Houston's Try It On My Own big ballad especially for her mother, who had sung it to her.
Proving she could more than hold her own in the diva stakes, Iesher owned the song and proved that her big voice from a little girl could fill the room and win over the judges.
Iesher tackled a Whitney Houston classic and made it her own
Third of Team will's contestants was Callum who was dressed like a mix of homeboy and a warrior prince.
His song choice was Girls Aloud's The Sound Of The Underground which proved to have plenty phat beats and movement to allow him to work the stage and the crowd.
Afterwards Kylie clapped his performance and will declared it 'fantastic'.
Callum had a brave song choice in Girls Aloud's The Sound Of The Underground
The fourth contestant on Team will was Jermain who Sir Tom declared 'he can really sing that guy'.
'I always said I wanted to be the first singing black Prime Minister,' Jermain declared before announcing that his song choice would be the soul classic A House Is Not A Home which has been covered many times by great artists including Luther Vandross.
Proving that he had a great soul voice on par with the long departed Luther, Jermain, wearing braces seemed to win all the judges over with his smooth and soaring vocal powerhouse showstopping.#
Jermain proved to be the vocal powerhouse of the show with his range
Fifth member of Team will was Anna who originally played the harp and sang Daft Punk's Get Lucky in her initial audition.
She sang Autumn by Paolo Nutini which will called 'the least likely song to trailblaze' and caused many members of the audience to have tears in their eyes.
'Very sweet,' Kylie called her performance.
Anna gave a moving performance with her harp by her side
Sixth member was Nomakhosi who will stole 'because she is a gem'.
She sang Bruno Mars' Runaway Baby and sure sang her heart out during her short performance proving that all the faith will had in her is well-founded.
After her tearing up of the stage Nomakhosi received a standing ovation from will, as well as many in the audience. 'I love the way she moves,' Kylie pointed out.
Nomakhosi had plenty of soul and sass to put into her performance
The final contestant for will's team was Sophie May who will said she was like something out of The Great Gatsby and the 1920s.
Her song choice was Moon River, originally sung by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's and a tribute to her idol, who Sophie May even vaguely resembles.
After a spellbinding performance with Sophie May decked out in pearls and her hair tied-up it was a superlative and quirky interpretation of a classic song.
Sophie May looked, and sang, like a true star as she swooned through Moon River
When it came for will to chose his final three he went with Iesher. The second place went to Jermain who as Sir Tom pointed out has a simple outstanding vocal range. The final place on his team went to Sophie May who gave will a big hug and said 'oh my God it's mad!'
'I wanted to have uniques and uniques is what I got,' will pointed out.
Next Saturday sees the first live quarter final of The Voice on BBC One.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2582258/Big-voices-divas-training-lead-The-Voice-Knockouts-Ricky-Wilson-cut-teams-ahead-live-finals.html#ixzz2wAPIorAZ
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