Tonight’s show opened with Leanne Mitchell being thrown under a cabaret wagon and/or to the dogs. It was rather predictable – I asked in my pre-show piece which of Leanne, Frances or Matt & Sueleen would be sent on first and it turned out they were the right people to peg for it. Leanne got mediocre praise that echoed X Factor tactics and then we moved swiftly on. Goodbye, Leanne, I suppose.
Frances went up next and didn’t fare much better. After opening on the wrong note, the Wakefield lass struggled to find her key and then received lukewarm comments, as did Matt & Sueleen who went on third. I think it’s pretty fair to say that we won’t see any of the first three acts in the semi-finals.
Next up was Joelle, who did her very best to climb her way back up the ranks but failed to receive much favour from the show. After a weird moment of high-fives with the coaches, Joelle was essentially rather forgettable and I can’t imagine her qualifying through popular vote or Will’s save tomorrow.
So, essentially, The Voice appeared to rather blatantly split the eight acts into a first half of unflavoured contestants and a second half of favourites. Not exactly subtle. Sending Ruth on right after Joelle did an especially good job of eclipsing the latter, which seemed far from accidental. Ruth was indeed a firebomb. The sense that the show had really begun and that the headliners were performing was crystal clear. Ruth received another full standing ovation from audience and mentors alike and it seems clear that her place in the final and the public’s heart is unshaken. The whole “I feel like a musician now” moment with Tom Jones in rehearsal was VT gold.
Up next was Tyler James, whose slot suggested he is still preferred as number two on Team Will. With a song choice that suited him perfectly, Tyler looked like the clear semi-finalist to Ruth’s finalist. Perhaps I could be wrong and Joelle could be saved at the last moment but it seems very unlikely.
So the penultimate slot went to Adam Isaac, for whom The Voice are fashioning certain ‘endearing’ qualities. The coy lean over to the microphone has become a charming idiom, along with Adam’s slightly simple-minded comments and proposal-laiden VT. Aw, we are supposed to think. What a cutie.
If we imagine that The Voice wants more than two females in the eight-strong semi-finals and that Joelle and Leanne will fail to qualify then it seems fair to assume that Bo will have a good chance of qualifying next week. If that does become the case then only one out of Max, Aleks and David will qualify and that, for me, is the hardest question to call on The Voice so far (although having Adam in the semis would rather make up for losing one in terms of the ‘attractive man’ vote). It seems very likely, considering the predictability of tonight’s show that there will be no U-turns for Team Jessie and it will be Vince and Becky making it through.
Speaking of predictability, Jaz got pimped again. Not only did he receive a mashup of TWO popular songs about love, his VT showed him discovering the sex of his unborn child in a Harley Street clinic, presumably paid for by the show. On top of this, it was his wedding anniversary and photos of Jaz and his wife were incorporated into the stage set. I had speculated as to whether Jaz would be pimped again so soon but my doubts were quashed when Jaz received every favour the show could offer (even though he looked a lot like the Halifax man tonight).
So what does this mean for the results show? I stick by my prediction that Jaz and Ruth will make the popular vote whilst Tyler and Adam will be saved by their mentors. To be fair, it wouldn’t take a hardened Sofabet commenter to select those four contestants for the semi-final. Not after the preferences indicated in tonight’s show.
Your thoughts, please? Do let us know as soon as you hear of any leaks!
Well we could argue if they will save the one who poses a less threat to Ruth/Jaz but that’s not what the order showed.
It’s definitely a well thought of consideration, Boki. Leanne and Joelle would be very unthreatening and also allow for more male action from Team Danny. The thing is, they’d also make for a more boring semi-final and appear to make the show backtrack on it’s preferences. And I suspect after last week that Bo has enough favour to carry her through.
We will never know since no voting numbers will be published, btw almost all are boring so it’s not a big deal 🙂
Early leaks suggest that Jaz, Ruth, Tyler and Leanne made the semis with Adam going home. We’ll have to wait for more conclusive evidence. If true, this means that the death slot was survived. It also means that gender is a less important factor in Bo’s chances, although it doesn’t necessarily hurt her.
That would mean the death slot is saved 3rd time in a row so it’s not supposed to be so deadly. My guess (after Joelle) was that they want to open the show with a strong vocal and apparently saved if in danger.
OK, well that means I’ve lost on laying Leanne too. Having a FABULOUS evening…
Hi Boki,
If Leanne was saved,it doesn’t necessarily mean that she wasn’t bottom of the voting. Last night, only the top contestant was revealed and then the coach chose one from the bottom 3 to join them. This show has so much control over which singers stay that it’s very hard to predict who the voting public are behind.
By the way love the sofabet articles.
Hi Saoirse, maybe I wasn’t clear enough, I didn’t want to say she wasn’t bottom on voting but only that they seem to save the 1st act no matter what the result is.
I personally did not rate Jaz’s singing tonight. I did not think his vocals were the best I have ever heard but, in your words, the pimping he received in tonight’s show, is probably what is going to carry him through. I mean, signing sweet nothings to his crying wife with a spot light shining on her is pure cheese!
Watching will.i.am’s end of show performance with his team, it was rather obvious the two that they want to make it through – Tyler and Jaz.