The competition was seriously fierce tonight as The Voice UK Live Semi Finals got underway, with the eight remaining artists singing to secure their place in the all important Final.
With no more lifelines from their Coach it was solely down to the public vote to determine who would make it through to the Live Final next weekend, and who would be going home.
The four artists to leave the competition tonight were Ash Morgan, Karl Michael, Cleo Higgins and Joseph Aspostol.
Before leaving the stage for the last time they turned to their Coaches to hear what they had to say, with Jessie J telling Ash “I just want to say you have one of the best voices I’ve heard in a long time, and you going home doesn’t change that. This is just the beginning for you.”
Danny O’Donoghue said “Karl is one of those artists that really deserves to be here and unfortunately there can only be one person going into the final. But I’m telling you right now, the rest of the UK, watch this space. This guy is going to be huge.”
Will.i.am bid farewell to Cleo but promised to work with her, saying “I want to say you really inspired me Cleo. To see what we went through in the rehearsal and for you to step forward and say ‘no, I want to do this’, and how you conducted the band. You are an amazing artist. I would love to work with you.”
Finally Sir Tom Jones said of Joseph “I think that Joseph is a great singer, and I’m glad that I didn’t have to make the decision tonight. It would have been a very difficult one because they’re both great singers and very different from one another.”
Team Jessie finalist: Matt Henry: “All week I’ve been going Ash has had two fast passes and I’ve got to be able to do this. I was up against someone who is absolutely amazing.”
Team Danny finalist: Andrea Begley : “This is the first time I’ve been up for the public vote. I didn’t know what the public perception of me was. People could have deemed it that I’m here because of my disability, so for people to vote for me because of my singing is the best feeling in the world.”
Team Will finalist: Leah McFall: “I’m so surprised. She (Cleo) was incredible, she killed it man. Thank you so much.”
Team Tom finalist: Mike Ward: “Thanks everyone who voted for me. I’m very surprised. I never would have thought I’d get this far.”
SEMI FINALS RECAP
Opening the show in spectacular style was Jessie J and her semi finalists Ash Morgan and Matt Henry with their powerful rendition of Stay by Rihanna. It was Ash who then took to the stage for the first of the artists performance with the Lauryn Hill classic Ex Factor, followed by Matt setting the stage alight with Girl On Fire by Alicia Keys.
Next up was Danny O’Donoghue and his artists Karl Michael and Andrea Begley. With Danny on the guitar and some truly amazing harmonies, the three wowed the live studio audience with Let Her Go by Passenger. Afterwards it was Karl’s turn to sing for a place in the competition with R Kelly’s I Believe I Can Fly, followed by Andrea and her beautiful rendition of One Of Us by Joan Osborne.
Leah McFall and Cleo Higgins were on next with their Coach will.i.am, giving a spectacular performance of Rapture by Blondie, and Will showing no end to his talent as he busted out his breakdancing moves. Hitting the high notes once more afterwards was Leah as she sang Killing Me Softly by Roberta Flack, not to be outdone by Cleo and her unbelievable vocals with the R&B classic Don’t Let Go by En Vogue.
And last but by no means least was the legendary Sir Tom Jones with his boys Joseph Apostol and Mike Ward, performing the 60s song Games People Play by Joe South. Showing just how big one man’s voice can be, Joseph took on the popular Boyz II Men song End Of The Road, meaning the final artist to sing for a place in The Voice UK final was Mike, putting his own Country take on Paloma Faith’s Picking Up The Pieces.
It was then time for all eight semi finalists to return to the stage for their electrifying Group Performance of I Will Wait by Mumford & Sons, bringing the Coaches and entire studio audience to their feet.
Tonight’s special guest performers were Canadian songstress Avril Lavigne with her new single Here’s To Never Growing Up from her upcoming album, and Liam Gallagher’s acclaimed rock band Beady Eye with their song Second Bite Of The Apple.
The remaining four artists in the competition and will be performing in the live finals on BBC One at 7.15pm on Saturday 22nd June.
View the original post The Voice 2013 results: Andrea Begley, Leah McFall, Mike Ward & Matt Henry through to final – Beady Eye & Avril Lavigne perform on Unreality TV