Tonight is round two of the knockouts and Team Will and Team Ricky will each compete for the coveted 3 places in the live shows. Team Ricky takes to the stage first. Opening the show is Jessica Steele, who Ricky ‘stole’ in the last round. Jessica has chosen ‘La La La’ by Naughty Boy. Ricky whispers ‘C’mon be strong.’ It’s a really cool interpretation of the song and Jessica seems confident. Chris is up next and he has opted for ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ it’s nice enough and Chris gets to demonstrate his falsetto but we think it’s a strange song choice. Next up is Beth, who is the youngest act in the competition. Beth is singing ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ and Ricky is horrified when he realises she was only 3 when this song was released by Wheetus! We really like Beth’s take on this song and she reminds us of a young Ellie Goulding (said in our best Louis Walsh voice). Tom says it was good but a bit pitchy. On to Christina Marie who is one of the best singers in the competition. We’d put money on her going through. Christina looses brownie points when she announces that her song is ‘Vision of Love’ by Mariah Carey. Christina nails it.
Now we have Jazz, who has chosen ‘Work it Out’ (we approve) and Ricky and Jazz bond over a love of Beyonce and she sounds great. Ricky’s team are really going for it tonight! Ricky has a really tough call. Moving on to Max who has chosen a version of ‘Home’ by Gabrielle Aplin and it’s really great and really reminds us of The Editors. Max just made things even harder for Ricky! Last up is curly haired Blackpool lass Emily. Emily has chosen ‘Slip’ by Stooshie because she wants to show she can be ‘young and fresh’. It’s a bit shouty for our taste. Tom and Will both pick out Christina and Chris as their favourites. Ricky gives his first place to Chris. Next he puts through Christina Marie. After much deliberation Ricky gives his final spot to Emily.
Finally it’s team i.am’s turn to go from 7 to 3. First up is James, we think Will’s right that James is quite Ziggy Stardust. James sings ‘Love Hurts’ by Nazareth. James hands the microphone on to 19 year old Iesher who is singing a Whitney number ‘Try It on my own’. Iesher has a really strong voice but sometimes struggles with stage presence and the performance aspects. Next up is eccentric dresser Callum who has chosen ‘Sound of the Underground’ which is a song choice we definitely approve of.
Jermaine now, who is singing Will’s mums favourite song ‘A House is Not a Home.’ With his braces and super low notes Jermaine is such an interesting character and we suspect a big favourite for team Will. Harp playing Anna’s up now. She has chosen ‘Autumn’ by fellow Scot Paolo Nutini. Anna’s voice is so soothing and ethereal; we would like her to go through. Now it’s Nomakhoshi, who Will says he stole because she is like ‘vocal jewellery.’ Nomakhoshi has chosen ‘Runaway Baby’ by Bruno Mars because she wants to have fun and fun it is. Finally it’s Audrey Hepburn fan Sophie May who has unsurprisingly chosen ‘MoonRiver’ we find it a bit lack-lustre. The other coaches admire the diversity in Will’s team but like us, mark Jermaine as the best of the bunch. The first act through from team Will is Iesher. The next spot goes to Jermaine (yay!). Will’s final place goes to Sophie. We look forward to hearing them all in the live show next week!
