The Voice- Final Battles

So the Battle Rounds are over and the teams have been assembled. The live shows are just around the corner.

Most of the choices were obvious, although there were a couple of big upsets. Jessie J was at the centre of the first one. The battle was between "Internet sensation" Ben and Ruth-Ann. Now, Ruth-Ann didn't get much screen time on her first audition. But what we did see of her, will.i.am was not impressed. She was out of tune and really didn't have much about her but Jessie J picked her much to the amusement of the other judges. Ben seemed like a shoe-in, especially after the love in the judges had with him on the Blind Auditions. But Jessie J picked Ruth-Ann because she thought that she could improve her whereas Ben was as good as he can get. This is another point of contention; a lot of contestants have taken to Twitter to say how unhappy they've been portrayed.

Ben wrote on Twitter "Where did the rest of my battle go? #HalfASong #BlinkAndYoullMissIt #TheVoiceUK" and Emmy J who lost out to Alecks thought the TV edit made her look bitter. To be fair, all the way through their VT before their battle they made it look like Alecks was far too nervous and Emmy would wipe the floor with him. But hey, welcome to reality TV! Even on the BBC.

Vince Freeman has also spoken out about how Danny told him to be a certain way and that might have cost him. On Twitter he wrote, "thought I was supposed to be mentored not handicapped #shouldnthavelistened". I think Bo was going through regardless of what Vince did or did not do in the battle, so he just looks a bit bitter.

The other surprise was by will.i.am and the battle between Sophie and J Marie. I thought J Marie was one of the contestants that really stood out, and not just because of her red hair. Amazing voice, great stage presence; but yet again the "You can't grow anymore..." reason rears it's head. I think talking about age isn't fair, isn't it all about The Voice?? I've touched on this already, when you see the contestants, how is it any different from every other reality show? It's a shame, as it seems to be the younger "X Factor" crowd that mostly went through to the Live shows.

So now on to the Live shows; I think I'm all for Team will.i.am, but I might flip-flop after the first show.

Things I've learnt so far from The Voice UK:

• will.i am is a funny guy, I think he's going to be great on the live shows. 
• The same can't be said of Tom Jones; while no one doubts his music credentials I just not sure if he actually has much to say. As I've said before, there is nowhere to hide on the live shows so we'll soon see who is best in front of the camera.
• The gimmcky first round I liked. I even liked the Battles, even though they were a bit screechy towards each other. I just don't know how the Live shows will differ from any other reality shows.
• I don't know if Holly and Reggie are any good yet. They've hardly done anything.