The Voice UK viewers had the chance to vote for a wildcard act this year in a new ‘Lifeline’ twist.
This weekend saw the end of the knockout rounds following the battles and blind auditions.
In the knockouts each of the then remaining 24 acts performed for the coaches and a live studio audience before their mentor decided which two of their acts made it through to the live shows.
Those in the live shows for Team Tom are 23-year-old from Liverpool Deana Walmsley and Cedric Neal, a 43-year-old Musical Theatre actor from Brighton.
On Team Will are Nxt Gen, a trio made up of Cian, Sonny and Joel, all aged 21 and Emmanuel Smith, a 29-year-old part time motivational speaker from London.
Making up Team JHUD for the live shows are 27-year-old singer-songwriter Moya from Jersey and 24-year-old Nicole Dennis from North London.
Finally, on Team Olly, are Jimmy Balito, a 23-year-old singer from Sussex, and 17-year-old Molly Hocking from St Ives in Cornwall.
16 acts were knocked out of the competition however, one of them will now be saved with the introduction of the Lifeline vote, allowing the public to vote their favourite into the Semi-Final.
Following the second Knockout show on Saturday 23rd March the vote opened via the official app for the public to have their say on who to give the Lifeline to, out of the 16 performers who didn’t make it through.
Host Emma Willis opened the vote just before the episode finished and the public had until 11.30pm (March 23) to vote.
Voting was FREE and viewers could vote up to five times via the app; they could spread those votes however they wish, sharing them out or voting multiple times for the same act.
The successful solo singer or trio voted for by the public will be revealed at the live Semi-Final next weekend.
It means one of the four coaches will head into the live shows with three acts instead of two.
Olly Murs said: “I think it’s great, it’s another glimmer of hope and I think it makes the contestants work that little bit harder to show the people at home watching the show – look, this is what I can do. Olly didn’t pick me but give me a chance!
“Of course, I hope I’ll have three in the final! It’s a great change this year.”
Jennifer Hudson added: “I’m happy about the addition of the Lifeline. I feel like it gives the contestants even more hope. It allows for a second chance.”
Will.i.am agreed: “The Lifeline is good. I’ve felt the benefit of it before because we had it in Australia and then I had more people on my team go through to the final.”
Sir Tom Jones commented: “The Lifeline is an exciting new addition this year. Saying goodbye to people at The Knockouts can be tough, it’s the biggest cut we see in the competition and giving the singers a second shot, from a public vote, means there’s a great opportunity up for grabs.”
The Voice UK live semi-finals begin next Saturday, March 30.
You can watch and catch up on episodes of The Voice UK online via the ITV Hub.
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