Express & Star

TV review: The Voice UK Final

Hands up if you can remember the name of the winner of The Voice last year. Stuck? Yes me too.

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And that's my first issue with this show. It's pitched as the best talent show since sliced bread, the show with integrity. The one which judges singers purely on their voice. And it has Tom Jones to make it credible.

But ask me to name one star that came out of the first series and I'd be at a loss to tell you.

It's a nice concept in theory, and there's so much that should be right about this show. Due to its format we are only ever going to have to sit through decent singers, so no drivel like Jedward or (apologies) Wagner.

It's fronted by one of the nation's sweethearts Holly Willoughby. It has eye candy, hello Danny.

But the thing is, despite all of this, I struggle with The Voice, I really do. I find it boring.

There, I said it. I make a point of only watching it if it's been recorded so I can skip through all the boring bits. You know the bits I mean – the video clips, the tears, the judges comments, the presenting (sorry Holly).

But most of all, the many boring singers. See, the thing about The Voice is that, unlike its rival The X Factor, where personality comes in leaps and bounds, over at The Voice everyone is just so nice. But nice does not make good television.

Glowing comments week in, week out, do not make good television. They make bored viewers.

But being the woman of hope that I am I was hoping Saturday night's final was going to pull out all the stops, bit of glitz and glamour. A real show-stopper. The best of the best battling it out with all their might to win the crown. Mike, Matt, Andrea and Leah.

But what do we get – a two hour snore-fest. Apart from Leah, she was amazing.

Don't get me wrong, the singing was ok. Which is good because we got a lot of it. A lot.

In two short hours the producers managed to squeeze in a pretty cringeworthy opening number of the judges singing Daft Punk's Get Lucky.

"And that is how you kick start a final," said Holly. Really, because I could think of better ways. Wouldn't catch Cowell and Co up there doing that now would we.

Then we had individual performances, then duets with their mentors. And that was just the first hour.

To be fair there were highlights. Mike who has the 'whole of Manchester' supporting him according to his VT wore a very, let's just say interesting shirt for his performance of Suspicious Minds, which proved a good distraction to the women draped needlessly on the sofa behind him on stage, while Andrea's version of My Immortal was lovely. Lovely enough to give Danny 'shivers throughout the whole thing'.

Meanwhile Leah and Will I Am's duet of Bang Bang was head and shoulders above the rest.

But still, it all just felt a bit flat, there was no passion. Even performances from Robbie Williams and Dizzee Rascal and Michael Buble failed to lift it.

At least with all of its failings the X Factor does a final properly, it feels like a real occasion. The Voice could have been any other week, there was nothing to set Saturday night apart from earlier episodes in the series.

Matt got booted out earlier in the show, meaning the not-so-tense result was between Mike, Andrea and Leah.

Andrea won, when clearly it should have been Leah. And there you have it. I'll look forward to seeing if anyone remembers her name next year.

Oh, by the way, last year's winner was Leanne Mitchell.

Don't worry, I'm still lost too.

Lisa Wright

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