The Voice – Becky, Bo and Frances The Pre-Lives Picks
Apologies for the lack of The Voice coverage as we have been in full on Eurovision mode in the lead up to Baku. Due to ESC commitments we will be unable to give any follow up posts on this series but here are our thoughts ahead of the first live show tonight on BBC1.
Having studiously gone through the remaining contestants, we have tried to unearth 3 selections at varying prices we think could put together a strong run, and may offer a bit of value.
We prefer to steer away from favourites but are genuinely struggling to see why Jaz Ellington merits such a short price. Well, there’s the old chestnut of his heart-rending back story to give a little kick start to his public vote. Let’s not forget, as the BBC has stressed, this is all about The Voice, which is why we all now know about Jaz’s attempt to commit suicide… twice.
Jaz, it may have also been noted, does not fit the white, middle class stereotype BBC shows tend to favour, which has to be a question mark over big soul diva Ruth Brown too, and Joelle Moses. One that does fit the MOR requirements is David Julien, but his makeover is enough to put us off him – that curly fringe really does him no favours, and does the BBC really want to endorse their version of Matt Cardle?
On the matter of image, but hey, let’s remember, this is all about ‘The Voice’, Vince Kidd, is surely too much of an oddball for BBC’s hardcore middle England audience. Added to which his rendition of ‘Like A Virgin’ made us feel physically sick.
On a similar level in the nauseating vocal stakes has to be Max Milner. That awful brand of white man’s jazz reminds us, in a bad way, of Jay Kay. Milner is at least individualistic, to give him some credit, and this may be a key differentiator in the show’s latter stages, but we can’t help coming back to how grating his voice is, not to mention his porkpie hat. The porkpie hat seems to have become the defacto fashion accessory to state ‘credibility’ on these sort of shows. In the case of Milner it states to us anodyne and mediocre. If we could have a bet on Milner, it would be that he sings ‘Virtual Insanity’ at some point. If that does come to pass we won’t be disappointed to miss out on that guaranteed aural horror.
So by a simple process of elimination, factoring in negatives, and sprinkling the old fairy dust called ‘value’ we end up favouring Becky Hill among the front five in the betting at a widely available 8-1.
Becky owning Indie and Pixie showed her star quality, and we have found nothing to dislike about her. In interview she seems a little bit Barking which only adds to her appeal.
Team Danny is shaping up as the ‘Group Of Death’ but in the hope the 2 MOR male contestants, Julien and Milner, cut each other’s throats, and we don’t mean metaphorically, we much prefer Bo Bruce.
Bo has a beautiful voice in our view and is frightfully middle class which we are taking as a positive.
She reached the finals of Channel 4’s Orange Unsigned Act competition in 2009, and her estranged dad is the Earl of Cardigan. So she has an intriguing back story of reality show heartache and never giving up on her dream, and perceived privilege. We reckon the Beeb audience are a more fair-minded mob compared to the X Factor’s who can be so easily railroaded by Syco’s media machinations, and we see the coverage of Bo’s troubled past, and shunning of her silver spoon upbringing to forge her own path – she works in a pub and pays for her own electricity bills, don’t you know – as a potential positive. And let’s not forget, TPT won Celeb Fame Academy so the ‘messed up posho’ has a bit of form with the Beeb. And, as we are constantly reminded, it’s all about ‘The Voice’ and Bo’s voice reminds us of 90s solo female Heather Nova – check out the album ‘Siren’ by the way. It’s a gem. Bo certainly represents some value to be the Team Danny winner at 9-2 with SkyBet and 16-1 e/w with BetVictor on the Outright.
We wanted to include one ‘out the ballpark’ selection. that could easily be a first fence faller, and after much deliberation we have sided with Frances Wood. It was either going to be Hannah Berney or Frances Wood and overall we think Frances potentially has more in her locker, if she is allowed to show it. It troubles us that she is said to be singing Chaka Khan’s ‘Ain’t Nobody’ tonight but if she can ‘make it her own’ her odds will tumble and if nothing else she could prove a decent trade on Betfair. We like her makeover and we like quotes of 33-1 e/w with Coral and SportingBet even more. We are also happy to take the 10-1 she ends up Team Will winner.
Rob Furber