Lucy O'Byrne (The Voice)

[Jeff]

Latest from the Irish press :

[jimg]

Lucy was voted through to the final tonight.

[Jeff]

Yes, I thought Comet would have been online by now but he's probably still celebrating ! Here's Lucy's performance :



I was only listening to a live performance of this last month when Lucy Kay sang it. Lucy O'Byrne strikes me as more of a lyric soprano whereas Lucy Kay has a heavier more dramatic voice, although on looks and personality she can knock everyone else out of the park. However at the moment I would say the Irish lass is the more versatile performer since until Ms Kay actually sings crossover (on her next album) the jury remains out on her "musical theatre" voice. I've no reason to doubt her ability but until she actually sings with less vibrato we just don't know.

I think the Dubliner is guaranteed a record deal now and I also think we won't be getting an operatic debut album. Ms Kay has just done that and in producing a CD of opera's greatest hits has left herself with nowhere to go with album no.2 except classical-crossover since a second opera album would of necessity be full of less well known tunes. Besides I think the fact that Lucy O'Byrne's parents run a stage school virtually guarantees her album will have some show tunes on it although I hope she goes on to become a professional soprano rather than a West End stage star. Then again, she doesn't have far to go to get on a West End stage, about 10 metres by all accounts !

Also through to the final is Emmanuel which just underlines how unlucky Classical Reflection were to face him in the battle rounds. Against a weaker singer they would surely have got through. Also in the final is Sasha, a bricklaying soul singer and Stevie a rocking Scottish fireman.

[Dave]

Mar 29, 2015 14:19:06 GMT Jeff said:

Also through to the final is Emmanuel which just underlines how unlucky Classical Reflection were to face him in the battle rounds. Against a weaker singer they would surely have got through. Also in the final is Sasha, a bricklaying soul singer and Stevie a rocking Scottish fireman.

Good luck to Lucy but she's up against some tough competition. Performance of the night was by the always nervous and often tearful Sasha, especially in her duet with Tom Jones "River Deep, Mountain High". But they are both in the top four now and should do well after the competition has finished.

Cheers, Dave

[jimg]

Mar 29, 2015 14:50:22 GMT Dave said:

Good luck to Lucy but she's up against some tough competition. Performance of the night was by the always nervous and often tearful Sasha, especially in her duet with Tom Jones "River Deep, Mountain High". But they are both in the top four now and should do well after the competition has finished.

Cheers, Dave

I agree that the performance of the night was "River Deep, Mountain High" but I think that Tom had only to pick a song that suited Sasha. The other mentors had to compromise to suit two or more.

[comet]

I managed to watch Lucy's wonderful performance but I had to be at another musical event by eight o'clock last night.

So I didn't find out until this morning that she had made it through..
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..............

Will is really boxing clever, the simple red background, the silhouette, no other movement, no dancers or other distractions from the main event: THE VOICE and was it brilliant or what ?
Nice long lingering shots,
the Beeb still couldn't resist pushing those buttons to show different camera angles,
yes, we know you have lots of cameras..
But this would still have been beautiful in one long single shot using only zoom.

Well done Lucy, well done Will, hats off to you both..

P.S. I hate rapid changes of view / camera in a programme like this.

[susieverity]

I am surprised, but happy that Lucy got into the final, I could not vote yesterday, but will vote for her to win. She does have tough competition as I also like Sasha; Emmanuel seems to be popular, although I do not like his voice much. I hope Lucy does record an album, I would like some original stuff or at lease someone who is going to try to do 'real' crossover and not just covers of pop songs, but I do like her voice and would love to hear a whole album by her.

Susie

[Jeff]

Mar 29, 2015 14:50:22 GMT Dave said:

Mar 29, 2015 14:19:06 GMT Jeff said:

Also through to the final is Emmanuel which just underlines how unlucky Classical Reflection were to face him in the battle rounds. Against a weaker singer they would surely have got through. Also in the final is Sasha, a bricklaying soul singer and Stevie a rocking Scottish fireman.

Good luck to Lucy but she's up against some tough competition. Performance of the night was by the always nervous and often tearful Sasha, especially in her duet with Tom Jones "River Deep, Mountain High". But they are both in the top four now and should do well after the competition has finished.

Cheers, Dave

Could this tearful display from Sasha backfire on her with the press or public ? The often unsympathetic media are always quick to dismiss what they see as a "sob story". Then again, sobbing in a reality show is nothing new.



Although it may appear that Lucy O'Byrne is the outsider of the 4 finalists, I still think the BBC producers have it in the back of their minds to get one over on Simon Cowell by having the first soprano to win a UK reality show. The fact that she has the same name as Cowell's star is either a happy coincidence or a deliberate piece of talent spotting and I haven't yet decided which ! As Libby rightly said, all talent shows are fixed to some extent.

[Jeff]

Here's a photo of the four finalists. That's a gorgeous gold dress that Lucy is wearing. Will there be gold at the end of her rainbow come Saturday ? Watch this space !

[Jeff]

More background on Lucy :

[comet]

Here is a little something lighthearted, 

Lucy and Will's team performing a 70s disco classic :

That's the way I like it

Lucy 20 seconds in and again at 2 min 00 sec.

.

Go Lucy Go !

[Dave]

Best performance of the series tonight by Lucy I thought, she really was impressive, and her performance of No Surprises by Radiohead was a nice surprise to everyone, I think! I thought as an opera singer singing operatically, she reached her highest possible position of runner-up, because a pop singer was always going to get ahead once all the other pop singers were eliminated and their votes were no longer split - but wow, what a performance!

Well done to Lucy, she will have her new career! As for how well she does longer term, we shall have to wait and see.

The series was won by pop singer Steve McCrorie.

Cheers, Dave

[Jeff]

I couldn't have put it better myself ! Someone else was impressed too :

Here are Lucy's performances from the final :





I must admit I wasn't too keen on the hip-hopera or Carmen Rap but here it is anyway !



Will described Lucy as "humanity at its finest". I know more people like pop music than classical (hence the name !) and firemen are held in high regard by the public for what they do but Lucy has obviously covered herself in glory and done enough to get a recording contract and kick-start her career. As I said weeks ago, she'll come second because they always do, but she is joining an illustrious list !! Now I'll get back to the other great musical event happening this weekend, the Classic FM Hall of Fame !

[Jeff]

I think I'll stick to a traditional Carmen and Will does look a bit like a train driver in that hat !! The character of Carmen has a flirtatious nature, a certain sultriness, one might even say sexiness and recently I met a young lady from north of the border who has those qualities in spades.

[susieverity]

Lucy was amazing, it is a shame that she did not win (but I do think this was inevitable). I loved all of her performances, especially No Suprises. I agree that I prefer a traditional Carmen, I do not think that the rap worked at all and it just sounded a bit strange to me. I hope Lucy can release an album soon.

Susie