The Voice returns with a new brutality

ITV’s tweak on the show is for the judges to not give any constructive feedback to rejects.

Tom Jones is fine with it but I’m not alone in feeling distraught on the rejected constestants’ behalf.

Rachel Rose – a versatile vocal in a good performance but maybe not original enough – and Jamie Greer, who bravely covered an All Saints song, which I thought would see him through, both earned standing ovations from the audience – not a bad response to take away, but how much more valuable would it have been if the judges had told them to their faces what their opinions were: great singers but not what they’re looking for.

Rachel, to her credit, said (through her tears) she’d keep going but Jamie was so gutted he’s probably giving up. Not exactly nurturing, is it?

Overall, the standard of the contestants vocally was slightly higher than Let It Shine, with three performances adopted into Team Scatty – none of which impressed me as much as Jason and Nicky on Let It Shine. So I’d say it’s honours even as far as the talent is concerned.

Jason Jones, a mild mannered, nice family man who works in a customer service call centre, knocked us all out with unexpected vocal greatness, a passionate and musical rocky-ish but contemporary one. I had him pegged for for Tom, but no, he went left-field and chose Will instead.

Welsh boys, Into the Ark, from touring chicken farms and churches, owned the stage, and with their strong vocals harmonizing so well together – I didn’t recognise the Elvis song – were definitely a shoe-in for Tom, even though he didn’t play the Welsh card. Much.

It wasn’t much of a prediction from Will about the last act being a 4-turner, all of these shows save the best till last. And so it proved with Mo, a gangly awkwardness about him except when he sang and then what a difference. He was blown away by having all four coaches to choose from, so I forgave him taking so long over it. I think Jennifer will be great with him – he needs to relax and she’ll give him lots of confidence.

The Voice is pretty much the show it was – and if you watch on catch-up, there are no ads – with the four coaches bringing something different for the contestants to work with. Will is the same old Will, Jennifer full of sass, Tom the sage Master and Gavin so laid back he’s lucky they’re not on stools instead of big red chairs.

This is how their teams stand:

Will: Jason

Jennifer: Mo, and Diamond – a sweet girl with a strong vocal whose register was too low for me – Jennifer showed her what she could do, which I think swung her decision.

Tom: Into the Ark

Gavin: Max, best mate of Mo – unusual vocal, not for me but interesting to see how he gets on. And Truly Scrumptious. Yes, really. I wouldn’t normally say this, but she seemed to be acting up for the cameras and frankly, got on my nerves within the first few seconds of seeing her. And I couldn’t stand her voice either. But she did remind me of Daisy Lowe (looks wise) which is spooky – because Gavin is Daisy’s dad.

Have we seen the winner yet? What do you think?

Want to chat TV? Find me @Scattyjan on Twitter.