The impact of the first round of viewer voting was felt on The Voice SA this week (28 and 29 May) when viewers saved the first two singers of the season.
Here's a recap of the episode by the show:
After last week’s performances, viewers voted to keep #TeamKahn’s Craig Lucas (23) from Cape Town and #TeamKaren’s PJ Pretorius (26) from Secunda in the competition, which means that the show had to say goodbye to #TeamKahn’s Freddy Lalendle (23) from Durban and Zee Gqamana (23) from Grahamstown, as well as #TeamKaren’s Lindo Sithole (23) from Pietermaritzburg and Amanda Faku (23) from Port Elizabeth.
Also safe: #TeamLira’s Tender Mavundla (35) from Port Shepstone and #TeamBobby’s Josh Ansley (31) from Johannesburg joined #TeamKahn’s Fatman (40) and #TeamKaren’s Samantha Leonard (24) in the safe group that are already through to the next round of the season, after their coaches Bobby and Lira selected them out of the 8 performances in this week's second Live Showstopper show.
Now it’s up to viewers to vote which final two singers to keep in the show this week, using their unique voting numbers:
From #TeamLira:
Bubbles Mnomiya (23) from Durban
09
Luke Lovemore (23) from Cape Town
10
Marissa Petzer (22) from Stilfontein
11
And from: #TeamBobby:
Caroline Brussow (32) from Bloemfontein
13
John James Janse van Rensburg (19) from Carletonville
14
Marco Basson (23) from Vanderbijlpark
16
#TeamLira
#TeamLira was up first with Marissa Petzer (22) from Stilfontein rocking out the Aerosmith classic, “Pink”.
“To think this girl didn’t make it through past the blind auditions last season!” Karen marveled, and Kahn thought her rendition of the song was “sassy”.
The effervescent Bubbles Mnomiya (23) from Durban went for the funk with Bruno Mars’
“That’s What I Like”. “You’re so versatile, you can do anything,” Bobby noted, and Kahn said she was like the lyric from her song: “strawberry and champagne on ice”! “I’m so, so proud of you!” Coach Lira beamed.
Lira’s rocker, Capetonian Luke Lovemore (23), took the pace down a notch with the Lady Gaga ballad “Million Reasons”.
Karen said that Luke’s is the kind of voice she likes, “and you’re such a heartthrob as well!” she grinned as Luke’s coach, Lira, dissolved into tears. “You don’t know the amount of work that goes into this moment,” she told the audience tearfully.
Lira’s oldest talent in the competition, Tender Mavundla (35) from Port Shepstone, brought out the big guns for her performance of the Tina Turner classic, “Proud Mary”.
“It was like all the different genres of music wrapped into one two-minute song,” Kahn raved. “You have such a rebel heart, that’s what I love about you,” said an impressed Karen. “It was beautiful to watch that,” said a happy Lira.
#TeamBobby
#TeamBobby’s turn on the stage was lead by Johannesburg musical theatre alum Josh Ansley (31), showing off his impressive range with the timeless anthem “Eye of the Tiger”.
Kahn thinks Josh’s nostalgic quality is what makes people like him. “You are ready to take it to the next level,” Lira told him, and Karen thought his voice is world class.
“Not many people can do that – not in South Africa, not in the world, what you just did,” she said. “You are one of the best entertainers I’ve ever seen in my life,” his coach, Bobby praised.
Matriculant John James Janse van Rensburg (19) from Carletonville brought some soul to the party with his rendition of Shawn Mendes’ pop ballad “Treat You Better”.
“So, so proud of you,” Karen raved. Lira called him the South African Justin Bieber but Kahn thought he was better: “You actually sing on stage,” he joked. Bobby told him it’s time to let go of his self-doubt now. “You’re going to go far,” he said.
Next up for #TeamBobby was the blonde lawyer and rugby-wife from Bloemfontein, Caroline Brussow (32), tackling Sia’s “Elastic Heart”.
“You have powerful, roaring, strong vocal capability,” said an impressed Lira. “You have an elastic
voice!” Karen exclaimed, and noted that Caroline is also the nicest person in the show. “I don’t think you’re human,” Kahn marveled.
And finally Vanderbijlpark engineer Marco Basson (23) chose Ed Sheeran’s pop standard “Castle on the Hill” for his first live performance. Kahn praised Marco’s sincerity and Karen said she thought he was spectacular. “You’re my favourite nerd!” his Coach Bobby praised him.
With Tender and Josh now also safe from this week’s vote, it is up to viewers to decide which final two singers to save with their votes. Only one member of each team can remain - four singers
must be sent home in next week’s Showstopper episode.