It was short. It
was sweet. And she certainly tried!
The X Factor has a bootcamp,
The Voice has the Battle Rounds and this is where the 48 hopefuls are whittled
down to 24 as each coach puts their acts against each other.
As Sir Tom Jones explained: "two people, one song" is the
aim of the game and the act who the coach deems better is the one that goes through
to the next round.
So it was a Country versus Folk battle ground as up
stepped TEAM TOM’s Talia Smith and Sally Barker on the Saturday March 1st show on
BBC 1.
Speaking ahead of the
showdown, Talia, the 31-year-old mother-of-three who lives on the Hartlands travellers
site in Church Road, Cranford and works at Boots as a make-up consultant in Hounslow High Street said working with the Welsh crooner had
been 'like a dream'. "Being able to talk to Tom and get his
opinions has been amazing," added the singer/songwriter.
"As a country singer I was really concerned about saleability in the UK
and I've been trying to change my style to fit in but he convinced me to stay
true to myself."
Smith nearly didn't go
through with her audition after her Travellin Rose country singing pal Kelly
Lee, pulled out at the last minute. It was later she learned that Kelly was
pregnant and had to withdrawn halfway through filming from the Reality contest.
Well Kelly has just had her baby boy, adding to Talia's growing legion of fans.
Smith says the experience
has been invaluable giving her renewed confidence to pursue a solo career and
will inspire other Hounslow residents to fulfil their dreams.
“The song that I picked is by Olly
Murs and it’s called “Dear Darling” coach Tom Jones told the pair
“I don’t really know the song so I rang my kids” said Sally the 54-year
old Barrow upon Soar, Leicestershire native.
Speaking on the phone and
asking for help - “It’s called Dear
Darling by someone called Olly Murs?” questioned the “Another Train”
/ “The Honeymoon Is Over” Folk singer = Love It !
“It’s still pretty much a mystery to me so I’ll just have to wait and
see” said a hopeful Sally.
“It took me outside of my comfort zone
because I hadn’t heard the song before,” Sally told the Leicester Mercury.
The Minogue Connection
So it seems that Sally has
better things to do with her time at weekends than watch The X Factor over the
years and that Olly Murrs is not a household name just yet!
Yes, the affable Witham, Essex native Olly initially gained
notoriety on 2009 series of The X Factor and went on to appear on TV games
shows, TV documentaries, co-presented the spin-off show The Xtra Factor with
Caroline Flack and joined Gary Barlow at Judges Houses in the last X Factor series.
The Pop,
breakbeat single "Dear Darlin'” (available on iTunes) written by Olly Murs with Ed Drewett, Jim Eliot was released on 26th
May 2013 by Epic as the third single from the album RIGHT PLACE RIGHT TIME. "Darlin’
reached No.5 on the Official UK
Singles Chart and was Nominated for British
Single of the Year at the 2014 BRIT Awards.
Requires Spotify
application to be already open:There is actually a Voice connection with X Factor. Murs would have disappeared into the X Factor ozone if it hadn’t of been for
Kylie Minogue’s sister Danni. In week 7 of the 2009 series, after a performance of
"Fastlove", he found himself in the bottom two with John & Edward
(John and Edward Grimes). Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole decided to send John
& Edward home, but their mentor Louis Walsh voted against Murs. Dannii
Minogue then decided against taking the judges' vote to deadlock and
sent home John & Edward. When the voting statistics were later released on
itv.com, they revealed that if Minogue had voted to save John & Edward and
taken it to deadlock, Murs would have been sent home on popular vote, as
John & Edward gained 10.7% of the popular vote against just 9.8% to Murs.
Such are the fine margins and whims of the judges as to whether a TV contestant
will eventually have a music career or just completely vanish from public
attention.
Danni actually
judged it as a singing competition after Cowell had done the dirty two weeks
previously ousting one of Danni’s acts the now 21-year-old Welsh singer Lucy “I
Love Lucy” Jones. She was controversially eliminated in week five over Jedward
when Cowell (more interested in TV ratings) took the judges' vote to deadlock.
Lucy who hasn’t since released, to my knowledge, any music last modelled the 'Loved
By' range from British lingerie company Hannah Dulcie and has previously
modelled for a Wonderbra campaign.
Voice Battle Stations but not a cat fight in sight
“How do you both feel like being paired against each other” asked British
rapper and Team Tom Voice coach Tiny
Tempah
“We’re sorry” said Sally, adding “We Don’t won’t to loose each other”
“You’ve become friends” observed Sir Tom
It must be nerve-racking to be handed a song that you
don’t know but she [Sally] just seems to open her mouth and it comes out
beautifully” noted Tempah.
“What’s driving you now”? asked Tiny
Tempah
“My two kids are driving me crazy, they told
me to go on The Voice and so they said mum you should be on this, so I thought
what could I lose”
During
rehearsals, Tiny aiding Tom Jones with his team - said to Sally: “You’re singing it so well for someone who
hasn’t heard it before.”
Tom soon after
added: “I’m glad you’re on the show - I’m
glad you’re on my team.”
Wearing a
fetching rose print cropped short sleeved jacket, revealing low cut top, black
pants, booties and long cascading red locks the attractive Talia shared in the
slow-mo Voice red carpet walk - “Me and
Sally have got really close and I think its going to be hard because one of us
is going to go, its going to be heartbreaking”
Walking beside
her, Sally looking glam in a knee length
sequined dress said “I will do the best I
can, I know Talia will do the same, it’s not going to be a cat fight”
As Sally with
her velvety and comforting vocal sang the line “And if my words break through the wall” it brought forth a “Yeah” and “Beautiful” reaction from Aussie princess of pop superstar Kylie Minogue whilst TEAM TOM coach Tom
Jones was all smiles.
Now it was time for Talia as she stepped up to pick up the song baton after Sally’s opening. In contrast Sir Tom looking a little pensive and concerned for her after a tad off-key start with her first few notes.
Talia then
quickly found her stride and the lack of her country twang on this occasion was
beneficial to the performance and the audience soon warmed to her.
Seizing the
moment the Heathrow songstress really attacked the song singing “Dear darlin’,
please excuse my writing” as the Voice audience, cheering, rose to its feet and
clapped along.
At the end of
their “pitch” battle Tom Jones showed his approval with a standing ovation.
To my ears it
eclipsed the Olly Murs original and brought a fresh quality and a more sensitive,
melodic deeper feeling to the number.
The Verdict
The ex JLS boy
band vocalist/ presenter Marvin Humes picking up on the excitement barked “Give
it up for Sally and Taylor (ugh ?) “
He then quickly
corrected himself asking: “Talia, How was
it for you” to which she replied “I’m
still shaking now”
“Tom they did you proud” he said looking
in the direction of Tal and Sal’s coach.
“Definitely, Beautiful, Lovely, they are back”
said Sir Tom wiping back an imaginary tear.
Moving on to Kylie
Minogue she noted: “I don’t envy you Tom
because it looks like there is some love between the ladies here. You were so
respectable of each other in that performance. I would lean towards Sally.
There is such clarity in your voice and you are transcend it.”
Coach Will.i.am of Black Eyed Peas fame
agreed and said: “Talia I think because
of the way you walked before you sang was so spot on. Toward the first couple
of notes were off, but then you found it and the rest of the performance was,
amazing. Sally not that age means anything, but I don’t know what you sounded
like when you were 20, but you sound amazing at 54!”
Turning round in
his Voice chair to Sally’s two sons (including eldest son, Dylan) who were
watching in the audience, he said: “Your
mum is like, the coolest lady in the world.”
So it was all
eyes on Tom, as Sally and Talia awaited his Battle verdict.
The "Green,
Green Grass of Home" and "Sex Bomb" hit maker explained: “I must
congratulate both of you because you made a great duet there. Talia has a great
country voice but when Sally sung, she hit me so hard with emotion, so..”
he said filling up .
“Well, the winner of this battle is, Sally.”
Respect
“I’m a bit chocked” admitted Sally
As the Country
and Folk singers embraced each other Talia was heard to say - “Well
done you deserve it, you deserve it so much”. Sally replied “I’m so sorry” drawing an instant heartfelt “Don’t be so silly” from a gracious
loser.
So Talia was no
longer on Team Tom and it might not of been the end of the road as she was
still available for a “steal” but alas
the other judges didn’t take up the offer.
Afterwards
Kaiser Chiefs lead singer and Voice coach Ricky
Wilson likened Sally to “giving off a
mist that makes me feel happy”. Kylie agreed “A comfy mist”
Tom Jones
concurred with his fellow judges saying “That’s
what makes the difference between a good singer and a great singer and that’s
what Sally’s got. She hits me in the heart”
So Talia leaves
the show having been an absolute credit to the “Country genre” which displayed
the friendly camaraderie that is an inherent part of the world of country and
folk and is what draws us to the music.
This has been a
great experience and a worthy addition to her country CV.
 |
| Talia Smith gives it her best shot |
We love you
Talia! All good things for the future.
Hopefully Talia
and Sally will rekindle their Voice friendship with a collaboration on a future
song project or End Of The Road festival gig.
It was short. It
was sweet. And she certainly tried! Well done Talia - All I can say is “Girl, I
mean them all.”
Watch
Talia and Sally sing 'Dear Darlin' in their vocal battle on >> YouTube
or The Voice UK BBC
Page
BUY:
Wishing Sally well in the rest of the competition.
Proud to own
music from both the artistes.
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