Designing Brilliance: The voice

So the voice 2015 kicked off with a boom and on our blog we conveyed a poll to see which Judge would win this year. The results are shown below.

We can see a clear tie with Will and Ricky; however Sir Tom was the lowest voted coach.

Today was the Final of the Voice-2015 we saw Ricky with two contestants (Emmanuel & Stevie). Will with Lucy, Sir Tom with Sasha and Rita empty handed. So we are still faced with the question on which coach will win this year. Using the statistics, Designing Brilliance have come to the conclusion that Ricky's team will win. But were we right? Here is a bit about the contestants and their coaches so far.

Team Ricky

Ricky Wilson is part of the band the Kaiser Chiefs who has two number one's, over 6 million albums sold and is a three time Brit winner! Ricky and his band have also had the honour of performing at the London 2012 Olympic Closing Ceremony to millions of people around the world. He’s also recently toured the USA (that's in America) and will be embarking on a massive UK tour that kicks off in 2015. On his team for the final he has Emmanuel and Stevie.

Emmanual Nwamadi

Emmanual Nwamadi is a 23-year-old originally from Nigeria. He is currently studying Commercial Music Performance at the University of Westminster. He is constantly singing and playing his guitar, and isn't fussy about where either; parks, gyms, barbers - you name it! It may come as a surprise to some to know that Emmanuel has recently become a big fan of Phil Collins.In a quick interview carried out by The Voice this is what he said-

Celebrity resemblance: “Seal.”.

Daily motto: “Never let others get you down.”

Tell us a secret that no one else knows: “I get really nervous when I’m around girls.”

Most embarrassing moment: “I farted and the girl I really liked walked into the fart cloud!”

What makes you happy? “Sad emotional music, technology and listening to the piano.”

What makes you mad? “What music has become. It is all about sex and that really annoys me.”

Stevie McCrorie

Stevie’s firefighter mates actually applied for him to audition without telling him. As a part-time singer he’s played some pretty epic gigs, including T in the Park, The Wickerman Festival, the BBC Introducing stage, and he’s supported The Bare Naked Ladies at the O2 Academy in Glasgow, to over 2000 people! He even has his own song lyric tattooed on his arm which reads: “I hope I’m not too old before I figure it out.”

In a quick interview carried out by The Voice this is what he said-

Celebrity resemblance? “A younger Hugh Laurie”

Describe your personality in three words: “Passionate. Dedicated. Unusual.”

Proudest moment? “Being a dad, and getting to play T in the Park!”

You’re headlining Wembley! What would you have on your rider? “A golf practice screen, steam room, water, fruit, pizza and a masseuse!”

If you could invent any musical gadget, what would it be and why? “An automatic vocal warm-up, as warming up is so boring!”

Team Will

Will I Am was part of the band called Black Eye Peas. He has had over 33 million albums sold, over 58 million albums sold as well as being seven times Grammy award winner!Our multi-talented coach's stardom began as a founding member of the hip-pop band The Black Eyed Peas, and during his career he’s worked with the biggest musical superstars on the planet including Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber, Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus and Rihanna to name but nearly all of them. Will I Am has brought Lucy O’Byrne.

Lucy O’Byrne

Lucy has been working as an usher at London’s Apollo Theatre for ‘Wicked’. It’s a job she loves and can recite the entire musical off by heart! Lucy feels that The Voice is a great opportunity to achieve her goal of becoming a full-time performer.

In a quick interview carried out by The Voice this is what he said-

Celebrity impressions? “When I sing, it’s Judy Garland, Julie Andrews, or Shirley Bassey. Talking, I used to be able to do ‘Comic Book Guy’ from The Simpsons!”

How many marshmallows can you fit in your mouth and still sing? “That would never work. I would eat the marshmallows! However… I would gladly try (and by that, I mean eat the marshmallows).”

Celebrity resemblance? “Julianne Moore. One time I looked at a picture of her and even I thought it was me!”

Superstitions? “It is fierce bad luck to wear clothes with birds on them. And, if cows are lying down it’s going to rain.”

Favourite unusual food combination? “Chips dipped in a generic American cookie milkshake. Don’t judge me.”

Apparently, music can help create prize-winning veg, what song would you sing to your prize-winning marrow? “Probably something classical that’s soothing. Either that, or it would be so annoying it would grow just to shut me up!”

Team Tom

And would you believe this wee boy from the Valleys once worked in a rubber glove factory? Us neither! But once he started belting out those now famous tunes, in no time at all he became one of the most popular singers to emerge from the 1960s, and has since gone on to sell over 100 million records worldwide. He has also received a knighthood in 2006 and has over 5 decades of experience in the music industry! He brought to the Final Sasha.

Sasha Simone

Sasha belongs to a roller derby team (a type of speed-skating competition on roller skates) which she goes to three times a week. Her nickname is ‘Black Widow’, and after moving into a renovation project with her boyfriend she discovered a passion for DIY and is now a trainee student in bricklaying and plastering. For the last five years, Sasha has only ever sung in the shower or behind closed doors. Her family had an intervention and applied for The Voice on her behalf. She only found out about the audition a week before!

In a quick interview carried out by The Voice this is what he said-

Celebrity resemblance? “Whoopi Goldberg”.

What did you want to be when you were little? “A plumber”.

Phobias? “Slugs and snails”.

What are you most proud of in your life? “Building my first wall”.

Bad habits: “I leave cat food tins around the kitchen”.

Most embarrassing moment: “My hairpiece got blown off in the wind”.

Team Rita

At the age of just 21, this Kosovo-born, West London-raised talent already earned three number one singles in a row and had a number one album, all in the same year. Then came another number one single, and not one but six mighty Brit Award nominations. and she also became the third ever British solo female artist to score four UK number ones in a row! and she’s performed for The Obamas! And she’s danced up Mount Everest and she taught a shark how to knit!Yeah what! That's exactly what we think. She has a platinum debut album, four UK number one's and a three time Brit nominee.

Sadly Rita came into the finals of the Voice empty handed! Maybe we will see her next year with some better luck!

So we would like to give this years winner Stevie a huge well done and hope his new career blossoms. Here is his videos that won him the voice. Enjoy!