The Voice Australia 4: Top 8

Other than the early ouster of Scott Newnham, Australia has been pretty flawless with their eliminations and the coaches were also quite good with their choices. I didn't necessarily agree on everything, but this is a pretty stellar group - definitely a lot stronger than the latest edition of The Voice UK. 

Without further ado, on with the show!

TEAM MADDEN

02. Nathan Hawes

FourFiveSeconds

This was, hands down, Nathan's weakest performance to date. He looked uncomfortable, he missed a couple of cues, his timing was off, and his vocals were all over the place. Was it the band? I'm not sure, but this clearly highlighted his weakness as a vocalist. 5.5

01. Joe Moore

Everybody Hurts

While I wouldn't pick this song choice for Joe, he managed to showcase a masterful work on his dynamics. His transitions were nice, his vocals were on point, and his palpable connection to the material was pretty compelling. 8

SAVED BY MADDENS

Joe Moore

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TEAM RICKY

02. Liam Maihi

Lonely Boy

Not going to lie, I hated this arrangement of Lonely Boy. I don't know. He stripped off the irony of the melody to the lyrics and made a pretty sluggish version of the song. Sure, his voice sounded nice with a couple of interesting grit in the mix, but at the end, I just didn't get it. 6 

01. Naomi Price

Marry The Night

She, arguably, has the best voice in the competition thus far and her version of Marry The Night was just pristine. No, it wasn't the most exciting, but the clarity alone of her voice made things a bit riveting and the runs she made as her voice soared higher towards the end sounded divine. 8

SAVED BY RICKY

Liam Maihi

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TEAM DELTA

02. Lyndall Wennekes

Nobody Love

There was nothing wrong with Lyndall's take on Nobody Love. In fact, I thought she sounded awesome, some of her vocal choices were good, and she hit that difficult high note like a pro. I just couldn't shake that feeling that she was, yet again, mimicking the artist she's covering. She looked like a legitimate popstar though. 7.5

01. Caleb Jago-Ward

I Believe In A Thing Called Love

He hit a couple of wonky notes in the middle section of the song, but the arrangement of the song really worked with the theatricality of his voice. His falsetto, though not perfect, was solid enough, his verses were strong, and things just felt right. 7.5

SAVED BY DELTA
Lyndall Wennekes

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TEAM JESSIE

02. Simi Vuata

We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off

Technically, this was spotless. I was just bored with this performance as if I saw this already from him. 6.5

01. Ellie Drennan

California Dreamin'

Ellie's tone here was, as usual, magnetic, but she also proved that she can actually belt and hold her own against Simi in terms of holding notes. This was pretty good. The intensity was there, the build up was good, and her pitch was consistent. 8

SAVED BY JESSIE

Ellie Drennan