Earplugs at the Ready, It's The Voice Battle Rounds Part 1!

In previous series of The Voice, the battle rounds haven't really worked for me as a format. All too often it can turn into a screech-athon, with unnecessary vocal gymnastics until you can't even tell who's singing what because it's just a blast of voice.

But this series I think battles have worked more often than they haven't. Probably my favourite battle of the night was Leo vs Steven's 'Thunder In My Heart'. Brimming with tongue in cheek humour, each act had their own funky style and were just distinct enough from each other to keep it interesting. I'm not going to evaluate every single performance because it was a long old show tonight, and some of the voices began to sound rather samey (at a few points I felt like I was at a cheap Christina Aguilera tribute contest).

Of course, the biggest flaw with battle rounds is that you're judging between two acts based on one song which is obviously going to suit one singer better than the other. As was the case between Jimmy Weston and Lee Glasson, as I'm sorry to say Jimmy stole that song and Lee had a lucky escape - I really hope it was Jimmy's attitude that got him ditched though. Check out these tweets from him: "So happy with my performance. Still struggling with the result" and later "What's Kylie been smoking?" Lee Glasson's response was very telling: "Can see from @jimmyweston100 Twitter that he remains a humble gentleman". Love a bit of tension on the battle rounds haha! I hope Lee gets to show what he can do next week when he has a song he can make his own.

Woah, where did Sally Barker come from? I remember her audition, I remember the sad back story and the pleasant, heartfelt voice, but when this lady is allowed to take a song she's never heard before (Olly Murs Dear Darlin') and put her own stamp on it, you realise what a stunningly beautiful tone she has. Something between Eva Cassidy and Jennifer Rush, with a bit of someone else I can't quite put my finger on. I'm hugely looking forward to hearing more from this lovely lady.

Other random thoughts from a 2 hour plus show tonight: What the hell was the point in Leah McFall being there to "advise" contestants? They didn't show her saying a single word to them! And who wants advice on how to come second? Does anyone else think that Ricky's team is really weak compared to everyone else's? And have you noticed that Will's feet don't touch the floor when he sits in his spinny chair, and they flail about like two little cocktail sticks?