The Voice Australia has officially finished The Knockout rounds, but not without a bang!
In a series-first move, singer-songwriter and two-time The Voice coach Richard Marx snubbed contestants on his own team.
Usually, coaches select one contestant from each grouping to progress to the Quarter Finals. However, after one of his groups — which consisted of contestants Dicko, Cherry, and Saem — finished their performances, Richard decided to not take any of them through to the next round.
“All three of these performances were worse than your Blind Auditions,” he said. “That just can’t happen.”
“What’s tricky about this for me is that I don’t feel like any of you rose to the occasion,” he continued, leaving the other coaches speechless.
“This is so not personal because I really think the world of all three of you guys. So, I don’t know if I’m allowed to do this, I’m not going to take any of you through.”
Awkward!
Despite pleas from host Sonia Kruger, the live audience, and the other coaches, with Ronan Keating explaining that he’s “done The Voice for 15 years around the world” and has “never seen this before”, Richard didn’t budge, sending all three contestants home.
While fans were naturally shocked and disappointed with the decision, many actually agreed with the brutal outcome.
However, amidst this divide in opinion online, viewers are still placing the blame on the coach, accusing the 80s rock legend for setting his own contestants up to fail.
Cherry and Dicko spoke to WHO about what the moment was like on stage, explaining why they also agreed with Richard’s shocking snub.
Fans are both blaming and siding with Richard Marx
You’d think breaking the rules and snubbing your own contestants would elicit a negative reaction from fans – and it did, but not in the way many would expect.
After Richard announced he’d rather disadvantage himself and have fewer contestants in the Quarter Final than choose to take Saem, Cherry or Dicko through, viewers actually agreed with the decision, pointing out just one gripe.
“I cannot believe what Richard did by not choosing anyone,” one fan wrote online. “Personally, I truly believe that it was due to him giving them the wrong songs to sing.”
“I think he made the right decision based on their performance last night,” another agreed. “However, I do agree he gave them the wrong song choices that didn’t show their true ability.”
“Richard should have chosen better songs for them,” a third chimed in. “They did their best with the songs they were given, which didn’t showcase them. Richard’s fault!! The other Coaches did well with their selection of songs!”
During The Knockouts, Saem sang ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ by Frank Sinatra and Count Basie, Dicko sang ‘I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing’ by Aerosmith, and Cherry sang ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ by Queen.
In the end, many The Voice fans believed the contestants did the best they could with the songs they were given, blaming the coach for not training them well enough or doing his team justice.
“When you pick the wrong songs, that’s what happens – poor performance from people who can do much better,” a viewer wrote online.
“How embarrassing for him, wrong song choices,” another agreed, placing the blame on Richard, rather than the hopeful singers.
None of the contestants saw it coming
When WHO spoke to Cherry and Dicko about what it felt like to be snubbed by their own coach, they revealed that they were “surprised, like everyone else”.
It’s safe to say everyone was blindsided.
“I think none of us saw that coming, but I respect Richard’s decision no matter what,” Dicko told WHO.
“I think I did what I was meant to do there,” Cherry confessed. “The singers there were on another level.
“I’ve always considered myself a songwriter, I didn’t think was going to win. It was really just great to be there singing in Sydney on The Voice stage.”
While Saem confessed on the night that he was “disheartened” by Richard’s decision, there doesn’t seem to be any hard feelings.
“It comes down to how we perform in that moment, and it either pays off or it doesn’t,” Dicko added.
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