The Voice SA: Bobby Grabs John James

Phenomenal Matric student wows all four coaches

As the Blind Auditions of The Voice SA passed the halfway mark tonight, the four coaches once again found themselves pitching – and sometimes even begging – talent to join their teams as they were faced with more four-chair-turning performances and unique, new voices. Six impressive vocalists were snatched up tonight in total, with coaches Bobby and Karen both walking off with two new singers, while Lira and Kahn welcomed one new member to their teams respectively.

Arguably the biggest surprise of the night came in the last audition of the show, when 18-year-old John James Janse van Rensburg took to the microphone. Currently in Matric in the small town of Carltonville, John James stunned all four of the coaches with a cover of Meghan Trainor’s “Like I’m Gonna Lose You” and received a standing ovation from all of them at the end of his song. “My heart skipped a beat when I heard you sing. You took my breath away,” Karen Zoid gushed. Lira and Kahn also gave John James the highest praise for his calm, soothing performance but it was Bobby who told him to go with his heart when it came to choosing between the four coaches. Clearly John James had made up his mind from the start as he announced without any deliberation that he wanted to be on #TeamBobby, making it the second time that a talent chose Bobby out of a four-chair-turning audition, much to the chagrin of both Lira and Karen!

Coach Bobby also added gravelly-voiced Alex Cavan (23) from Port Elizabeth to his team tonight. Alex sang a stripped down acoustic version of the nineties R&B classic by Blackstreet, “No Diggity”, a surprising choice but one that Bobby appreciated enough to press his buzzer for. Coach Kahn lamented not turning for Alex once the song was over, but that suited Bobby just fine. “I’m honoured to have you on my team,” Bobby told Alex.

The second performer of the night who garnered a full house of chair turns with her powerhouse vocals was Celest Schoeman (28) from Strandfontein in the Western Cape. Celest, who is a full time musician, took on a huge challenge as she opted to belt out Adele’s “When We Were Young”. The risk of taking on such a big song paid off for Celest, as the coaches raved about her performance. Kahn told her that it was clear that she’s been singing for a long time, and that she served the song perfectly. Lira raved to Celest that she is looking forward to hearing her for the rest of the show, indicating that if she were to choose to be in #TeamLira, she would take her all the way. But in the end it was Karen Zoid who bagged Celest for her team, much to her delight. “This girl can win this show,” Karen predicted as she happily accompanied Celest off the stage.

#TeamKaren’s second addition of the night was quirky Christie Woolmington (20) from Johannesburg. Christie sang Colbie Caillat’s “Bubbly” and coaches Karen and Lira loved the unique tone of her voice enough to turn their chairs. Karen even told Christie that both she and Lira would buy her album immediately, and with that, Christie – who was moved to tears of joy – picked Karen to be her coach.

Both Lira and Kahn also welcomed unique female vocalists to their teams tonight. 20-year-old Mia Pretorius, a student at the University of the North West at Potchefstroom, bravely auditioned with coach Bobby van Jaarsveld’s song “’n Vrou Wil Dit Hoor”! Bobby was visibly grappling with whether or not to turn for Mia as fellow coaches Karen and Lira both encouraged him to press his buzzer throughout the performance, but he explained to Mia afterwards that he felt it would have been too obvious had he turned for her. Kahn, however, recognised a special quality in her voice, telling Mia that her audition was totally flawless as he gladly welcomed her to his increasingly eclectic team.

Lira turned her red chair for 28-year-old Al Petersen from Cape Town tonight, as the petite Al took to the stage to perform Bob Marley and Lauren Hill’s smash hit “Turn Your Lights Down Low”. Something about her performance ultimately resonated with Lira, as she pushed her buzzer as Al’s audition was about to end. “I love that you made that song your own,” Lira told an elated Al.

Tune in to The Voice South Africa Season 2 every Sunday night at 17:30 on M-Net Channel 101, or catch the repeat on M-Net City Channel 115 on Monday at 18:00 to see all the buzz-worthy singing sports. Visitwww.mnet.tv/thevoice to watch exclusive interviews with the coaches and talent, and follow all the breaking news and conversations around the show on Twitter @VoiceSA / #TheVoiceSA or on the official “Voice SA” Facebook page. You can also download The Voice SA app today for exclusive show-related games and special features.