Episode 8 The Voice: Louder on Two

Hello, it's Wednesday and for your viewing pleasure tonight: I'll

be catching up with singing powerhouse Sir Tom Jones.

His leading lady, Sally, will be here.

Plus vocal coach to the stars Yvie Burnett will be offering an analysis

of last Saturday's performances. You're watching The Voice Louder: On

Two. Hello and welcome to The Voice: Louder on Two. Let's kick off with a

round-up of some news. On Monday we launched the latest caption pic

online so you've had plenty of time to say what you meme. Here is the

picture we showed. We now have three of our favourites. Kelly from

Liverpool said, "99,100!!! Coming, ready or not!!!"

Heidi from Maidstone said, "OK, who put the superglue on my fingertips?"

And finally Jeffrey in Caerphilly who said, "Oh no, brain freeze."

Brilliant. Well done to all of you. But we, here at Louder on Two, had

our own theory about Will's despair and wondered if it was just his

reaction to seeing himself doing this on Saturday night.

# You really got me # You really got me. #

And always a thrust at the end! How come he didn't break it? Last night,

Kylie took Jamie to a Justin Timberlake gig. Here is photographic

evidence. Jamie and JT. You can find out more details on Saturday night.

And finally, don't forget, if you want to apply for the next series of

The Voice head on over to the website for details on how to apply.

And that concludes your news round-up.

In a moment, I'll be joined by the music icon that is Sir Tom Jones but

first, a little treat for all you Team Tom fans out there courtesy of

Bizzi. Here he is earlier in the week with a special acoustic

performance of Everything Must Change. Enjoy.

# Everything must change # Nothing stays the same

Everyone must change # No-one goes unchanged

# Oh # The young become the old

# And mysteries do unfold # Because that's the way of time

# Nothing, no-one goes unchanged... #

APPLAUSE I love that. He has the strongest

lungs in showbusiness and he is not afraid to use them. Please welcome

Sir Tom Jones! How are you? I'm all the better for hearing that from

Bizzi and seeing you. Is that a... A smoking jacket. You are not allowed

to smoke. Nice seeing Bizzi doing a stripped-back acoustic version

there? Yes, he is great. Bizzi is a great singer and a lovely man, too.

I like the way he stands there and repositions his feet, just to make

sure that he is standing right. Yes. I have had some singing lessons,

they didn't work out very well. It is all about where you stand and how

you stand? Yes, your core. Of course. That is my problem. You went

busking with Sally and Bizzi. Let's remind ourselves what happened.

# It's not unusual # To be loved by anyone

# It's not unusual # To have fun with anyone

# When I see you hanging # About with anyone

# It's not unusual # To see me cry

# I want to die # It's not unusual

# To find that I'm in love # With you

# Woah, woah # Woah, alright

# Come on! # We can end when ever you want to!

APPLAUSE Yes!

Everyone was so lucky! How much money did you raise? We didn't! No?

We thought we would. I think they took a cap around afterwards. Enough

for a round of drinks? It was for charity. OK. Any time I do it, it is

nice if it is for charity. It is amazing drawing a big crowd like

that. It must be great for Bizzi and Sally to see you out like that. Do

you prepare them for a life of fame as well? I thought that would be a

good idea to take them where there are people and see what affect a

"star" has on people, especially when you don't know we are coming.

None of the audience knew that we were going to do what we did. I

wanted them to see that and experience that. When you get, when

you are recognisable... Did they cope with it well? Yeah. Yes? Yes. I

learned a few things myself that day. I didn't know that Sally played

guitar that well! Brilliant. She is basically a folksinger. She does

sing all kinds of things, but with the guitar and all that. I thought

she'll strum a few chords and it will be very nice. She busted into

Sugar Daddy doing a Chuck Berry thing! There are no end to her

skills! She surprised me. She is your finalist now. Are you feeling

confident about Saturday? Yes, I am. I think Sally can win this. I told

her that to begin with. She touches people. If she touches the audience,

like she touches me, then she will win. You can't - that is up to the

viewers. OK. I'm glad that I won't have to say, "I think the winner

is..." Yeah. For me, she is such a warm, she has a beautiful, natural

sounding voice and she doesn't sound like anybody else. No, that is true.

She sounds like Sally. That is enough of my questions. This was

once Kylie's I Should Be So Lucky Dip, but being the environmentally

conscious bunch that we are, we've recycled it into a Tom Bowler.

APPLAUSE No expense spared! Pick a question.

Anyone? There you go. Look at that. Shall I open it and ask it? "Who was

your idol when you were growing up?" When I was very young, I was born in

1940, so after the war, you know, in South Wales, we were Labour, we were

taught that and Winston Churchill came on because he was Conservative

and what happened in the 1926 strike was a bad time. Yes. In South Wales.

OK. That is when you are a child, you learn what you are taught. Then,

as time went on, I realised how strong and important Winston

Churchill was. Yes. So, he became my hero. I like that. OK. A little

politics lesson for you there. Another question. I'll do the

honours for you. "If there was a movie of your life, which actor

would you like to play you?" This must have been discussed, surely?

Yes. I mean, I have thought about it. Yes. I think that Jonathan Rees

Myers, he is strong. He did - I don't know whether it was shown in

Britain, but for HBO he did the Elvis Story and he played Elvis

Presley and I thought, "My God, this guy has transformed himself into

Elvis Presley." If he could do the same thing with me, that would be

it. OK. Calls are being made as we speak! Ladies and Gentleman, Sir Tom

Jones. Don't go anywhere just yet, Tom, because Sally will be here in

just a moment after this reminder of her Saturday night.

# The whole of the moon... # Beautiful. I loved hearing another

side to your performance. Fantastic. # The wind at your heels... #

Flawless and so uplifting as well. I loved it. I like the risk you took

tonight and you thrilled me. # There's be dancing in the street

# Dancing in the street # It's a new invitation

# Across the nation... # We are dancing in the street. #

Team Tom! The artist with the most public

votes securing a place in next week's final is... Sally!

Sally Barker! You said you are relaxing into the process now. Was

there a turning point when that happened? It was temporary.

Temporary? I am nervous about Saturday, not the bit we have to do

together. That is the part I'm nervous about! Are you? I'm fine

with that. Good! It's the bits where I have to be on my own on stage. I

prefer it with you. I will be in front of you, in the chair. Alright.

I will keep looking at you. You are never alone. Sing to me and we'll be

OK. Hold tight. I loved it when you were channelling Fearne Cotton on

Saturday. We saw your inner rock chick. You said it was one of the

most nerve-wracking moments doing this song, why? I was opening the

show and I wasn't sure about the lyrics. Right. OK. You are learning

them until the last minute and the piece of paper gets torn away from

you and you have to go on. By yourself. Without it. I know the

feeling. I have done it many times! Have you ever forgotten the words,

Tom? Yes. Then you try and make them up. OK. I forgot the words to Deliah

and instead of singing, "I was lost like a slave that no man could

free." I said, "I was lost like a ship on a stormy sea!" It worked,

though. Up to three performances on Saturday, Sally. What are you going

to be singing as your new song? Am I allowed to tell? I think so. Are we

going to blow it? There is no-one watching, it's fine! Alright. I will

be singing a song by Joni Mitchell. Let's hear the original.

And now, let's look at Sally in rehearsals earlier on today.

#... Castles in the air... # Loving the arrangement! It sounds

beautiful. What was the decision behind this choice? I wanted Sally

to do a song that she was familiar with, I know what it is like and you

have just learnt something, that is not good, especially for the final.

I think. Yes. So, if I was in the final, and my coach wanted me to do

something I wasn't familiar with, I wouldn't be too pleased. I thought

why don't I find out what Sally really wants to sing and then listen

to it and decide, you know, whether she should do it or not. That is the

first time I heard her sing it, at rehearsal. So, I thought that's it.

That's the one. That's it. You are also going to do a duet, which I

have heard you are looking forward to, to having Tom on your own on the

stage. You had to share him with Bizzi last week. What are you going

to be singing? We will be singing... Walking in Memphis. Brilliant. That

holds a lot of meaning for you? My husband was a big fan of that song.

Yes. You also get to perform your favourite song from the series, how

difficult a decision was that and which one have you chosen? It was

difficult. I decided to go with Dear Darlin' because I sang that for my

Battle song and when Sir Tom told us the song that we were going to sing,

I was quite surprised because I didn't know it. And I didn't know

who Olly Murs was and I apologise to Olly Murs for not knowing who he is!

I've got up to speed now! And I really enjoyed singing the song,

trying to interpret the song from a different perspective. Yes. Bless.

I'm sure Olly Murs is a massive fan. Are you Twitter friends? I am sure

we will be after Saturday! How chuffed is your mum and your two

boys, Dill.i.am and Ben? How proud are they? They are really proud. The

boys, it was their idea to come on the show. They have spent all the

money before we have got it! Of course! My mum glows with inner

pride. I can see it. Yeah. We have some messages for you from them.

We love our mum lots. We are very proud of her and everything she has

done. She is probably the best mum I could have ever wished for.

She's not had it easy. She's had to bring us up on her own. She has

given us the best start to our lives and she has fitted in her work

around our lives and school and everything. I am extremely proud of

my mum. She's amazing. She makes so many people happy with the music she

plays. When people hear her sing for the first time, they don't think

that is what is going to come out of her mouth.

# I'm just a soul # Whose intentions are good... #

APPLAUSE My mum is a modest person. She

doesn't like tell people how good she is, or anything like that. She

keeps it quiet. She is the best artist I have ever

heard. She gets so into her music and she loves it. The way she is

feeling, she puts that into her songs, it makes me quite emotional.

The music is in her blood, sort of, I guess. She is amazing. At what she

does. # I love you. #

APPLAUSE Your beautiful boys. I'm at it

again! I cry when you sing and I cry when your boys are on! Tissues for

Tom, please! How excited and anxious and all of those things rolled into

one for Saturday are you? I would like to say that I'm the only mum

they've got so they don't know any better. This is true. I am excited.

I want to focus on the work. I want to be able to have that narrow focus

and think about the songs. I believe this week is going to be full of

stuff to do. I know. I will try and get my headphones in and block out

the world. And enjoy the ride. It's been lovely talking to you. We will

see you on Friday. Good luck. Tom and Sally!

APPLAUSE Don't forget you can download Saturday's

performances from Sally and indeed all the finalists by heading to The

Voice website. At least 20p from every download goes to the BBC

Performing Arts Charity. And you can catch all four finalists tomorrow

morning on BBC Breakfast. Now you might have heard Emma and

Marvin refer to it as The Voice Arena on Saturday nights and

marvelled at its magnificence. But how on earth do they manage to fit

all that into one studio? I'm glad you asked.

The live finals for The Voice are being shot at the Elstree Film

Studios. The studio for the live is on such a huge scale, it is almost

like rigging for a rock concert. This studio is where Star Wars was

shot! 49 feet high, 15,000 square feet of

floor space, it is like being in a cathedral. It is enormous. It is an

empty studio on the first day and it goes from empty to full in 12 days.

70 people are putting in show in. It starts off with the rigging, scenic,

lighting, cameras, visual effects. It has to be in the right order. The

crew will work during the day. As they finish, another crew will come

in and work overnight. The lighting on day one, loading all

the lights on to the trusses. There are around 400 lights in the show.

The power needed to run all the lights in the studio is about 400

kilowatts, which is equivalent to 40,000 lightbulbs that you have in

your living room. The set needs to offer different

positions for the singer to sing from. We have the centre stage. We

have two catwalks and we have the mezzanine. Anyone for tea?

The floor on the centre of the stage is a video screen that you can walk

on. There's 25 square metres of the LED floor. It has to be

systematically put together, so you have to go one tile at a time and

build it like you were building a brick wall. Today, we have got six

full-time LED teches and four local crews lending a hand. It's a great

screen. It is perfect for the show. They can sing, dance, do anything

they like on it and it will be rocking.

The two iconic parts of the set are the chairs and the two hands holding

the microphones. They are two of the most difficult pieces to put in. The

hands are very big and heavy. They are quite awkward and unwieldy. Well

done, guys. That went very well. The chairs also are very delicate so

we have to handle those carefully but also they are extremely heavy.

They have got speakers inside of them, so the coaches can hear the

vocals more clearly. They have LED lights inside of them and the buzzer

mechanisms in as well. There are lots of electrics and we have three

guys working on the chairs for four days solid to make sure they are up

and running. It is a nice feeling to see the

finished product when it goes out on TV knowing we were there from the

start. After 30 years, I still get a great amount of satisfaction from

doing the 12-day build for one of the biggest shows on telly. The

clock started as something in your head, when you see it realised under

all of the lights... It's a great sense of satisfaction.

Clever gang! APPLAUSE

And Star Wars! You may have noticed that there are various technical

terms bandied around on a Saturday night here at The Voice. In case you

wondered what some of them mean, allow Yvie and Ali to enlighten you.

"A" is for attack. We often hear the coaches talking about attack and

what it means is how hard you come in on the note or how gently you

place it. Think about the intention of the lyric and attack it

accordingly. If you are singing an energetic song, you want that

energetic, strong attack! If you are singing a beautiful

ballad, you want, "Arrr." I miss Lee. As if you ever needed

proof that she knows her stuff! Please welcome back Yvie!

Nice shoes. Thank you. How impressed were you at the standard of all the

performers in the semifinal on Saturday? Wasn't it incredible? The

standard this year has been amazing. Everyone has said that. I think they

pulled something extra out of the bag on Saturday night. We had so

much diversity, so many different talents on display, the British

public must have enjoyed watching it. It is nice to see different

styles of music. You can make comparison as well. Let's have a

closer inspection. Let's look at Sally from Team Tom. Here she is on

Saturday. # You climbed up a ladder

# And you know how it fes # To be too hard

# Too far # Too soon

# When... # She wanted to change it up,

apparently. How did she do that with this performance? From the start,

she said she wanted to be edgier, she wanted - she didn't want to wear

a sequinned dress, she wanted her hair different, she said she was

channelling Fearne Cotton. She will love that! I'm sure. Everything she

did was to change it and make people see that she was a bit different.

And as far as the song was concerned, it had a beat. She moved

with it. And she used the rhythm to emphasise it more and to get the

edginess. How did you make that edgier, vocally? When you have a

rhythm like that, you can do different things from when you have

a ballad and you are standing there still. Her posture was different.

Everything was different. The way she moved was different. She just

enjoyed it more. Yes. She did. She was working it. Tom said the

structure of the song was essentially a ballad. So, explain a

bit more about that? A ballad is a story-telling song. Obviously, a

song that's all about the story is driven by that. This had a beat as

well. It was still all about the story. Not like an upbeat dance

record where it is all about the beat and the story doesn't matter.

Let's see something we have never seen before. This is Sally's first

open audition for The Voice. # Didn't I make you feel

# Like you were the only man # Didn't I give you nearly

everything # A woman could possibly can. #

Sally has sung before, and has toured. How has she changed? When I

look at that, the voice is great and you still, you heard that then, how

wonderful it was. But she was apologetic, she's crouching like

this, hunching over her guitar, she had her eyes closed. Now the Sally

we saw on Saturday night, with her eyes wide-open, performing and not

apologising for being there, that's the difference in Sally. It does

seem like a big change. Christina Marie, here she is.

She looked like she didn't stop to take any kind of breath. How is that

possible? That's the point. You are not meant to know. And that comes

with planning. To be as flawless as that, to look flawless, so you don't

look like you are taking breaths and you don't look scared, it is from

planning. I always think of it like a pilot going down the runway, and

he is about to take off, he has to do everything he's planned. He can't

press a different button or do something that he didn't expect to

do and it is the same when you are about to go into a big phrase like

that. You have to do what you have practised. Everything's got to be

the way we have mapped it out. You worked a lot with Christina Marie

last week on breath control. We can see you working with her. Yes. Where

are you taking that breath? So... Yes. It's got to be... From here.

Don't even - we don't need to hear it. It's got to be... Right. Do the

- open the back of your throat and use your diaphragm at the same time.

# We both felt that we... # That is just - I want to clap that.

That is just unbelievable! Yes. That is something she's worked on, isn't

it? It is because I'm so scary! Yes, she has had to work on it to get it

that good. She's been willing to do that. You know, that is what it is

all about. Then, when you are up on the stage, the nerves go away

because you know what you are doing, it is consistent. We can see

Christina Marie's audition as well. Here she is.

# Do you see # What we've done

# Gonna make such fools # Of ourselves... #

Very quickly, what are the changes in Christina Marie from that moment?

There is a few snatched breaths like we saw in the VT. Now, she kind of

doesn't do that so much. She's grown in confidence as well. I know. When

you see her get out there and you get a view of her tonsils!

Thank you, Yvie. You'll be back on Friday just before the final but for

now, it's Yvie! That's all we have time for today. Join me here

tomorrow when I'll be chatting to Ricky Wilson and his finalist

Christina Marie. Plus, it's the moment you all may, or may not, have

been waiting for. I'll finally be performing Unchained Melody! Lord

help us! See you tomorrow. Good night.