This year’s season of The Voice may have only just begun, but we’ve already found ourselves reaching for the tissues after last night’s power ballad between mentor Jessie J and contest hopeful Claire Howell.
After making her way onto the show with her best friend and fellow performer Tash Lockhart, 18-year-old Howell boldly decided to perform a reworked version of one of J’s own tracks in front of not just its original performer, but also fellow mentors Delta Goodrem, Ronan Keating and the Madden Brothers.
The outcome seemed serendipitously set before Howell had even begun, with J saying “come on, I want to press the buzzer” as the Gold Coast teen walked onto the stage.
Jessie J on the set of The Voice with Benji Madden. Source: Instagram.
Despite appearing nervous at the start, the hopeful belted out her flawless rendition, as J turned around within seconds, grinning proudly and supportively for the rest of the tune.
By the end of the track all four mentors had turned around and were clearly keen to have the makeup artist on their team, but knowing the outcome without anything having to be said.
"Before anyone starts, do we even have a chance?" asked Joel Madden with a joke.
"I'm still up for a pitch!" shouted Keating.
Howell's performance on The Voice brought the house down. Source: Twitter.
"There's two things that stood out for me," J told Howell. "The hunger in your voice, that's the most fighting audition we've had so far, and for me that's why I turned around.
"The second reason I turned around was because you did runs I didn't do in the song, and I've very, very rarely heard people sing that song that do their own vibe on it, you know?"
J also added that she'd been where Howell had been, writing the song at a similar age, and with a similar experience, before thanking the teen for bringing her interpretation to the show.
After that it was show over for the other mentors, with J clearly standing out as Howell's team leader of choice.
Finally, the two took to the stage for a reality TV lovers dream impromptu performance.
Howell's best friend, who sung Adele's Turning Tables, also made it through, joining Team Delta.
