Nate James leads Voice hopefuls as auditions continue

Soul singer Nate James was among the familiar faces on Saturday's edition of The Voice as auditions reached their penultimate week.

The former MOBO Awards nominee was the latest in a string of former chart stars to perform for the coaches on the BBC One show, following the likes of Cleo Higgins, Kym Mazelle and Anthony 'Kavana' Kavanagh earlier in the series.

But while the success rate of those performers has been patchy, Nate was one of the lucky ones, winning a place on team Jessie J with his performance of the Seal hit Crazy.

"I know your voice, I didn't recognise it if I'm honest," Jessie told him. "Now I turn around and it's Nate James!" Meanwhile, will.i.am called his performance "fantastic".

Nate wasn't the only one making a second bid for stardom as the coaches' teams continued to fill up.

Others hoping to recapture former glories included the oldest contestant so far - 60-year-old Colin Chisholm - formerly a member of 70s act Bilbo Baggins.

And his audition proved strong enough to win him a place on Team Tom Jones, as he took on the Cyndi Lauper hit I Drove All Night.

"You got into the song and you sang it the way you felt it," Tom said - while Jessie said the pairing was "the perfect match of coach and artist".

Others making their mark on Saturday's show included Adele impersonator Lareena Mitchell - who won a place on Tom Jones's team - and West End performer Ricardo Alfonso, who won a place on Team Danny O'Donoghue, along with Paul Carden, a former member of band Black Velvet.

"You've got an amazing recording voice," he said, "Real rock." will.i.am, meanwhile, said he had not turned around for him "because you belong with Danny".

Meanwhile former Hollyoaks actress Alice Barlow made another bid for fame with her rendition of Carly Rae Jepsen's Call Me Maybe.

Alice - who played Rae Wilson on the soap until she left in 2011 - particularly caught the eye of Danny, who was heard to say: "She's a lovely-looking girl."

The final round of auditions will be screened next Saturday night.