As the knockouts begin on Saturday night, can contestant Jamie Grey prove he’s The Voice UK’s comeback king?
Jamie Grey is through The Voice UK's knockouts on Saturday night – but the singer admits he thought about quitting music when he auditioned last year and none of the coaches turned their chairs.
"I was so depressed and thought it was all over," said singer-songwriter Jamie, 29, from North Yorkshire. "I'd built up that blind audition as my last opportunity in music, so I was heartbroken when I didn't get a turn. But when I watched the audition back, I knew I could show people I could do better – so I decided to audition again this year!"
Jamie with his mentor Olly Murs after getting through this year's blind audition
Fortunately, this time round, both Sir Tom Jones and Olly Murs liked what they heard at Jamie's blind audition. Jamie chose Olly as his mentor and, after sailing through his recent battle performance against duo RYT, Jamie's now through to the knockouts.
On Saturday night, the remaining six acts on each team must sing one last killer song to win one of just two places on their team in next week's live semi-final. Each coach has chosen a guest mentor and helping Olly is MOBO award-winner, Craig David.
"I'm a massive fan of his," said Jamie. "Craig's the perfect example of how anything is possible. He was big in the Nineties and he's come back to the charts later on in life just as current, just as fresh and he's slotted back into the music industry like he was never away."
Olly gets a helping hand from MOBO award-winning artist Craig David
Jamie doesn't think viewers have seen the best of him yet. "I'm super critical of myself and I feel like, I know what I can do, how good I can be and that I haven't shown it yet, so this knockout performance is everything to me," he said. "Yes, I've got through the blinds and the battles but this for me is really my shot to be regarded as a serious contender."
Jamie intends to pull out all the stops at the knockouts to secure a place at the semis, where it's the pubic who'll vote on who makes it through to the grand final.
"I've always been curious to know whether I'd actually be well received by the public as a recording artist," he said. "To get to the live shows would give me the chance to really bare my soul to the nation. Long-term, I'd love to inspire people with my music."
The Voice UK's knockout rounds can be seen on Saturday March 17 at 8.30pm on ITV.
