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The Voice 2024 contestant divides with 'over the top' performance: 'Felt awkward watching'
Lana Sayah from Sydney made waves with her first performance on The Voice Australia.
The 13th season of The Voice kicked off on Monday night with blind auditions being judged by Guy Sebastian, Kate Miller Heidke, Adam Lambert and Leann Rimes. The hopeful performers are all battling it out for a place on one of the coach's teams and the grand prize of $100,000 and an all-inclusive production package.
Viewers are already expressing their doubts about a new addition to the series - the Ultimate Block. This allows a coach the one-off chance to block all of their fellow judges and essentially force their chosen performer to join their team.
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However, it wasn't just the new twist that was dividing fans during the premiere as a singer from Sydney took to the stage, oozing confidence and ready to wow the coaches.
Who is Lana from The Voice?
Lana Sayah is a 32-year-old backup singer from Sydney who has worked with stars such as Rita Ora and Dua Lipa.
The sassy songstress chose 'Good Luck' by Basement Jaxx as her song and was successful in getting all four judges to turn around and vie for her before she ultimately chose Adam.
While the judges were clearly impressed with her talents, the singer divided viewers at home with many saying they had not enjoyed the performance.
"The outfit and attitude was too much and off-putting," one person wrote. "Hope she tones it down and lets her Voice shine through"
"I felt awkward watching her.. was over the top," another said.
"A little too overconfident, don’t think it was the right song choice," a different viewer said.
Many others said they had been unable to understand what she had been singing due to her unique voice.
"Her voice didn’t appeal to me at all, couldn’t understand a word she sang .. a bit too try hard," was one comment.
"Too karaoke for me," was another.
Fans defend Lana's performance
Despite the naysayers, there were also scores of fans who thought that Lana had done an amazing job and said they were excited to see what she does next.
"Great confidence, loved her frock," someone wrote.
"That was flawless!! Such a difficult song to sing!!! Loved everything about your performance 💜💜💜," another fan gushed.
"Such a cool voice!!!," one person wrote
"Beautiful voice and beautifully executed; so excited to see how far she goes!! 😍💕💕," said another.
"Amazing!!! 🔥🔥🔥", "WHAT A STAR! THE WHOLE PACKAGE !!!," and "Such a force! Iconic performance 🔥" were other words of praise that were showered upon the singer.
Reuben De Melo already picked as winner of The Voice
Other fans simply could not stop talking about the 31-year-old dad of two from Perth - Reuben Melo whose incredible performance of Ed Sheeran's 'I See Fire' not only had the four coaches fighting for him, but received a standing ovation from the four stars as well as the audience.
Fans have already tipped him to win, sharing their adoration of him online.
"Reuben, wow just wow, what an amazing voice! Could listen to him all day!" an excited viewer wrote on X.
"Clapping standing from the couch! Reuben de Melo," said another.
"Reuben was incredible. He was definitely the stand-out performance last night. I was almost asleep until he came out. He was so so good," another fan of the FIFO worker said.
SHOP:
"We have a winner. This guy can sing," a third wrote.
"Yayyy I remember staying all night at the Subiaco Saturday night markets because you were playing and I thought… this guy's the next Ed Sheeran, next time I watch him play I’ll be in a stadium!!! Finally it is happening for you," a fan wrote on Reuben's Instagram.
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