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The Voice is back for a fourth series with new faces in the spinning chairs. After Dolores 'It's A Six' O'Riordan decided not to return for a second series and with Jamelia unable to commit to a third year as a coach, former S Club 7 member Rachel Stevens and Una Foden from The Saturdays are joining Bressie and Kian to find the voice of Ireland. Bressie took the crown for a second year last series after his act Brendan McCahey triumphed. So as the four coaches take their seats for the first time this series, what talent awaits them?

Recap and videos after the JUMP...


Patrick Donoghue -4/4 - 'Red' by Daniel Merriweather - Joins Team Una
Patrick wants to go for The Voice due to the fact that nobody will judge him on anything other than his voice, having sustained burns in a fire when he was younger. He has a very powerful, soulful voice, almost a male belter. Vocally, he reminds me a little bit of Sam Smith, he also has a similar feel to his voice to former X Factor champ Joe McElderry, he's definitely a talented guy with a lot of potential, at times I felt that his tone was lacking a little but I reckon Patrick is bound to go far.


John McCormack - No Turn - 'Just Wanna Dance The Night Away' by The Mavericks
John is a singer/songwriter, he's also a father to fourteen kids who Kathryn gets him to name, and fair play to him he manages it. His song choice doesn't really help him, it's a bit of a crooner classic which sounds very dated now and although his voice isn't terrible, it's definitely not good enough to go up against other singers, I feel that his style is too dated to stand a chance on a show like this.


Kelley McArdle - 3/4 - 'Everything In Between' (Original Song) - Joins Team Una
Kelley got into singing a few years back when she was going through a tough time, being bullied at school and her parents splitting up. She has written her own songs and she's auditioning with one of these original tracks, which includes a bit of a rap in it. This is an interesting song actually, it has a very poppy feel to it, not dissimilar to some of Taylor Swift's more recent songs, she has a bit of a Cher Lloyd or Avril Lavigne feel to her, I really like the track and the rapping provides a nice edge, I think she could go very far in the competition.


Ronan O'Healey - 1/4 - 'The Lazy Song' (adapted) - Joins Team Rachel
I say he is singing 'The Lazy Song' but it's pretty much a totally different song to the faint tune of the original, this song is quite humourous commenting about his experience on The Voice and begging the coaches to turn around. Well it's certainly an original way to grab their attention. It's hard to judge his voice much on this type of song but I sort of like the feel of his voice, it won't be until we see him getting serious and singing another song that we'll really be able to judge his voice.


Ashley Cully - No Turn - 'Sweet Nothings' by Calvin Harris feat. Florence Welch 
I love her song choice, it's one of the best dance tracks of the last few years and Florence Welch has an incredible voice. I actually really like this girl, she has a great tone and although it's obvious that she's nervous, I think she does a great job of this track. It's a shame that nobody turned around for her as I think she had great potential but I do agree that she really should have gave the chorus a little more power, that was the only thing that I felt the song lacked. 


John Sheehy - 3/4 - 'Bette Davis Eyes' by Kim Carnes - Joins Team Una
John is a yoga instructor, he says that he would choose Kian if all of the coaches turn for him and warns that he has a very unique voice. From the first note, it's clear what that is as John's voice is in fact extremely high, he almost sounds quite feminine on the song. I'm not sure about his tone, it's interesting but I have a feeling we might get a little tired of it after a while. That said, he powers through the song with ease and his technical ability is pretty undoubted. Everyone but Bressie turns and all of them seem surprised when they see that he is a guy, with Kian and Bressie both convinced that he was a woman. It'll be interesting to see whether he still sounds as feminine in further rounds when the coaches can see his face.


Colm Conlan - 1/4 - 'Sedated' by Hozier - Joins Team Kian
Colm is the first of the RTE 2FM Wildcards, yep that's running again this year. This is where the radio station pick five acts who hadn't initially applied to audition and enter them into the blind auditions stage. Their success rate is pretty high considering that last year's winner, Brendan was initially a 2FM Wildcard. They have picked Colm Conlan, a farmer as the first wildcard, he has a very interesting style and I like his tone but I'm not sure about the way he's singing this song. It starts off very flat and a little nasally, picking up slightly when it shifts into a higher key, it's clear that his higher register is where he feels most comfortable so I would suggest Kian tries to pick songs which target this. As the song went on, it definitely sounded a lot stronger so I do think Colm could be one to watch.


Megan Ring - No Turn - 'Ironic' by Alanis Morissette 
Megan is massively into her music and says that she plays pretty much every instrument under the sun, initially starting with a humble guitar. Taking on such an iconic track is a risk but I actually think she's doing a pretty good job of this track, it is very faithful to the original but that's not necessarily a bad job. I think as it went into the chorus, she wasn't as strong and her voice started to shake a little but it wasn't a bad job by any means and I'm actually quite surprised that nobody turned around, she has a lot of potential.


Sarah McTernan - 4/4 - 'Who You Are' by Jessie J - Joins Team Rachel
Now after the coaches banging on about people not truly feeling the emotions of the songs they were singing, Sarah comes along and gives a masterclass in delivering an absolutely amazing performance. This was easily one of the most passionate blind auditions I have seen on The Voice of Ireland, I love the way she sings and the tone she has. It really adds to the emotion of the song and the fact it started off very fragile then the power kicked in coming up to the chorus really made me believe the emotion. It wasn't flawless but I completely believed every word she was singing and was invested in the performance, easily the strongest one so far.


James Bermingham - No Turn - 'Ain't No Stopping Us Now' by McFadden and Whitehead 
James is a professional George Michael tribute act but he won't be singing any George Michael songs today for he wants to be able to establish himself as an artist in his own right, without any comparisons. Not sure about this song choice, it's a bit of a karaoke pick, not something I would choose myself and I don't know that I see him standing a real chance in the latter stages of the competition. It's fun but it's not a series winning performance and unfortunately I'm right as nobody turns. I did hear the George Michael in his voice to be honest.


Jolene Burns - 1/4 - 'Prayer In C' by Lily Wood & The Prick and Robin Schulz - Joins Team Bressie
I really like her voice, she has a really cool vibe and her tone is great. She's definitely nervous but I actually thought the nerves made the performance better, the fact that it wasn't polished made it feel so much more raw and I just felt that it was a really refreshing take on a great song. I think Jolene is one to watch, Bressie can be hit and miss with his acts but he had a very strong team of quirky girls in Series 2 and I think he could certainly do something interesting with Jolene's voice.


Sasha Hatam Smith - 2/4 - 'Burn' by Ellie Goulding - Joins Team Kian
I'm not too sure of this performance initially, it's not the norm to see relatively powerful singers taking on Ellie Goulding songs as you associate her music with quirky girls but this is a really interesting take on a good song actually. I like her voice on the song and she has an interesting husky tone which I think will be interesting in the future rounds. I can see a lot of potential with Sasha, not my favourite audition tonight but there's something interesting about her.

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