Pinstickers guide to The Voice Final 20 acts.

Not with her nice pink curly bits

Which one's Ruth?

Nobody knows what the producers want. Yet.
XF is very good at creating characters, so people form strong opinions and back them up with cash. There are 20 runners, casuals know very little about any of them.

That's it. Give them a chance. It may not pick up till next year when punters know what's going on.

Take a look at her new pic on the BBC site GB.

OK I thought you were being rude

And liquidity will pick up as the series goes on I'm sure

seen it..oh dear no chance. Joelle is blond presumably to try to fool the viewers. Frances looks like Sandie Shaw. Hannah is gorgeous and so has no chance I guess.

I reckon you're being overly optimistic Henry.

The PC has sucked liquidity from all the niche markets.

The decline will need betfair to be proactive to be reversed and they show no signs of doing so. Infact the opposite.

They seem happy to let niche markets wither and die and concentrate on the major sports, racing and their casino/arcade

..and becoming a bookie themselves

Frances looks great.

I agree Hannah maybe a little too 'tarty' for the MEM's

Becky and Ruth softened.

Vince even scares me.

Vince is scary but a big softie really...too complex for middle england I suspect.

Hannah needs to survive this week and she will be on the radar of the GBP.  Split boy vote may be enough.

Combined is approx 16.5% GB2 which equates to about 5-1. Assuming equal liabilities.

Thanks Cider much appreciated. I have had less on hannah at 50s than the others but returns not dissimilar so does that complicate matters?

5/1 Danny in the final (assuming Bo flops)looks good to me.

Apr 25, 2012 -- 4:07PM, squares wrote:

Brushy is back too

I'm off again now

You can't stay away

Figgy DOI, SCD, BB all poor liquidity. But XF, BGT, CBB and ESC (especially ESC) are good enough.

I'm hoping The Voice will be like the latter group which, if the viewing numbers are similar to XF, it should be. But probably not this year.

I can't understand the love some have for Frances, I've backed her on the HS to be first out of will's group, Jazz/joelle get votes on talent sophie has the NI vote leaving frances and tyler at the bottom, will seems a lot keener on tyler.
I've made a confident bet that frances goes on sat o'dear could be wrong again

All falling tho Henry.
Especially the weekly markets. Even XF was a struggle in the weekly markets last year

Potential mach

..and I think Will likes her.

Frances ( a personal friend of mine ) is very talented.  She told me she can do justice to Purple rain which augurs well. As with all young women do the MEMs buy in to her?

the 2.8 i got at v.c and 2.44 at pp felt like value, to me frances looked totaly out of her depth and a long with sophie has the least credibility, which may be a big driver to who gets the boot for a big ego like will's

I see another Bails restraining order on the horizon

That poor lass off AI has enough of your unlaundered yfronts now

No wonder she looked a little nervous in her latest performance. She'd just received another parcel from GB2

Apr 25, 2012 -- 10:34PM, GeorgeBrush wrote:

That poor lass off AI has enough of your unlaundered yfronts now

If she has why does she wash and iron them and send them back all neatly folded? Answer me that one then.

I recon after 2 live weeks we'll be begging for some Cowell style machinations to confuse the punters. I fear a lot of straight batting. Though I suppose they set a few up for a fall in the battles

reckon

I see that bellend shoeless Vince is 'livid' at going out to whoever. If you looked like him you'd be livid too I guess

Looking at the favourite the punters seem confused enough already

Should be 1.8

If there was enough liquidity you could just lay Jazz as per Janet and sit back to wait to collect. Just shows the power of the ramped back story.

1.8 to go out first?

To lay.  Dissapointing long I think.

Ah indeed. If only......

I'd like to Frances do something like this -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFFRq3FMOog

She can play the piano too.

to see*

You might like it but doubt the GBP would.  Unless I am miles off with the voting demographic.

fook the public.

Will would save her.

This any better?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25QrnxD-NB4&feature=related

Apr 25, 2012 -- 11:44PM, five leaves left wrote:

fook the public.Will would save her.

“No one in this world has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people"

Yeah more like it.

But rude words

Lena won the German song for Europe thingy and the Eurovision by singing the likes of Kate Nash & The Cure.

Fook knows why the country that creates such great music is always so conservative when it comes to these shows.

Becky to sing this -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH_rfGBwamc

Be careful what you wish for it might come true.

The hippie couple to do some Roy harper

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqgWW2jEOIo

They couldn't do a worse cover than Gabriel and Bush

Put up prices at about 109% on the winner of team/1st elim markets if anyone wants a go

Be nice to get some liquidity going!

this would suit Becky
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqSKVv6YO8g
or any other Amy Winehouse song

n1 mach and n1 jack

Did you lay my Joelle money jack?

A freak like the butter boy is always going to out last his talent, adam & leanne are the value to go in tom's group

I'd like to Frances do something like this -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFFRq3FMOog
She can play the piano too.

In last year's US Voice they had any of the contestants who could play an instrument playing them, enhancing the "serious musician" side of it, in comparison to XF.

That's good news for Frances and Max Milner.

Laid Joelle at 9's for elim fig, but not the higher odds

Possibly mach but have to consider the judges decision, can't really see Tom getting rid of Leanne before Matt and Sueleen for instance

Max's outright odds are crazy imo, especially with the guitar playing aspect possibly becoming important

the butter boy is the nearest thing we have to a novalty act, I make him and ruth safe

Is it worth asking betfair for some bottom 2 markets as well? Liquidity might be awful currently but during the live show can see it being worthwhile

Might be worth a try jack

How awful was the gambled on horse the 2?

Leanne for elimination at this stage? - not the proverbial snowballs chance. I have had a decent bet at 4's on her winning Team Tom as I liked her vocal and she seems shy and a bit vulnerable. Overweight also so no danger to the female voters, Leanne won't be stealing Max away from them

I see Sofabet have David Julien as the winner, smart boy

I personally wouldn't take too much comfort from the sofabet article bex.For a start,it seems his analysis is based on 3 acts leaving from each team this week.Unless I've got it wrong,I thought it was 1 act from each team biting the dust?
Btw I'm with you on Leanne,no way she goes this week

Also sofabets top 4 predictions just happen to be the top 4 in the betting....hardly "sticking my neck out" as he claims!

Amazing that we are going into week 1 and nobody can put their finger on the format for certain

Apr 26, 2012 -- 11:51AM, hemsby wrote:

Also sofabets top 4 predictions just happen to be the top 4 in the betting....hardly "sticking my neck out" as he claims!

yep lol. Funny how chances are defined by odds. Rhydian and Rimmix had no chance whatsoever. Btw what ever happened too them?

to them

Well by choosing the first 4 in the betting you are sticking your neck out aren't you?. So much worse if you come nowhere near being right

It doesn't bother me about the format as long as the public vote now plays a part - thats pretty much why my 2 against the field have been chosen as well as being 2 voices I like. I'm sure the live performances will see a few opinions chnage so will be watching closely from now on and will be amazed if I don't add a couple more selections to David and Leanne as insurance rather than laying those 2

Rimmix

For me,the most important format to have knowledge of is what happens at the semi-final stage ie 2 acts from each judge left.I've seen it mentioned as being 50/50 PV and mentor decision ....how that can work I've no idea.If a mentor has 50% of the vote surely the PV is irrelavant?The only logical way I see at semi-final stage is just PV,
Anyone got any knowledge of other countries versions as to how it may pan out?

I don't undertand that wording either.

In a 2 horse race you can't have the judges having 50% say and the public 50%.

If the judges go for one and the public the other then who decides who goes through.

If it's the judges then they hav 100% say. If it's the public then they have 100% say.

its more complicated than that , go to wiki the voice usa season 1 , semi final stage , they give points out of 100 and add the public vote, there is a chart with the totals etc

ok cheers wd.

It sounds like a right palaver.

The public will go barmy if they don't decide of course....

yes looks real easy for a judge to get rid of one by giving the act a very low number then the PV becomes less releveant, so it leans more towards judges choice I would say.

Mind you, the BBC loves a bit of rigging more than Cowell. He is transparent about trying to fix the vote, and at least you see the figures

They don't want to upset Vince by releasing figures that show he's not half as popular as he is on the forums.

I still wanna back him if you wanna oblige FLL

Join the club wd.
I want to back Frances but I have more chance of backing someone for the next archbishop of canterbury than getting a decent bet on her on here.

Thanks for the info wd.If they decide to follow that format,it's certainly open to manipulation as you say.

FLL  you can get 90 quid on at under the HS what more do you want lol , in fact apart from the few that should be a million, then virtually all the prices are bigger on HS .

Hemsby, I think that the Judges will definitely want their choice to be representing them in the final and then let the public decide, however they like to pretend by wording it differently

LOL true wd.

Then 5% commission plus 20% PC.

So much for betfair offering the best value.

god your fcked aint ya FLL, Ive got a low % comm and no PC and its still a hard game.

mind you the amount of commission I have paid anyway is enough to make me cry, I asked them years ago for a total and never asked again since its heartbreaking stuff lol

I'd still swap his annual winnings for yours

really lol im not getting into all that,  but I would say anyone who can make a good living at this game deserves some credit.

Yep, they do, and it's pretty depressing to see everything getting harder and harder. BF **** all over the people that built the business for them

you are right there GB its amazing how its all developed since the early flutter days, amazing that it got so big, but with that they can do what they like, take the PC payers , they know you have no choice but to pay.

LOL @ Jaz's "manager"

What's happening sq?  Not surprising that this lot of hasbeens and never will bes would have a collection of hangers on and 'managers'

Jaz is under Andrew Stone Management - "the" Andrew Stone

Now that is a guarantee of quality if ever there was one. Almost as if the LP was on the Reeves and Mortimer label

Stone's begging for all his fans and followers to vote

Likely to have a negative effect

So it sounds as though these lot haven't been ripped from any existing contracts by SC style frighteners

If you've been purposefully avoiding BBC1's weekend singing contest The Voice, brace yourself because the live shows start on Saturday night. If you're thinking this is the right time to dip in, the premise is that existing shows such as The X Factor or Britain's Got Talent are not about vocal ability but The Voice, as its catchphrase goes, is "all about the voice".

The Voice's pre-publicity insisted that there were no gimmicks. No sob stories. The judges aren't judges, it explained: they're coaches, and they offer constructive advice. Most importantly, the big idea of The Voice is that the coaches face away from the singer for the first audition, and are only allowed to see what they look like if they're impressed enough to want that singer on their "team". This means that entrants needn't boast model good looks, like X Factor's teen pinups Wagner, Mary Byrne and Johnny Robinson, to get to the public vote.

It's a well-worn marketing trick to launch Product B by highlighting how different it is to Product A, and Saturday night TV is hardly the place for subtlety – although Harry Hill managed it every week – but The Voice feels like it is protesting too much.

Whenever I tune in I see things like coaches hitting big red buttons with their bottoms then spinning around in their special whizzy chairs, and I see sombre music playing over footage of people whose dreams have, for whatever reason, failed and for whom this is one last chance. I see the coaches bickering with each other about who knows the most famous people, or I see them each, in turn, promising that they, not their rival, will make a singer successful, like a televised version of the moral atrocity that is the record-label bidding war. Last weekend I turned on the Sunday night broadcast of this gimmick-free contest and saw – to a soundtrack of what appeared to be a massacre at a livestock market – a succession of singers "battling it out" in a boxing ring. There were tears, and there were sob stories: admittedly the chap who was simply a bit nervous wasn't making much effort, but Dead Dad was up there with seasons 2-5 of The X Factor. The following day the BBC issued pictures of the show's "final 20", whom The Voice say should be judged on vocal ability, all having received impressive makeovers.

Every time I see one of the show's gimmicks or the manipulative, ratings-grabbing techniques so well established in the modern TV lexicon, I hear a twee, judgmental little jobsworth whining "it's all about the voice", and I wonder how different this really is from The X Factor.

Behind all the bluster surely everyone involved in The Voice – unless pathetically deluded – knows that it's a reality show much like any other. They know that it was a big brash ratings-winner for a commercial network in America long before someone at the BBC decided that public service broadcasting was best defined by spending £25m on a format aimed at taking on Britain's Got Talent. They know that the spinny-chair blind audition is mere tokenism when the coaches – who, let's remember, could not be trusted to put their stinking prejudices to one side for the first auditions – can subsequently weed out contestants once they've seen what they look like. Most alarmingly, they know that by focusing on singers who they claim might not get a chance elsewhere – LOOK AT THE BALD WOMAN SINGING, LOOK AT HER BALD HEAD WITH A SONG COMING OUT OF IT – they are exploiting people who look "unusual" just as much as The X Factor ever did, while pretending they're not and insisting it is for the contestant's own good.

It is a dark day for popular culture when one pines for the transparency of a Simon Cowell show, but The Voice's problem is that it attempts to graft earnestness on to a show that does not require such interference. Without wishing to over-egg a pudding that is already 90% meringue, The Voice represents the newboringification of light entertainment. Perching a brussels sprout atop a strawberry sundae may prompt squeals of wonder in the Masterchef semi-final but in the world of the Saturday night talent contest it is just annoying no matter how watchable the result.

The BBC is, of course, famously standoffish about these things. Who can forget Fame Academy (another bought-in format, of course, as the corporation hasn't developed a decent music show of its own in 20 years), which provided a counter to the excitement, spectacle and first thrill of Pop Idol by deciding that the whole experience should be a bit more like school?

Already The Voice is a ratings success, beating Britain's Got Talent. It is interesting how the The Voice's cheerleaders see these ratings wins as evidence of the programme's quality when The Voice's implied worldview – pop stars who sell loads aren't necessarily any good – almost invites viewers to believe the opposite. Even that view feels like your dad tutting his way through Top Of The Pops from behind a newspaper.

It wouldn't be quite so odd if the winner simply picked up a book token and rosette and went home with £100k. Instead, the winner is guaranteed a record deal with Universal Music. Why is that odd? Well let's not think too much about the poor Universal product manager who may stand to inherit an artist whose big selling point is that they don't look like someone who sells records. And let's not dwell too much on the memory of ill-fated 2007 fiasco DanceX, a show apparently so neutered by the BBC's undue prominence rulings that the winning band didn't perform its single on the final, leading to an unceremonious No 91 flop and a band (and TV show) that was never heard of again.

Instead consider this: people at labels will do anything to shift units. If they thought (or were convinced by market research) that society's less conventionally attractive characters had regular chart potential they'd be signing them left, right and centre. They'd put a bucket in a wig on a schools tour if they thought its first video could bring in product placement cash from a mobile handset manufacturer, and they've considered and investigated thousands of alternative ideas, so let's not kid ourselves that The Voice is likely to to open up some "hidden truth" about what people really want from their musicians, or tell the music industry something it doesn't already know.

This means that if the winner succeeds – if they're not one of the attractive candidates who seem to somehow have made it through to the public vote – it will be because they've been on The Voice. Really, then, they will succeed not because of their voice but, like The Voice itself, and like The X Factor every year, and like everything in the Top 40, because of marketing. The sooner The Voice admits that, the easier it will be to watch.

Good stuff from the guardian today

Reads like a mellower version of JR

stone, the most deluded cbb contstant ever, Jazz did he ever have a chance, they think it's all over it is now

When they have three left for each coach we could do with a nice Andrew Stone interview on the show, that should finish Jazz off good and proper!

I have have him as pretty large red, not as big as Janet in the last X Factor but big enough to make me sweat a bit!