182 replies to this topic

[Warmington]

Well Tony Vincent made it through on the US version of The Voice last night singing 'We Are The Champions' so I guess musical theatre voices can be picked!  He's on CeeLo Green's team.  

[Carlotta]

Been reading this thread and there are just a few things I don't get.

1 Kerry Ellis has been 'mentored' by Brian May for years and years. He has pushed her and promoted her and just about done everything he can for her. So why does she go on a TV talent show as a contestant in search of a music industry mentor ? How does this make Brian feel ? Or how would she have justified this to him or to herself ? And she does this all in the public domain ?

2 Apparently none of the judges buzzed her and so she didn't get picked. But wot if say Jessie J had buzzed her. Wouldn't that be weird Kerry being mentored by someone who has been around for less time than she has. I just can't see how that would have worked.

3 The prize was a recording contract with Universal records and Kerry is signed to Decca which is part of Universal. Can u imagine the press fiasco if someone on X Factor was ALREADY signed to Sony or Syco or whatever Simon Cowell's label is. The press would go mad and ITV would be criticised and so on. It would make the whole thing a joke. Knowing all of this and the risks at stake why did Kerry think she should do this ? Or didn't she have to fil in a form or sign some consent thing before she went on the programme and surely they must have asked if the contestant is already signed to a label. Why enter a competition when you already have the prize ??

4 People are mentioning Tony Vincent and stuff but he has nowhere near the level of fame Kerry has. She went on every programme with Brian May to promote her album. She played a solo concert at the Albert Hall and did a major tour of big music venues and this is all in the past year or so. AND SHE IS SIGNED TO THE LABEL THAT IS THE PRIZE.So wot was she thinking

5 There has been tons of press on this and none of it makes her look good. It's not that it makes her look really really bad she has not committed any crime or anything. But it just does not add up. It just feels dodgy.

I think Kerry is great. She was amazing some of the times I saw her in Wicked. She wasn't that good as Nancy but not really her fault. She did wot she could. But she is really talented and we all know that even if u like her or not. But this is odd.

Like I say I just don't get it.

[Titan]

Kerry Ellis is not famous. She is known within the theatre world and that's it. Brian may has been trying to make her a success but it hasn't worked, her last album dropped out of the charts within a couple of weeks. At best Brian may and queen fans may know her as the girl who supports him but to the wider world no one has a clue. She is not a good enough actress to make it as such, she just can belt a song out. Her voice is different for theatre but is no way unique enough to make it in the main stream industry

Also I have to say the outfit she wore at the wos awards smacked a bit of attention seeking.

[sparkle123]

I'm not sure I'd call Kerry's well documented minimal sense of style attention seeking. I'd just say she really doesn't have much clue when it comes to dress sense!

As for the entire Voice thing - I don't understand why she/her record company (As I've heard that it was indeed record companies who put some people forward for the show) thought this would be a great idea. Personally I love Kerry's voice but even I'm not so blind as to think she could make it in the wider industry. She isn't the right age to be making it big in the wider entertainment industry and she isn't controversial enough in her attitude or looks to warrant interest. She's a big fish in the West End pond but beyond that I'm not so sure she'd ever break into other areas. If her affiliation with Brian May hasn't done the trick then I'm pretty sure it isn't meant to be.

On a personal level though, I'm glad she didn't get through. I have no time for these so called talent shows and I think her talents are much more suited to the West End stage

[Gavin]

Just to echo what the person above me has said, it was definitely the record companies themselves that put them forward to audition for the show.

[sparkle123]

Thanks for the clarification, Gavin!

[Danube]

I think people are forgetting that although Decca is a subsidiary of Universal, it isn't geared up for mainstream releases.  The winner of The Voice will have a lot more invested in them by Universal than Kerry would get from Decca, and that assumes Decca weren't getting cold feet about a second album.  Her first album had a decent first week position, but it dropped very quickly, which suggests it was only selling to her existing fan-base.  It was probably their idea to get her on the show in the hope of extending that fan-base, or at least making it easier to get her booked for promotional opportunities when the time comes to release album number two.

On the off-chance she'd won the whole thing, Decca would probably retain a percentage of her royalties, so they had nothing to lose.

It would have been a bit odd if she was mentored by Jessie J, given their relative ages, and while Kerry is a more experienced theatre performer, Jessie is a much more successful recording artist and song-writer.

[jaqs]

Does she still have a record contract or was it a 1 album deal?

[sparkle123]

She's mentioned to several people that she is working on a second album - I believe she mentioned it a few times at the WOS awards. She's also still on Decca's website under their artists so I'd imagine she's still under their guidance.

[Warmington]

Carlotta, on 22 February 2012 - 08:19 PM, said:

4 People are mentioning Tony Vincent and stuff but he has nowhere near the level of fame Kerry has.

I Beg to differ.  Here in the UK maybe not but certainly in the US which is afterall where the US version of the show is taking place!  Therefore I think he is a good comparison to the Kerry situation over here.  You also have to remember that he fronted Queen with WWRY gigs such as the Party in the Park and Party at the Palace in the UK which were broadcast worldwide.  He has also appeared in the film version of JCS and starred in Andrew Lloyd Webber's music concerts in different countries. He has appeared in lead Broadway roles in Rent, JCS, American Idiot and WWRY Vegas.  I think his credentials are equal if not better than Kerry's and he still entered the competition and was picked.  To be fair only one judge turned his chair around, maybe it's just that the MT voice is a bit too polished for these type of judges?  Maybe they would feel it difficult to 'mould' such a voice to the way they want their team to be?  Certainly in the US version they have been picking individuals for a team.  Team CeeLo for which Tony was picked are the 'over the top' team.  Maybe therein lies the answer, Kerry didn't fit the team profile?