#TeamRiky takes an early lead in The Voice SA Season 3!

WINDHOEK, FEB 12 – By the end of tonight’s exciting second episode of The Voice South Africa Season 3, Coach Riky Rick had eked out a lead for himself with a total of five singers on #TeamRiky. #TeamLIRA and #TeamRiana swelled their numbers to a total of four talented singers each, and poor Coach Francois van Coke was lagging behind with still only one singer on his team.

First up for their consideration tonight was 26-year-old Amy Tjasink from Cape Town, who has travelled the world entertaining guests on cruise ships, and returned to South Africa from her new home in London especially to audition on The Voice SA. Accompanying herself on the acoustic guitar, Amy performed Bebe Rexha’s “Meant To Be”, and immediately Lira noted that this was “a very different voice” and got up in her chair to dance along. But it was the two men who turned their chairs for Amy. “Riky is a rapper, he doesn’t know that much about voices,” Coach Francois campaigned, but Amy confessed that she really wanted to be on #TeamRiky all along.

With #TeamRiky taking the lead with the most members so far, the next contestant to take the stage was the 21-year-old Michael Jackson fan Mo George, also from Cape Town. He selected the powerful Etta James ballad “At Last” to show off his vocal ability, and impressed Coach LIRA and Francois van Coke enough to turn their chairs. “You’re an exceptional singer,” Lira said, and wrote Mo’s name down in her team book, “as a way of claiming you!” she joked. Francois literally begged, but Mo became the third member of #TeamLira.

Rob Edeling (34) from Pretoria delighted the studio audience with the old Johnnie Cash standard “Ring Of Fire”, but unfortunately none of the Coaches turned. “It didn’t pull you in,” Lira and Francois agreed.

27-year-old Verona Goslett from Meyerton had better luck with Avril Lavigne’s “Head Above Water”. Riana got so emotionally carried away that she never even noticed that Francois had also turned his chair. “I turned first!” he pointed out to Verona. But Riana claimed the blonde singer for #TeamRiana, because, “I worshipped in that chair, you took me to another place,” she insisted.

Krista Jonas (29) from Cape Town had the crowd on their feet and boogieing with her heartfelt performance of the disco classic “I Will Survive”, and she was reduced to happy tears when Francois, Riky, and her idol LIRA turned for her. “I want you more than they want you,” Francois said, but after a passionate debate between the three Coaches, Krista became the fourth member of #TeamLIRA.

Riky Rick listened intently as Joshua Parker performed the Ed Sheeran love song “Perfect” and didn’t just turn his chair, but spontaneously ran onto the stage to hug the 19-year-old performing arts coach from Fourways, Johannesburg. “I know I’m the only one who turned around, but I really, really, really, really want you on #TeamRiky!” he exclaimed.

Felicia Seoehle (21) from Sasolburg opened up on camera about her struggles with depression and bullying, and explained how music saved her life. Her rendition of Andra Dey’s “Rise Up” gave LIRA goosebumps, and Felicia got to choose between #TeamLIRA and #TeamRiana. Riana promised to support her regardless of her choice, and so Felicia became Riana’s second talent grab of the night.

Jason Ferreira (30), an Eastern Cape boy from Pretoria, failed to get one turned chair for his performance of The Script’s “Breakeven”, but Johannesburg musician and property developer Sabelo Mthembu (35), singing Van Morrison’s “Crazy Love”, set off another fierce battle between the rapper coach and the rocker coach, finally choosing to become the fifth member of #TeamRiky.

The 25-year-old actress and singer Siki Jo-Ann Owazi from Port Elizabeth inspired a unanimous chair-turn with her spirited rendition of MamMiriam Makeba’s iconic “Click Song”. “Ucula kamnandi!” Francois complimented her in flawless isiZulu, but after a hard battle among the Coaches, she signed on to #TeamRiana.

To recap, here is how each Coach’s team is stacking up so far:
#TeamRiky: Joel Zuma, Keanu Harker, Amy Tjasink, Joshua Parker, Sabelo Mthembu
#TeamLIRA: Ross Charles, Petro De Villiers, Mo George, Krista Jonas
#TeamRiana: Lelo Ramasimong, Greunen Parker, Verona Goslett, Siki Jo-Ann Owazi
#TeamVanCoke: Sade Ross

That means Riky Rick only has 7 slots left open on #TeamRiky, LIRA and Riana each still have 8 slots to fill on their teams, and Coach Francois is getting a bit desperate with 11 slots still left open on #TeamVanCoke.

The battle between the Coaches gets heated in next week’s episode of The Voice South Africa when the Blind Auditions start to become urgent!

The Voice South Africa premieres on M-Net 101 every Sunday at 17:30 and is repeated on VUZU, Channel 116, on Mondays at 20:00. It also be available on DStv CatchUp.

Fans can visit www.mnet.tv/thevoicesa and follow all the breaking news and conversations around the show on Twitter @MNet / #TheVoiceSA and on the official M-Net Facebook page.

The Voice SA is produced by Blackswanmedia.