In his Blind Audition, aired on Valentineโs Day, Richard performed Bon Iverโs โSkinny Loveโ and had all four coaches pressing their buttons โ and giving him a standing ovation. Kahn turned first but Lira was perplexed.
โReally? Really? You did not think you were that good?โ she asked. โIf you sent that to Bon Iver heโd quit,โ Kahn quipped, and Karen likened him to Superman. All agreed he was going to the top and many of you on social media had him pegged as the winner from the start!
After Kahn had told Richard that heโd inspired him to want to be a better singer and that heโd teach him how to win this competition, Richard was on #TeamKahn - and on his way!
Richard didnโt have it easy in the Battles: Kahn pitted him against the formidable James Freedom. Bobby likened their take on James Bayโs โHold Back The Riverโ to watching tennis, with the back and forth.
In the first live show, Richard got Kahnโs save with his unusual, downbeat take on The Proclaimersโ classic โIโm Gonna Be (500 Miles)โ. Again he got a standing ovation from all four coaches. Again he was tipped as the winner on social media. Kahn told him he was a โsuperstarโ and called it: โIโm gonna put my neck on the line and say you are probably the first winner of The Voice South Africaโ.
Richardโs song choice in the third live show was again an interesting one: Swedish House Mafiaโs โDonโt You Worry Childโ, and his performance earned him Kahnโs save. Karen said that while there were a few wobbles, โI love Richard Stirtonโ.
In our Motherโs Day live show, Richard got Kahnโs final save of the season with his rendition of Mumford & Sonsโ โI Will Waitโ. Karen admired both his growl and his falsetto, and Kahn reiterated his earlier sentiments: that Richard would win The Voice SA.
Then came the performance that might have sealed the deal. Richardโs version of the Disturbed version of Simon & Garfunkelโs โSounds of Silenceโ raced to the top of the iTunes chart by Monday morning, and landed him at number two on 947/KFMโs Top 40. Behind Karen Zoid.
The votes accumulated on the back of this performance lead to Richard being crowned the winner of the very first The Voice South Africa. Congrats to him and a very confident coach Kahn, who called it weeks ago!
JoinThe Voice SA conversation on โThe Voice SAโ Facebook page, via Twitter on @VoiceSA and @VoiceSA on Instagram using #TheVoiceSA, #TeamBobby, #TeamLira, #TeamKahn and #TeamKaren hashtags. The Voice South Africa was produced for M-Net by AMPN and sponsored by Dialdirect.