Chesterfield Teenager Stuns The Voice UK Judges Without Ever Taking a Singing Lesson
A 17-year-old Chesterfield teenager who had never taken a singing lesson has earned his place in the next stage of The Voice UK after impressing two of the show’s coaches with his blind audition.
Jack Algar performed a version of “The House of the Rising Sun”, prompting McFly members Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones to turn their chairs and signal that they wanted to coach him.
Fletcher told Jack that his voice had delivered exactly what he and Jones had been searching for since first joining the show.
“You are exactly what me and Danny said we’ve been looking for since the first time we came on here,” Tom said. “We haven’t found it until right now.”
From Joining a Band to Performing on Television
During the episode, broadcast on Saturday and filmed several months earlier, Jack explained to the celebrity panel — including will.i.am, Sir Tom Jones and Kelly Rowland — that he had only been playing guitar for three or four years.
His introduction to music came almost by accident.
Jack said a friend had asked whether he wanted to join a band. Although he did not know how to play an instrument or sing at the time, he wanted to be part of a band and agreed. He then picked up a guitar and began learning.
Away from music, Jack is studying A-levels in biology, chemistry, physics and maths at Chesterfield College. He hopes to go on to study medicine at university.
Tom Fletcher Sees a Familiar Story
Fletcher said Jack reminded him of his own first meeting with Danny Jones. The pair had both been at college studying for their A-levels when they first met.
What stood out to Fletcher was the maturity in Jones’ voice despite his young age — something he felt he also heard in Jack’s performance.
Danny agreed that Jack appeared ready to develop as an artist.
“What we’ve got here is somebody ready to go, ready to learn and I think this is going to be pretty cool,” he said before welcoming Jack to Team Tom and Danny.
Jack’s Parents Watch With Pride
Backstage before the audition, Jack’s parents, Claire and Adam, spoke about watching their son perform.
Claire said she sometimes found herself watching Jack play and being struck by the fact that he was only 17 and had never received a singing lesson.
She described him as “so wonderfully talented.”
Adam, meanwhile, said watching his son perform filled the family with an “incredible pride.”
For Jack, the successful blind audition now marks the beginning of a much more demanding stage of the competition.
The Battle Rounds Await
Jack will next enter the battle rounds, where coaches pair contestants from their own teams and have them perform the same song together as a vocal duet.
After each performance, the coach must choose one of the two artists to continue in the competition. However, the losing contestant may still have a second chance if another coach decides to save them and bring them onto their own team.
Two battle-round episodes were expected to air in early October after six weeks of blind auditions.
The Voice UK airs on Saturdays at 7 p.m. on ITV, with episodes available to catch up on ITVX.
