The Voice Of Ireland: First Battle Round-up

Last night saw things heat up on The Voice Of Ireland as we entered the business end of the series. It's also proving a massive hit with Irish audiences – it was the No. 1 show for the week on Irish TV.

It was also the first week of four 'Battles' with contestants on each team facing off as duos for the chance to go through to the live shows.

First up were Erica O’Hara and Roisin Carlin from Team Jamelia. Singing 'Seven Nation Army', they theatrically ignored each other while they performed, which resulted in Bressie calling the gimmick 'tacky'. After telling them they weren't on an episode of Jeremy Kyle, the former Blizzards man elicited boos from the audience. Jamelia put Roisin through to the live rounds.

Next up we had Team Sharon, as Tammy Browne And Bob McQuaid tackled 'Summer Wine'. As Kian pushed for Bob, Sharon decided Tammy had put in the better performance.

'Breakaway' by Kelly Clarkson was the choice for Kelly Mongan and Jennifer Healy, with Kelly being the Team Kian contestant to go through from that battle.

Sinead O'Brien – tipped by Kian to be the winner – went through over David Merrimen in a Team Bressie battle.

Later on, it was the turn of Team Kian again, as Andy MacUnfriadh reckoned that himself and Joey McAleer were better singers than Kian and their advisor, McFly's Danny Jones. He made it through.

And to finish, it was team Bressie once more, with Bressie opting for Velvin Lamont over James Sheridan.

Next week sees six more battles – one from Bressie and Kian and two from Jamelia and Sharon. The live shows kick off on St. Patrick's Day (Mar 17) on RTÉ One..