Liberty X singer fears 'the end' in battles round on The Voice

Updated

The Voice contestant Kevin Simm has said failure to progress from the battles rounds of the BBC One talent show could be "the end" for him.

The ex-Liberty X star features in Saturday's two-hour instalment which sees 24 acts go head-to-head in a vocal battle.

Staged in a setting resembling a boxing ring, the 35 year old is up against teenager Faith Nelson.

The pair will duke it out to the song Spotlight by Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson.

Simm sailed through his original blind audition, wowing the all-star panel with his rendition of Chandelier by Sia.

All four coaches wanted the Chorley-born singer, but he opted for a place on Paloma Faith's team.

Simm admitted to feeling some trepidation about The Voice's battles rounds.

"It is pushing me to my limit," he said of the show. "I put a lot of pressure on myself in these sort of situations because when you're out there trying to prove yourself all over again, it is just tough."

The Lancashire star added: "I've come in from a band. I felt a major pressure on me. My blind audition was a big sort of gamble.

"I had this worrying thing that if I didn't get any turns, that may as well be the end of my singing career so getting the four was amazing."

He continued: "I'm pretty confident that Faith will not slip up so I think I do have to be on my game and if I did screw something up then there's a good chance it will be the end of it for me. "

On Saturday's episode, viewers will see Simm struggling with his vocals in rehearsal due to illness.

"Kevin wasn't able to give 100%," said coach Faith. "I hope that's not something that he does in the performance because as they say in the business, the show must go on."

In the battles rounds, defeated acts may be given a second chance to make it to the next stage of the competition.

Once a coach has selected their battles rounds victor, the losing singer becomes available to another panelist for a "steal".

To do so, they must hit their buzzer for that act before the clock runs down. If more than one coach buzzes, the singer has to decide which team they would like to join.

Faith and Boy George are unable to save any acts because they used up their two-steal allocation last week.

Ricky Wilson and will.i.am both have one steal left this week.

Along with Michelle Heaton, Tony Lundon, Jessica Taylor and Kelli Young, Simm failed to make it into Popstars winning group Hear'Say, whose members included Myleene Klass and a pre-Coronation Street Kym Marsh.

The five went on to form Liberty X and their song Just A Little won a Brit award for best British single in 2003.

They enjoyed several more hits before calling it a day in 2007, but the band out-lasted Hear'Say, who had split in 2002.

Simm went solo and he released an album Brand New in Japan in 2008.

But the highs of life as a pop star were followed by the crashing low of commercial failure as a soloist.

Other acts hoping to progress through to the knockouts include Harry Styles look-alike Tom Rickels and Voiceover artist Steve Devereaux, who plays Howie in CBeebies show Chuggington.

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