Anna McLuckie caused quite the stir with her The Voice UK audition! The 16-year-old from Edinburgh shocked the judges with her harp and vocal audition on Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky.” She began with a stately and beautiful introduction that quickly won over judge Ricky Wilson, and the Kaiser Chiefs frontman soon turned his chair. McLuckie has such a sweet voice, and she used it to good effect in the chorus, picking up the tempo and singing the catchy hook with a whole lot of style.
Wilson wasn’t the only one who was impressed, as host Emma Willis gushed “she’s incredible” as McLuckie sang a beautiful interpretation of the pre-chorus. McLuckie really presented the whole package, displaying not only an incredible voice but also mad skills on the harp and impressive skills as an arranger. It’s quite a job to take a disco funk tune and give it a harp arrangement that’s so compelling, so it doesn’t surprise The Music Man to see that the video went so hugely viral.
McLuckie’s audition is the third most viewed performance in the history of The Voice UK, as it drew 36 million views on YouTube. Fans were blown away by her unique audition and added comments such as “She is incredible. Her voice is unique and I really like the fact that she did her own version of this song instead of just singing someone else’s song” and “One of the coolest, most original performances I’ve heard on The Voice. Don’t know what else she can do, but this was just awesome.”
Judge Wilson was super impressed with McLuckie, as evidenced by his early chair turn and the look on his face as he watched her audition. Although Sir Tom Jones and Rita Ora grooved along in their chairs as they listened, neither turned their chairs. A surprise twist happened at the end, as Will.i.am hit his buzzer at the last possible moment, as the final note of McLuckie’s performance rang out. The teen gave another popular performance later in the season when she covered Paolo Nutini’s “Autumn.”
Wilson held his hand in the air at the end of McLuckie’s performance, as if to stop Will.i.am from pressing his buzzer. Some fans interpreted that as Wilson not wanting any competition from other judges to get McLuckie on his team, although others pointed out that Wilson may have simply wanted to avoid having the sound of the buzzer overwhelm the last note of her performance. Despite the fact that Wilson gave McLuckie a vote of confidence by turning his chair so early, she subsequently chose Will.i.am as her coach. She would later be eliminated in the knockout rounds. McLuckie’s choice of Will.i.am instead of Wilson caused quite a stir in the comments below her audition, with every single one of the top comments addressing the controversy. Many fans suggested that McLuckie may have fared better in the competition if she chose Wilson, who is a two-time champion coach on The Voice.