Rita Ora put The Voice judges’ ears to the test with this one! The English star hit The Voice Germany stage for a blind audition on her multi-Platinum international smash hit “Your Song.” The crowd was on team Rita real fast, but the judges held their cards closer to their chests. They let Rita work for that chair turn, holding out until the chorus before anyone turned. Judge Yvonne Catterfeld was clearly the most impressed by Rita and was also the first to break the spell and turn her chair for the UK star.
After that, the floodgates opened, and all four judges hit their buzzers. Rita then cooked hard with an energetic and uplifting chorus that got the whole room vibing. The Music Man has to say that the delay in scoring any chair turns just goes to show how tough the judges can be on hopefuls on The Voice. At the time of this performance, Rita hadn’t quite broken the German market just yet, so maybe the judges not recognizing the material or her voice played a part.
Rita’s prank blind audition on The Voice Germany drew one million views across various uploads on YouTube. Viewers loved to see “rookie” Rita hit The Voice stage and added comments such as “This version Rita sings here is even better than the original” and “This is a boss move by Rita. She actually proved to everyone what a great singer she is.”
The Voice Germany judges really have to stay on their toes as Rita wasn’t the only hitmaker who auditioned on the show to test their ears. James Blunt created an iconic The Voice moment when he gave a blind audition on his ballad “Goodbye My Lover.” The judges turned almost instantly, which is no surprise. No one really sings quite like James, and the raw emotion that he brings to every performance was on full display, scoring him a four-chair turn in record time.
Rita Ora issued “Your Song” as the lead single from her second studio album Phoenix. The tune was written by none other than Ed Sheeran and Steve Mac, with Steve also handling production. “Your Song” proved to be an international hit, going double Platinum in the UK, five-times Platinum in Australia, and triple Gold in Germany. It was Rita’s biggest hit in Germany at the time. It helped set the stage for her Liam Payne collab, “For You,” to top the German charts the following year.