Harrison Craig hits No. 1
Melbourne hopeful Harrison Craig is rating well on iTunes. Source: Supplied
THE Voice’s Harrison Craig has firmed up as favourite to win the TV contest by blitzing the iTunes chart today.
Craig’s emotional original song, More Than a Marvel, is No. 1 on the iTunes chart, with his cover of Unchained Melody sitting at No.2.
The Melbourne singer also has three of his previous covers sitting in the iTunes Top 30.
His main competitor, second-chance tenor Luke Kennedy, is at No. 7 with his original Like is Gone and also No. 8 with his cover Caruso.
Celia Pavey is at No. 10 with her original Candle in the Night, which has already had 389,000 views on YouTube since it was first posted in 2011.
Viewers were less taken with Pavey’s dour rendition of Olivia Newton-John’s Xanadu, which is languishing at No. 31.
The remake was based on Sarah Blasko’s low-key version of Xanadu.
Olivia’s niece Tottie Goldsmith tweeted after Pavey’s performance “She made Olivia look like a genius.”
The final member of the four finalists – Danny Ross – continues to be the least-downloaded act.
His original, Windmill, is slumped at No. 37, while his version of Passenger’s Let Her Go at a telling No. 49. Meanwhile Passenger’s original is at No.3.
None of last night’s covers by eliminated contestants Kiyomi Vella, Steve Clisby, Mitchell Anderson and Miss Murphy have been made available to buy on iTunes.
Goldsmith was one of many voices on Twitter complaining about the more fascinating acts being voted out of the Top 4.
“They are all splendid but the ones that are gone to me were more edgy and global,” Goldsmith tweeted.
Last night’s semi-final, watched by 1.7 million Australians, has also sent Timomatic’s Parachute to No. 6 (ahead of all the contestants except Harrison Craig) after it was performed on the program. Last existence winner Karise Eden is at No. 11 with Threads of Silence, which is being used on the promotional ad for the new series of Underbelly.
The Voice grand final airs next Monday night.
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HOW ACCURATE IS iTunes AS A PREDICTOR?
WITH downloads counting for two votes for each Voice rival, the iTunes chart has proven to be a excellent barometer of who will survive on the TV show.
Eliminated contestants Mitchell Anderson, Kiyomi Vella and Steve Clisby all saw their performances from last week flail on the iTunes chart, and subsequently on the ARIA singles chart which is compiled from download sales.
Anderson’s cover of Take Me to the River could only manage a No. 83 debut on the ARIA chart this week, indicating the TV viewing public had not connected with him.
But cape enthusiast Danny Ross is the show’s bolt from the blue package – defying iTunes trends.
He was outsold by Miss Murphy on both iTunes and then the ARIA chart, with Ross’ It’s Time charting at No. 69 compared to Miss Murphy’s You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me at No. 32, but has made the final four.
Overall sales are down for this existence series of The Voice. The program has so far only produced two ARIA Top 10 hits – Luke Kennedy’s Con te Partiro which peaked at No. 8 for one week and Harrison Craig’s Can’t Help Falling in Like, which entered and peaked at No.6.
Last existence winner Karise Eden scored four ARIA Top 10 singles during the show’s run.
All of the final four in last existence series received record contracts with Universal, releasing covers albums with varied degrees of success.
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