How social media ruined Lachie Gill’s sensational The Voice win

From Lachie Gill’s first performance, he had Australia captivated. But unfortunately his win on The Voice has been overshadowed.

OPINION

Way to ruin a perfectly good moment Australia.

Clearly the people who got on their soapbox when Lachie Gill won The Voice last night didn’t watch at all this season.

Yes, a white singer won – but he clearly deserved it.

From the moment the physical education teacher took to the stage for his blind audition, he had the audience and the judges captivated, yet the social media brigade reared its ugly head and said he simply won because he was white.

Some Aussies thought Lachie Gill only won because he was white. Picture: Supplied

People called it white washing, but do we need to point out he was the only white singer who made the final?

Lachie’s skin colour is beside the point. You only have to look back at his blind audition to see why he sucked viewers in from the start.

His rendition of If the World Was Ending was better than the original, and even better than the Shaun Mendes cover.

He nailed every subsequent performance after that too because, as his mentor Rita Ora kept pointing out, he was a true storyteller. When he sang, you felt he meant it.

And Rita ensured she had a winner at the end by choosing the right songs for the contestant.

Quite simply, no one was going to listen to Jordan Tavita sing Hallelujah on the radio, the duet his mentor Guy Sebastian chose for his finale.

The big ballads Thando Sikwila and Faith Sosene sung, while amazing, just aren’t where popular music is today – and that’s all it comes down to.

One of the songs Rita chose for Lachie was deja vu by Olivia Rodrigo, one of the most popular artists on the radio right now.

At first he was put off because it wasn’t his style but she knew what she was doing and he killed it. The other finalist in his team he was up against, Xanthe Campbell, also got given abcdefu in the semi-final and while she too didn’t think it was for her, it’s a song anyone who listens to the radio or has TikTok knows at the moment.

Maybe the 16 year olds did vote for Lachie because of these song choices, but at the end of the day you can only vote three times.

Meanwhile, the three finalists at the end got given songs most people had never heard.

The only performance that stood out – and probably one of the best The Voice has ever seen – was Thando’s rendition of Chandelier by Sia. Everyone knows that song.

Lachie nailed every performance because he was a true storyteller. Picture: Supplied

Her finale performance was Rise Up by Andra Day. An inspirational ballad. Yawn.

Faith had Beautiful by Christina Aguilera, another boring ballad, and don’t even get me started on Ghost Town which Jordan performed. Couldn’t even tell you who sings it.

I totally get The Voice is about having an amazing voice but what is the point of the show if we don’t get to hear them afterwards or they don’t become a successful artist?

Let’s face it, do we ever hear from any of the winners again?

We can only hope the people who voted for Lachie embrace him as an artist.

For all those people complaining one of the other finalists didn’t win because of their skin colour – did you actually vote?

I voted simply because Lachie was my favourite. His voice was different to the others and you got goosebumps when he sang.

It’s disappointing great Aussie talent can’t be appreciated for what it is.