Two of pop's most desired females, Cheryl Cole and Kylie Minogue, were drafted in to up the viewing figures on The Voice this weekend, but did they do anything to restore credibility to the show?
They dutifully provided some sizzling performances, with Cheryl swan-diving 10 feet onto her waiting dancers, just for openers, to perform her new single Call My Name. And Kylie took to the stage in her much-loved denim hotpants and a customised leather jacket, surrounded by scantily-clad dancers, dressed in what looked like bondage swimming costumes, to perform her new song Timebomb... But neither set the world alight with their vocals.
The Voice is meant to be about great voices - something we've had drummed into us continuously throughout the series.
Strip away all the patterned crop tops, bright pink waistcoats, multi-coloured harem trousers and leopard print boots from Cheryl, and take away Kylie's hotpants and dance-moves and would they still give captivating performances? I'm not so sure.
More damningly, after she had promised to sing live on The Voice, fans accused Cheryl of miming her performance. Her publicist wriggled around the issue, saying: "She sang live with a backing track."
But viewers of The Voice took to Twitter to write: "A bit embarrassing that she's gone on a singing show and mimed," while another said: "Blatantly lip-synching... Such an irony that she's performing on a show that promotes real talent."
Cheryl and Kylie's performances were no doubt entertaining, but what they really did was illuminate the vocal talents of the show's contestants, compared to those of these huge stars.
Any hopes of the pair bringing in more viewers to the BBC singing show were quashed, as the Saturday show drew just 4.5 million viewers on average. The lure of the evening warm weather certainly didn't help TV bosses, either.
The programme is now pulling in less than half the audience it attracted at its height during the early stages of the contest. At one stage in April the show had 10.7 million. It's going to have to do something spectacular in next week's final if it is to emerge from Series One as anything other than a damp Fame-Academy-esque squib. Dare I say it... time to draft in the dancing dog?
PHOTOS: Cheryl on The Voice...
