When it comes to singing live there are few people with more experience than Sir Tom Jones. He’s been there, seen it and eaten burgers with Elvis. So when I chatted to him for the official The Voice UK behind-the-scenes book, the man dubbed ‘cooler than an igloo’ by fellow coach will.i.am was full of good advice for his team as they approached singing live to the nation for the very first time.
The key he said was not to think about how many people were watching. ‘You can’t start panicking about how many millions are sitting at home watching you, because if you do start to think like that you’ll crumble.’ He also stressed the need to be well-rehearsed ‘you don’t want to be winging anything’ and the importance of a good night’s sleep beforehand ‘without that you can get very edgy’.
So this weekend, after casting an expert eye over his crew as they sang for their survival, Tom’s heart must’ve been in his mouth as the public vote was revealed. When he picked free-spirited duo Matt & Sueleen over loveable super-fan Sam Buttery it was an incredibly emotional moment – Sam choked back the tears and was a gentleman in defeat, meanwhile a watery-eyed Matt & Sueleen looked gobsmacked and even Matt’s new ponytail had tears in its eyes.
There was another sob-fest when the talented Sophie Griffin was sent home by her mentor will.i.am and frankly we haven’t got through that many Kleenex since our pet chihuahua, Rufus, died in the middle of Kat & Alfie’s wedding in 2003.
With a career that has encompassed struggles as well as highs, Tom Jones understands only too well the frustrations felt by those leaving the show. He revealed his strategy in our interview: ‘As far as I’m concerned it’s about who’s the strongest person on the night, it has to be. They are hard decisions to make and it’s a shame that someone has to go home. But that’s the nature of the competition and I have to try and explain that just because they don’t get through, it doesn’t mean they haven’t got something special.
And Tom knows what he’s talking about – back in the day he was a regular at local talent shows and reveals in the book he didn’t always emerge as the winner. ‘I used to go up against other people. I mean, one night I was beaten by a bleeding ventriloquist,’ he told us, with a chuckle. ‘And she wasn’t very good either. The dummy was great though, she stole the show!’
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Almost everyone with kids of a certain age is familiar with the 
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A couple of weeks ago we gave you the chance to put your questions to one of the UK’s most authentic and original artists of the last decade: Mike Skinner. We took all of your questions and sent them off to Mike and he’s come back to us with his answers, and has also picked his favourite question to receive a signed copy of his new book – congratulations to Johannah Carroll for your great question!
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The Hollywood film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ bestselling novel 
Someone recently asked why my CHERUB books are so popular. I think it’s because CHERUB feels like a real spy organisation. My books are an attainable fantasy. There aren’t dragons, or magic spells and readers feel that the stories might happen to them.
