Cheryl and Kylie fail to raise The Voice ratings
Cheryl Cole and Kylie Minogue provided some sizzling performances during The Voice semi-finals, but it was the heat outside the studio that was being blamed for the show's poor figures. Cheryl made a spectacular entrance on Saturday night's BBC One singing show by swan-diving onto her backing dancers to perform her new single Call My Name. Dressed in a patterned crop top, bright pink waistcoat, multi-coloured harem trousers and leopard print boots, she certainly impressed the show regulars, with both presenter Reggie Yates and judge Tom Jones later commenting on how sexy she looked. The Girls Aloud star joked afterwards: "I was looking for the quickest way to the stage. It's been a while." Not to be outdone, Kylie took to the stage in denim hotpants and a customised leather jacket to perform her new song Timebomb on the Sunday results show. Halfway through the number, she removed her jacket to show off her impressive figure in a revealing bondage-style corset. The Saturday show drew just 4.5 million viewers on average. 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. The warm weather is thought to be partly to blame for the lower audience as viewers took advantage of the sunshine.
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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.
An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.