Sam Buttery and Sophie Griffin have become the first two acts to exit the live finals of The Voice following Sunday night's results show. The pair found themselves out of luck after the first public vote of the series, with Sam finding himself in the bottom two of Team Jones along with duo Matt and Sueleen, and Sophie in the bottom two of Will.i.am's team alongside Joelle Moses. And with each judge forced to choose which of the acts to save Tom opted to keep Matt and Sueleen, while Will chose to save Joelle - whose appearance in the bottom two came as a surprise given she had been one of the pre-contest favourites. Tom admitted that the decision was a tough one. "I think they're both good entertainers and it's very very difficult because they're so different," he said, "but I can only judge it on last night's performance." Will, meanwhile, told his girls, "I never really like talent shows but this show's special because every single person actually sings really really well, so I'm proud of being on the show. "Both of you guys are amazing talents," the rapper added, "and Sophie you're amazing, you've learned so much in two months that it took me ten years to learn. But someone has to go home, and I'm going to save Joelle." Afterwards an emotional Sam paid tribute to his mentor, saying, "I've just loved working with Tom, he's just been amazing. "I'm pretty gutted and it feels like my heart has been ripped out," he added, "but I'm still happy, a little bit. I've learned so much from Tom, he's been around in the music industry for twice my lifetime. The knowledge you get from that is just invaluable." Sophie, meanwhile, said her time on the show had been "the best experience of my whole entire life," and added, "I'm really gutted but thank you for everything, I couldn't have had a better coach. Sam's fellow team members Ruth Brown, Adam Isaac and Leanne Mitchell all made it through on the public vote, while Frances Wood, Jaz Ellington and Tyler James were all voted through on Team Will.i.am. Next weekend will see Jessie J and Danny O'Donoghue's team members perform live for the first time, with another two acts leaving the competition.
