Democracy has spoken on The Voice

People respond to the idea of triumph over adversity

Perhaps Jessie J shouldn’t have sounded so bossy when she appeared to dictate to viewers of the BBC talent show The Voice who to vote for, telling them in finger-wagging style that they “have to vote for the person who pulls the performance out of the bag”.

Result: the star’s choice exited from the contest while the viewers crowned the outsider, Andrea Begley, their champion instead.

Not that surprising, perhaps. People respond to the idea of triumph over adversity, and many voters may have rallied to Ms Begley precisely because she is partially sighted, which means she has to memorise her songs rather than reading them off a monitor.

The other moral of the story is that people do not like being instructed on how to vote in talent shows any more than they do in other elections. Voters on The Voice have indeed found their voice.