Rita Ora really didn’t get the reaction she was expecting when she made an unexpected guest appearance on the German version of the hit TV show The Voice. The hit singer showed up on the German show to play a cameo and prank the four judges. Her wind up-ended in red faces and embarrassment for all involved, when the judges failed to recognise her. The joke went hilariously awry.
For those who have never watched it, the premise of The Voice is that it is a blind talent competition. The talented hopefuls and wannabes audition before a panel of four judges who can’t see the person performing. The judge’s decision is therefore based entirely on the contestant’s voice. If they like what they hear, the judges press a button and their chairs are turned around to dramatically reveal the participant.
Fortunately for Ora all four judges were sufficiently impressed by what they heard. Rita performed her own hit track Your Song while their seats were faced away but the audience could see her. All four turned their chairs around after her impressive audition but the dramatic reveal fell flat when none of the four recognised the chart topping British star. Ora probably expected drama, excitement and disbelief from the jury. The prank backfired spectacularly when they didn’t recognise her at all. She was met with mild confusion and bewilderment.
“I am a 26-year-old aspiring musician from London. I can’t even tell you I am so nervous it’s not even funny,” Ora gushed to the oblivious judges. “It sounded almost like the original,” responded an apparently entirely unaware judge. Ora played along as though she wasn’t thrown by the lack of recognition. The cringe worthy moment continued as one of the judges asked the British pop icon her name and where she was from. Rita appeared keen to give the game away finally and blurted out, “Okay, my name is Rita Ora.”
But the puzzlement prevailed. The penny still hand not dropped for any of the unsuspecting judges. One replied “You’re kidding us. Just let me know are you a double?” No not a double. “it’s really me, “ pleaded the chart topper. There was a very awkward moment as the original Rita Ora was slowly recognised and her disguise as a regular contestant slipped away. In her defence Ora seemed unfazed to discover that she was not the instantly recognizable face she thought she was. For their part the judges also rallied and managed to recover graciously. One joked that she could make it in a lookalike competition. They expressed how deeply honored they were to have her perform on the show once they caught on to what was really going on. It was hard to tell who the butt of the joke was really.
Ora rose to fame with a raft of hit singles and a series of three Number One songs in a row. She performed for the Obamas and had previously replaced Kylie Minogue as a judge on the The Voice UK She sat in the judge’s big red chair along with Tom Jones, will.i.am and Ricky Wilson. The sassy solo artist might have expected that her German counterparts would have known her.
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