ITV The Voice finalists issue tribute to Sir Tom Jones, 84, amid song choice fury and 'retirement' calls: 'Important'
WATCH HERE: Ava wins The Voice 2024 with performance of The Long and Winding Road
ITV
Sir Tom Jones, 84, has been heavily praised by singing duo Billy and Louie following their defeat in Saturday's The Voice final.
The twin brothers narrowly missed out on victory in the last instalment of the ITV singing contest as Danny Jones and Tom Fletcher's act Ava was crowned this year's winner.
Billy and Louie finished runners-up along with Storry and Deb Orah but faced an uphill battle to win over viewers from the get-go following Jones's controversial decision to send them through the semi-finals.
The brothers saw off Ace and Hollie Peabody in The Voice semi-finals in a decision that saw Jones face calls "to retire" from angered sections of the ITV competition's fandom.
Jones sparked controversy again in the finale over his song choices for Billy and Louie, deciding for their first song they'd take on A Great Big World & Christina Aguilera's smash hit, Fall On Me, before joining the 84-year-old on-stage for a performance of gospel classic, Farther Along.
With the dust now settling on this year's series, Billy and Louie have taken to social media to reflect on their time on the show - and praised Jones's decision-making and mentorship.
ITV The Voice: Sir Tom Jones performed with Billy and Louie during the 2024 finale
ITV
Kicking off their statement, Billy and Louie right away focussed on the song choices: "‘Fall on me’ by @agreatbigworld and @xtina is such an important song to us and @realsirtomjones chose it for us to sing for the final!
"We also had the privilege of performing with @realsirtomjones which was an experience we will never forget."
Turning the attention to their supporters, they added: "Thank you to everyone who has supported us through our journey on The Voice. Our experience was the most fantastic and exciting!
"We’re still in disbelief that we made it to the final to showcase what we do and love."
ITV The Voice: Sir Tom Jones has been praised by Billy and Louie following controversy over this year's finale
ITV/INSTAGRAM
Referring to Jones directly, the singing siblings went on: "Thank you once again to the legend @realsirtomjones for giving us this opportunity, believing in us and passing on infinite knowledge to us.
"Thank you to the other coaches @leannrimes @tomfletcher @dannyjonesofficial and @iamwill for all of your feedback, support and love on the show. You all have inspired us so much."
The pair also took a moment to pay tribute to their fellow finalists: "Thank you to our amazing fellow finalists @deb_orahmusic and @storrymusic who we have so much love for! Deb’s passion and soul will never fail to amaze us and Storry’s creative genius still blows our minds! Of course massive congratulations to @madhatcat your win was truly deserved!
"Thank you to the AMAZING team who put together this fabulous show together, we love you all (sorry we didn’t manage to have a pic with everyone!)
"And lastly our amazing fellow contestants we have met along the way who made our experience the best, thank you!" (sic)
Ava's victory over Billy and Louie means she's bagged a professional recording deal as well as £50,000 and a holiday to Orlando, Florida.
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Appearing on Monday's Lorraine on ITV, Ava joined McFly's Fletcher and Jones to discuss what her hopes are for the future.
"Do you know what? I think... I never expected any of this to happen really but in the back of my head, I've always wanted something like this to happen.
"I know obviously it takes a lot of hard work and I think coming from the show, I just wanna be able to speak to the world in the way that I think I do when I'm singing.
"When I'm singing, I'm just speaking about how I feel and how I feel about that certain thing, so I'm hoping that I can speak to the whole world and everyone can hear what I hear too."
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