WERE the judges playing it too safe?

That seems to be the consensus of fans of The Voice UK after Stockton Heath's Kim Jennett failed to get through in the second episode of the new series on Saturday.

The former Bridgewater High student performed a heavy rock version of R.E.M's Losing My Religion in front of coaches Anne-Marie, Olly Murs, Will.i.am and Tom Jones.

By their faces, it was clear she made a big impression but none of them chose her for their team by spinning around on their chairs.

Kim is taking it in her stride though and told Weekend she found the whole experience inspiring.

She said: "I understand why they didn’t turn – my voice is quite different and would be considered a ‘risk’. At the end of the day, the music industry is a business and pop is more widely accepted.

"But it was great – I got rock music on prime-time TV on a Saturday night. I’m chuffed I got the chance to showcase myself like that."

In fact, The Voice team had wanted Kim on the show for a while.

She was persuaded to sing at an open mic at Fat Cat Ball Room in Warrington in August where talent scouts were in attendance and it all went from there.

Kim, 25, added: "I work quite hard on getting my social media presence out there and that’s how one of the scouts found me.

"All the team at The Voice were lovely. After the open mic they put me forward for the selection process and I managed to get on and get a blind audition.

"It was strange on set because normally they have a live audience.

"Obviously, this year they couldn’t do that because of the restrictions so instead there was this wall of people on Zoom.

"You could even hear them cheering. It was quite surreal. It was like an episode of Black Mirror. It was definitely interesting being on a TV show during a pandemic but it was a great experience. It’s inspired me to get into TV stuff more. I’d like to get my name out there. I like being in the limelight."

Kim admitted nerves got the better of her for the first part of the song – performed at Media City in September.

She said: "I was quite nervous at first but when I got into the moment it felt amazing. I felt really lucky to have that experience.

"It was a very different vibe as I’m used to smaller audiences where they all know who I am and they cheer you on as they’re there to see you.

"But people did get into my performance on The Voice and you can see in the video where my nerves switch off, I get into the zone and I’m more confident with my singing.

"It was pretty daunting but who knows – I might give it another go another year.

"I should have been touring in 2020 so I thought what else can I do to keep going? This was one of my crazy ideas but I’m really glad I did it now."

Kim has been part of Warrington's music scene since she was a teenager.

She performs under her own name and previously fronted the blues rock band, Voodoo Blood. Kim has also created a new solo project under the alter ego, Zimber.

One of her biggest opportunities in the town was sharing a stage with Scouting for Girls at Warrington Music Festival.

Suffice to say Kim thrives on the live circuit – so 2020 was hard.

Warrington Guardian: Kim on The VoiceKim on The Voice

She now does live streams every Sunday and even did one on Christmas Day.

Kim added: "I thought this year lots of people would be on their own over Christmas so I thought it would be nice to reach out on that day.

"I’ve been cracking on with my own music and doing live streaming as well. I’m just trying to make it work as we all are at the moment.

"It’s been a bit of a nightmare but having an opportunity like The Voice has kept me going."

At times, it was touch and go whether the show would go ahead due to the complications of the Covid era.

Kim said: "It was quite a long process. Because of the Covid procedures a lot of it was done through Zoom and email.

"I was lucky to be able to do it. I kept thinking we’ll start filming it and then they’ll say: 'You can’t do it anymore'.

"But they managed to do it all socially distanced which was strange but I was just delighted it went ahead.

"My mum and dad knew about it and came along with me to the audition which was nice but I couldn’t tell anyone else.

"I hinted to my followers that I was doing something exciting. It was hard keeping it from them.

"They were all made up when they watched it. The fan response has been pretty crazy from it.

"There were a lot of comments saying I should have gone through. The support has been very sweet."

Kim is also striking while the iron is hot with the new Zimber single, Too Bad For Love.

She added: "I just thought I best get this single out sooner rather than later so there is something there when people look me up from The Voice.

"The song was already done but I had a day to film and edit a music video. I’d never done that before.

"If you only thought about the doom and gloom of the pandemic you wouldn’t get out of bed. But people have set themselves projects and used the downtime to learn new skills.

"The Voice has given me a little boost again to put things out there."