‘Walk the Line’ Recap: Judge Gary Barlow Declares “It’s a Real Competition Now”
iTV Reading Time: 4 minutes
Champion Ella Rothwell has finally been knocked out of the competition. During night four of Walk the Line, newcomer Nadiah Adu-Gyamfi stunned the judges and audience alike and rightfully took her place on the throne. She will now move forward in the competition with only two episodes standing between her and the £500,000 grand prize.
At the top of the show, judge Gary Barlow asked what we’ve all been thinking: “Who can knock our queen off her throne?” The answer is 30-year-old full time musician Nadiah who dedicated her performance to her supportive mom.
Nadiah sang a slow, moving rendition of “Kissing You” by Des’Ree that started off a capella allowing her amazing and pure voice to spread through the audience. The performance made everyone’s jaws drop and had Nadiah’s mom crying in the crowd. This was the best performance we’ve seen in four nights of this show and earned the newcomer a standing ovation from the judges.
“That is a voice from heaven, you are a queen,” said judge Dawn French. “And your beautiful personality shined through your singing. The crazy thing about this show is that you only have a couple of minutes to prove that you could take that prize and you did that.”
The Walk the Line judges were all in agreement that reigning champion, Ella, should be worried after seeing Nadiah perform.
“For the first time in this whole competition, I can see a pop star here on stage,” said Barlow. “For me right now, you’re the one to beat tonight.”
For her rebuttal, Ella returned to another soulful, slow original song, but her time had run out. Barlow declared that this wasn’t her best performance in a moment where the competition was at its peak.
It’s possible the singer psyched herself out. Before singing, Ella admitted that after her night three performance, she spent the evening looking up her next competitors on YouTube. She said she could hear people in the audience during the third episode yelling for her to “cash out,” which she hadn’t heard previously, and it made her doubt herself.
Ella won the first three episodes of the series, which means tonight she cashed out of the competition for £40,000. At this point in the show, after beating all of her competitors for three nights, Ella’s decisions came down to whether or not she thought she performed better than Nadiah. It turns out, she cashed out at the right moment, as the audience voted to send Nadiah through to the next round. If Ella had not cashed out and decided to Walk the Line, she would have walked away with nothing.
“I’ve honestly had the best time, I’ve had so much fun, I’ve learned so much,” she said. “£40,000 is so much money to me, I don’t want to risk that. I can look at my future and be excited about what’s to come.
Night Four of Walk the Line Delivers Biggest Competition So Far
Judge Alesha Dixon judged from home tonight after coming into close contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19. She appeared via video and showed off her comfy slippers instead of her normal pumps.
Throughout all of the performances, Ella took her normal seat at the front to watch and banter with the newcomers. New performer ADMT admitted he admired Ella, but “that seat does look comfy.”
Before Nadiah’s performance, the judges though ADMT would be the biggest competition of the night after his rendition of “Falling” by Harry Styles.
Also new to the stage tonight was Deco, a five-piece pop band, and Anthony Stuart Lloyd, a 55-year-old opera and cruise singer. Once Nadiah hit the stage however, it was clear that she would be the one moving forward in the competition for the chance to Walk the Line tomorrow.
Now, Nadiah takes the place of reigning champ and will return for night five to watch her competitors and perform again. At the end of the night, she can choose to Walk the Line for a chance to win the entire show, or she can cash out for a smaller prize.
Be sure to tune in tomorrow at 8 p.m. GMT on iTV to see if someone new will be able to knock Nadiah out of the winner’s spot, or if she will continue on to win the £500,000 grand prize.
