They didn’t recognize her.
This is Rita Ora. It’s always nice to put a face to a name!
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Rita is sort of a ~jack of all trades~ in Hollywood — she sings, she acts, she hosts. And yet, people still have a hard time remembering who she is.
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And look, I’m not hating. The woman hustles like crazy and has churned out some good songs. But, be honest: If you passed her on the street, you’d probably have no idea.
The show was doing those classic “blind auditions,” where the judges are all faced away from the stage so they can’t see the singers. Rita came out and started singing her own single, “Your Song.”
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PRESUMABLY, the judges were supposed to turn their chairs around, realize it was THE Rita Ora standing before them, and everyone would have a good laugh.
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But that’s not what happened, because…
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The judges had absolutely no idea who she was, even when they turned around and were staring straight at her.
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They thought she was just another contestant.
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To make matters just a little more awkward: Rita Ora was LITERALLY A JUDGE on The Voice: UK. So…these judges proooooobably should have recognized her.
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The one silver lining: They DID really like her audition!!! I mean, all four judges turned around their chairs for her.
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She played along at first…
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The judges then praised Rita Ora on how much she sounded like Rita Ora.
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She finally broke the bad news to them.
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Still, Rita took it like a champ.
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Hey, you gotta hand it to Ol’ Rita: This was a pretty gutsy move! Even if it HAD gone according to plan, she had no guarantee the judges would turn around for her. You think Beyoncé is taking risks like that???