Tai has been impressing The Voice judges for weeks with her unique style of singing.
Earlier tonight, the youngster performed Dolly Parton’s Jolene for a space on ITV’s live finals.
She insisted to her coach, Will, that she had chosen the song and had a special arrangement of it.
The Black Eyed Peas star and his US bandmates praised Tai for going her own way and knowing who she wanted to be.
However, viewers didn’t see things the same way, feeling she had not done the classic country song justice.
One fan posted on Twitter: “That girl really ruined Jolene. Im so sad. Dolly deserved more.”
A second raged: “What has she done to Jolene………..I’m absolutely appalled.”
Another fumed: “Errrr no.. no one messes with Dolly! Not Jolene – just no!!!!”
Some loved Tai’s performance and argued: “You gave me goosebumps!! Can’t wait to have a recording of Jolene. Like you said you aren’t on the show just to sing someone else’s song. So original and talented!!!”
“One of the best versions of Jolene I’ve ever heard,” another gushed.
will.i.am seemed to be on the latter half of the fence, and chose Tai to go through straight away to the live finals.
She fought off Anna Willison-Holt and Paige Young for the coveted spot but viewers thought the rapper had made the wrong decision.
One fan wrote: “Seriously?! Tai was the last person who deserved to go through. She murdered Jolene and doesn’t have the talent to validate her attitude.”
Another added: “Did will.i.am seriously just pick tai over Anna/Paige?”
However, someone else thought differently, posting: “Wanted Anna to go through but after tonight’s performances I’m happy Will put Tai through! Like that she’s very confident in who she is as an artist & she knows how to reinvent songs & she isn’t afraid to do so! I hope people get behind her as she’s incredibly underrated.”
The Voice UK continues next Saturday on ITV at 8.30pm.
