American singer Richard Marx has drawn criticism from viewers of The Voice Australia after eliminating all three contestants from his team during the knockout rounds. The 62-year-old coach's decision to send home Cherry Green, Saem Millward, and Dicko, stating none met the required standard for the competition's next stage, left host Sonia Kruger and fellow coaches astonished.
Marx opted to leave a quarter-final spot vacant on his team, a move unprecedented in the show's history. "I don't feel like any of you rose to the occasion," Marx stated after their solo performances. "I don't know if I'm allowed to do this, but I'm not going to take any of you."
Fellow coach Ronan Keating expressed his surprise, noting, "I've done The Voice for 15 years around the world and I've never seen this before."
The decision quickly generated backlash on social media. Viewers took to platforms like X and Instagram to voice their disapproval, with comments ranging from "Way to humiliate them, Richard" to accusations that the song choices Marx selected were detrimental to the contestants' performances. Some fans felt Marx had set the contestants up for failure with unsuitable song choices and that he should have coached them rather than dismissing them outright.
"Honestly, I think the song choices were the real problem here," one viewer commented. Another added, "None of them seemed to suit these three contestants or their voices, and Richard chose the songs. To then send all three home because the performances didn't quite land feels incredibly unfair."
However, some viewers supported Marx's decision, with one person writing, "He's right. First coach that called it as it was. None of the three deserved to go through."
The incident occurred during the knockout rounds of the competition, a stage where contestants perform solo and coaches decide whether to advance them. Marx's choice to eliminate all three from his team means he entered the quarter-finals with fewer artists than his fellow coaches.