SINGER Jolan Gidney-Craigen gave a ‘flawless’ performance as he fought for a place in the final of the BBC’s The Voice UK .

In memory of his late mother Joanne, the 22-year-old performed Prince’s Purple Rain .

Fans had a long wait to see Jolan, of Moor Row, near Whitehaven, take to the stage in the live semi-final on Saturday night. He was the last of eight artists to perform.

He then had a quick costume change before joining forces with fellow TeamRicky semi-finalist Kevin Simm – a former member of pop five-piece Liberty X – and their mentor Ricky Wilson, frontman of the Kaiser Chiefs. Together they belted out Power of Love by Huey Lewis and The News in the second segment of the two-hour live primetime show on BBC1.

Jolan was the last of the four names to be read out following the public vote, clinching his place in Saturday’s forthcoming final. Taking to social media, he said: “Thank you all so much for voting! One more week to do it. Can’t actually believe it!”

Jolan has won the backing of pop star Will Young, who is performing at Carlisle Racecourse this summer.

Will wrote on Twitter: “Dare I say move over Oli Murs? This guy is incredible. No disrespect to Mr Murs.”

Jolan’s proud grandparents John and Alison appeared in a short clip before he took to the stage for his solo performance.

Prince’s famous song was a favourite of Jolan’s mum, who loved music from the 1980s.

Alison said: “His mum would be very very proud of him today. Seeing him on stage with all these stars, he is realising his ambition.”

Jolan first auditioned for show two years ago – his mum joined him at auditions – but none of the judges turned their chairs. This time round he has taken the show by storm.

On Saturday night, he was described by presenter Emma Willis as “Wilson’s wonder boy”. His coach Ricky was almost speechless at the end of Jolan’s Purple Rain , saying: “One word – flawless”.

Rival coach Paloma Faith, who has performed with Prince, said: “You absolutely blew my mind.”

Boy George described Jolan’s performance as
“amazing”.

Fourth coach will.i.am had dubbed Jolan’s quarter final as a “Grammy moment”, but went further saying Purple Rain was “a Brits performance”.

The show also revealed that Jolan and TeamRicky had met with R&B star Craig David and enjoyed go-karting ahead of the semi-final.

Jolan’s dad, who lives in France, his girlfriend from Cumbria and her mum and step dad were all heading to London for the semi finals.

The live two-hour final of BBC 1’s The Voice U K will air on Saturday at 7pm.