The Voice contestant Kevin Simm wowed all four coaches tonight with a stunning rendition of Chandelier by Sia.

The Chorley-born singer auditioned before the all-star panel of will.i.am, Boy George, Paloma Faith and Ricky Wilson.

In the battle to land the ex-member of Liberty X, an explosive on-air argument erupted between Faith and Boy George.

The Culture Club singer reportedly made her cry after she pretended to fall asleep during his pitch for the one-time pop heartthrob.

An irritated Boy George snapped, "Excuse me, Palaver!" He then admonished his fellow panellist.

"That's extremely rude. Very rude," the 54-year-old said. "Anyway, you're amazing," he told Simm.

Wilson added: "It's just obvious when you hear a voice of that quality singing, you have to turn around."

Faith told the 35-year-old he was "phenomenal" and will.i.am said he just "wanted to listen" to him sing.

Simm, who has performed in pantomime in Blackburn in recent years, ended up on Faith's team, despite Boy George pointing to her lack of success in America compared with his achievements.

Due to the harsh words exchanged, a source said BBC bosses had to tone down the episode to make it more family friendly.

Alongside Michelle Heaton, Tony Lundon, Jessica Taylor and Kelli Young, Simm failed to make it into Popstars winning group Hear'Say, whose members included Myleene Klass and a pre-Coronation Street Kym Marsh.

Liberty X's Just A Little won a Brit award for best British single in 2003.

They enjoyed several more hits before calling it a day in 2007, but the band out-lasted Hear'Say, who had split in 2002.

Before his audition, Simm said he was "put off" the music business after the failure of his solo pop career.

Liberty X were signed by V2, the record label founded by Richard Branson, and topped the UK Singles Chart with Just A Little in 2002.

"It was amazing," he recalled. "We just had the time of our lives for a couple of years, really. We had a couple of hits and then it started going a little bit downhill, chart positions weren't great so we got dropped."

Simm focused on his own material and Brand New, his solo album, was released in Japan in 2008.

"At that point, I was like, this is going to be awesome, I'm going to be massive! Then I got shelved pretty much. What can you do? It puts you off music a little bit. It did knock my confidence a lot," he admitted.

"I was put off for a couple of years. Probably one of my biggest regrets."

The highs of life as a pop star followed by the crashing low of commercial flops meant a good deal was riding on the audition for the BBC singing series.

"Very nervous taking part in The Voice, I can't lie about that," Simm acknowledged. "I've had nightmares about not having any turns."