Left to right, The Voice contestants Adam Wakefield, Hannah Huston, Laith Al-Saadi and Alisan Porter. Photo by Trae Patton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
Left to right, The Voice contestants Adam Wakefield, Hannah Huston, Laith Al-Saadi and Alisan Porter. Photo by Trae Patton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

Search for a superstar: who will win The Voice US?



James Gabrillo

After 13 weeks of competition featuring thrilling blind auditions, brutal knockout rounds and multiple live-show eliminations, we have reached the end of the line.

A two-part final on Monday and Tuesday (May 23 and 24) will determine the champion of the 10th series of the American edition of The Voice, with the winner awarded with a recording contract.

Meet the mentors

Adam Levine, the frontman of Maroon 5, returned for his 10th consecutive season on the show. His team has won the competition three times in the past.

Country music sensation Blake Shelton has also been with the show since the very beginning. His team holds the most successful record on The Voice, having won four seasons.

Pop superstar Christina Aguilera, the show’s only female coach, is back after a season’s hiatus, while musician and producer Pharrell Williams returned for his fourth season.

On The Voice's forthcoming 11th edition – set to air in September – Levine and Shelton will return, while Aguilera and Williams will be replaced by Miley Cyrus and Alicia Keys.

Fantastic four

All four coaches are coming into the final with one contestant each – a rare occurrence that has not happened since the second season, as some teams often get wiped out through the public voting.

Representing Levine’s team, Laith Al-Saadi is a 38-year-old blues and jazz guitarist whose father is an immigrant from Iraq. Al-Saadi’s sound is all soul and growl, but he’s also influenced by the musical taste of his father, who only listened to Arabic classical music while Al-Saadi was growing up.

"I really like the sound of a lot of Middle Eastern scales. I do try to incorporate elements of that," Al-Saadi told Metro Times. "I grew up on Fairuz, a Lebanese singer."

Alisan Porter, the competition’s best belter, is aptly coached by Aguilera, the most powerful vocalist on the panel. She starred in the lead role of the 1991 John Hughes rom-com Curly Sue. The 34-year-old mother of three is big on ballads and showcasing vocal pyrotechnics.

Mentored by Williams, Hannah Huston is the show’s remaining pop singer. The 24-year-old preschool teacher is a dynamic, and often fiery, performer on stage.

The fourth finalist is Adam Wakefield, a country rocker mentored by no less than the show’s resident cowboy, Shelton. Wakefield started playing the guitar at the age of 4 and is currently based in Nashville, Tennessee, known as the centre of the country music industry.

What to look out for

Wakefield is the current frontrunner, with his semi-final performance of I'm Sorry – a cover of his coach's hit track – peaking at No 2 on this week's iTunes Singles Chart.

But don’t be surprised if Porter takes the crown – she’s been the quiet fan favourite all season. Her victory would also be a remarkable feat for Aguilera, since no female coach has won the competition in the previous nine seasons. The show’s last four winners have also been male, so Porter would break that trend.

The Voice has been criticised in the past for not having produced an actual star in the way that its rival American Idol has with Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. Among the nine winners it has anointed, only two have made a real mark on the music charts: season three's Cassadee Pope and most recent winner Jordan Smith. Among the current four finalists, Wakefield is the most marketable.

That said, our vote is with Al-Saadi. While he’s not your typical pop star, he would certainly stand out when compared to the show’s previous winners, who were either country crooners or pop balladeers.

Catching up

Missed some episodes – or perhaps the entire season? If you’d like to be on track in time for the final, watch or listen to these standout performances from the four finalists.

• Laith Al-Saadi: Bob Seger's We've Got Tonight (Top 9 show)

• Alisan Porter: Janis Joplin's Cry Baby (playoffs)

• Hanna Huston: Adele's Rolling in the Deep (Top 10 show)

• Adam Wakefield: Sam Cooke's Bring It On Home to Me (knockout round)

• Recordings can be accessed on YouTube, iTunes or The Voice's official website

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India squad for ODI series against Sri Lanka
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

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  • 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
  • 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250 

Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

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RESULTS

West Asia Premiership

Thursday
Jebel Ali Dragons 13-34 Dubai Exiles

Friday
Dubai Knights Eagles 16-27 Dubai Tigers

How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers

Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.

It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.

The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.

Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.

Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.

He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.

AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”

A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.

Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.

Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.

Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.

By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.

Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.

In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”

Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.

She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.

Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.

Results

57kg quarter-finals

Zakaria Eljamari (UAE) beat Hamed Al Matari (YEM) by points 3-0.

60kg quarter-finals

Ibrahim Bilal (UAE) beat Hyan Aljmyah (SYR) RSC round 2.

63.5kg quarter-finals

Nouredine Samir (UAE) beat Shamlan A Othman (KUW) by points 3-0.

67kg quarter-finals

Mohammed Mardi (UAE) beat Ahmad Ondash (LBN) by points 2-1.

71kg quarter-finals

Ahmad Bahman (UAE) defeated Lalthasanga Lelhchhun (IND) by points 3-0.

Amine El Moatassime (UAE) beat Seyed Kaveh Safakhaneh (IRI) by points 3-0.

81kg quarter-finals

Ilyass Habibali (UAE) beat Ahmad Hilal (PLE) by points 3-0

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