The Voice favourite Ruth Brown fights back the tears as she and Jaz Ellington are eliminated

PUBLISHED: 14:18 EST, 27 May 2012 | UPDATED: 16:26 EST, 27 May 2012

She was the favourite to win having wowed the judges and audiences alike with her powerful vocals and sweet disposition.

But The Voice crown was not meant to fit Ruth Brown this year as she was eliminated from tonight's semi, missing a place in next weekend's live final.

Ruth and fellow favourite Jaz Ellington both missed out on a place in Saturday's final after failing to win enough votes from the public.

Not meant to be: Ousted Voice contestant Ruth Brown was comforted by Tom Jones and Holly Willoughby as she was voted out of the BBC One singing competition tonight

Ruth was visibly upset after her elimination and could only say 'I really enjoyed my experience'.

Her mentor Sir Tom Jones was effusive in his praise, promising to help her with her career even though she is no longer in the competition.

He said: 'Ruth is a great singer and she's a wonderful person and she will be a star, I will make sure of it. This girl has something special, I'm going to do everything I can possibly do to make her as star.'

Saying goodbye: Mentor Will.i.am comforts his act Jaz Ellington after the joint favourite was voted out of The Voice tonight ahead of next week's final

Meanwhile, Jaz was gracious in defeat and revealed he would treasure his time on the show because of all her had learned while his mentor Will.i.am said he was grateful for getting the chance to learn from Jaz.

Jaz said: 'I entered the competition I said I came here to learn, I've learned a lot from sir will, and from everyone and I'm so grateful,' while Will commented 'It's not every day you meet people who are blessed with a gift like Jaz, I feel like I've been blessed to come here to the show and learn from him.'

Coaches Tom, Will.i.am, Jessie J and Danny O'Donoghue each had only two singers left on their teams, but only one from each mentor could survive.

Disappointed: Becky Hill narrowly missed out on a place in The Voice final and is comforted by coach Jessie J

Tonight's results show confirmed that Tyler James, Vince Kidd, Leanne Mitchell and Bo Bruce had all made it through to the final. The other two acts eliminated were Becky Hill and Max Milner.

Jessie called her ousted contestant Becky a 'special girl', adding 'the problem wasn't me believing in her but it was getting her to believe in me.'

Danny's losing contestant Max praised Bo who will go on to compete in next week's final.

The final four: Judges Will.i.am, Jessie J, Tom Jones and Danny O'Donoghue pose with their finalists for next week's final of The Voice

He said: 'I'd like to say that Bo is incredible and I'm so happy for her, she deserves it. As much as I'm gutted, I'm really happy. I've met such great people, gained notes that I never had and I feel like I've kept my integrity.'

Danny added: 'Not only have I made a great friend but I wanted the UK to see what I see. This is not the last we'll see of Max.'

During last night's semi-final, Brown, who first auditioned for the show just two days before her father's funeral, fought back tears during her performance.

She said afterwards: 'I think if it wasn't for The Voice then I don't know where I'd be because I miss my dad.'

O'Donoghue commented: 'I lost my dad as well and I know what it's like to stand there and sing about that and have that in your heart.

'That was an amazing performance. You found the voice within.'

Will.i.am told her: 'I think your dad is proud of you', while Jessie J added: 'There's moments when your voice literally fills up every single bit of the air.'

Tonight's show featured an appearance by Kylie Minogue, who sang new release Timebomb who stripped off her leather jacket to perform in hotpants and a ripped black vest top.

Cheryl Cole was on the show last night to perform her new single Call My Name.

Dressed in a patterned crop top, bright pink waistcoat, multi-coloured harem trousers and leopard print boots, she made a dramatic entrance by swan diving on to her backing dancers.

Overjoyed: Bo Bruce revealed she was thrilled to have made it to the final and can't wait to perform with mentor Danny next week on The Voice finale

The Girl Aloud star joked afterwards: 'I was looking for the quickest way to the stage. It's been a while.'

The show drew just 4.5 million viewers on average last night. The programme is now pulling in less than half the audience it attracted at its height during the early stages of the contest. At one stage in April it had 10.7 million.

The warm weather is thought to be partly to blame for the lower audience as viewers take advantage of the sunshine.