Let's Talk About "The Voice"...

After 10-weeks of programming, I can officially give my review on NBC's new-singing competition "The Voice". 

The Good: Whoever was in charge of casting did an excellent job recruiting the show's core celebrity "coaches". Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera, and Blake Shelton were a perfect mish-mash of television personalities, each radiating their own brand of charm and credibility to the show...Comparing this freshmen program and veteran "American Idol" may be a little lazy, but it's fair. 'Idol' sets a grueling pace of singing and performing for it's wannabes, who all the while endure a barrage of criticisms from the "judges" and ultimately, the American public; 'Voice' takes a softer, more supportive tone with it's contestants. The "coaches" seem genuinely vested in their performers, and it shows. Where 'Voice' is stronger in this regard is that it automatically assumes a coach/judge will favor a contestant (obviously the one on their team), so the audience expects the favoritism. On 'Idol', judges aren't supposed to play favorites, but they do. And it's maddening because some contestants are left in the cold...That supportive, high-energy tone on "Voice" also gives it a fresher presentation. Viewers aren't bogged-down in negativity and every episode feels like a live concert...The winnowed-down field of contestants to make the live shows were 8-for-8 in their deserving to be there. Not a single person was cause for alarm, and that is downright shocking on reality-television, where usually at least one contestant is the villain...

The show wasn't perfect however. 

Let's talk about The Flaws: Two-weeks of live shows for 8-deserving contestants felt cheap. We the viewers needed an opportunity to get to know these folks, and given the chance to perform over several weeks, we could have seen the contestants grow and mature (or stumble) even more than they did. It was a rushed first season and I suspect that was a calculated move. NBC executives probably didn't want to green-light a five-month-long show (like 'Idol') without proven ratings and revenue; the risk of the show flopping and dragging-on throughout the summer was probably too great, so they settled on a relatively short 10-week window, with the hope it'll hit (which it did) and expand the second season to exploit the show's potential. It was a totally cynical and business-savvy move. Fox did the same thing with 'Idol' (that show was nowhere near as bloated as it's become); I just hope NBC doesn't turn 'Voice' into a mini-Idol clone and fatten next season's schedule beyond recognition. Part of the strength of "Voice" is that it's episodes were shorter, livelier, and with less-filling than 'Idol'...The clever opening gimmick of the show (that is, the coaches only picked contestants based on their, *ahem* voice) lasted all of 30-minutes before I grew bored with it. The first half of the season relied too heavily on that gimmicky premise (those episodes lasted far too long, they should condense them into the first week of the season and then move on)...They also need to clean-up a few subtle-details. For one, when contestants perform, who exactly chooses the song? I recall some weeks when the "coach" chose a song for one singer and while another another got to choose their own song during the same episode. The reason it's important is because some of the contestants got saddled with extremely bizarre song selections that completely hindered their chance to shine (i.e. Christina choosing a Madonna song for powerhouse vocalist Frenchie Davis to sing). If we knew week to week (as we do on 'Idol') who is picking these songs, it makes it easier to judge the contestant (especially if they themselves made a bad decision). Next season, they need to clean up what I'll call (since I don't know the technical terminology), episode-blocking. During the last third of the season, we saw competitive-performances from two teams as well as results from the previous week's performances all on one show. The overlapping was a little ridiculous. Especially given two contestants didn't even know they'd be singing that night until the results were presented minutes before their performance was slated. It was awkward. And the pacing was too unpredictable for viewers...

The Awful: The pacing may have been unpredictable, but the results were not. Sure, the contestants that advanced were all deserving, but come on, that isn't exactly compelling television. I didn't break a sweat anticipating who was going to move on in the competition, and when it meant the most, it was far too easy knowing who the also-rans were, and who legitimately had a shot. That problem may also plague 'Idol', but 1) at least those contestants are given ample opportunity to shine (i.e. multiple-week performances); and 2) even during its first season "Idol" provided a shocker (anyone remember the fabulous Tamyra Gray?). The reason 'Voice' was so predicable is because the singers who made the big impressions early never had to prove anything beyond their strong starts, while less-dominating personalities had too little time to build an audience. Eventual champion Javier Colon didn't win because he had the best 'voice' or enduring personality; he took the crown because his audition performance blew everyone away and left a lasting-impression on viewers. His was a victory of short-sprint momentum. All of this was the fault of the show's 10-week length, and can be corrected by season 2. 

I liked "The Voice". It took a few weeks before it became something special, but eventually it won me over with it's youthful spirit. 'Voice' won't ever replace "Idol" in my heart, but it'll certainly make for great off-season entertainment while my favorite is on hiatus.  I can't wait for the second season!

Favorite Team: Christina Aguilera (Beverly McClellan and Frenchie Davis)

Favorite Coach: Blake Shelton

Favorite Show Performance: "Beautiful" (Beverly McClellan and Christina Aguilera) 

Favorite Competitive Performance: "Piece of My Heart" (Beverly McClellan)