“American Idol” has led the reality competition show genre for many years. This week, it became vividly clear to me that this is no longer the case.
This week, I had the chance to view the singing competition show “The Voice” on NBC. It features four musician coaches: Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton, who will coach a team of 8 talented vocalists.
The show’s format consists of three stages of competition: the first phase is the blind audition, then the competition enters into a battle phase, and finally, the live performance. The show’s casting team worked with the music industry and searched the country for the best singers to bring to the blind audition.
During blind auditions, the decisions from the coaches are based on voice alone and not on looks. The coaches hear the contestants perform, but do not get to see them – thanks to rotating chairs. If a coach is impressed by a contestant’s vocal talent, he/she pushes a button to select the contestant. At this point, the coach’s chair will swivel to face the contestant selected. If more than one coach selects the talent, contestant must choose which coach they want to work with throughout the competition. The fact that visual bias does not factor into a coaches selection of an artist is incredibly powerful and puts the focus on talent rather than image.
After the teams are set, the battle is on. Coaches will concentrate on developing their singers, giving them advice, and sharing the secrets of their success. During the battle rounds the coaches must pit two of their own team members against each other to sing the same song together in front of a studio audience. After the battle, the coach must choose which singers will advance. This is a unique spin that puts pressure on the coach to make a tough decision. Weighing in on their professional experience, they can choose who has a better chance later in the competition based on the battle.
At the end of the battle episodes, only the strongest members of each coach’s team remain and move on to the live stage shows. In this final performance phase of the competition, the top contestants from each team will compete against each other during a live broadcast. The television audience will vote to save one contestant on each team, leaving the coach to decide live who they want to save and who will not move on. At last, each coach will have his/her best contestant left standing to compete in the finale. From these four, one singer will be picked by the television audience and will receive the grand prize of a recording contract and $100,000.
Although there are several levels to the competition, “The Voice” works on so many levels. You can see the tension between the judges as they glance at each other while contemplating turning their chair around to see the contestent. They also on many occasions have to pitch to a contestant, and persuade them to join their team. Very innovative. Although based on a Dutch show “The Voice of Holland”, I feel it is very unique for an American series.
American Idol has grown stale and tired. Departing judges, questionable theme weeks, and in my opinion, too much self-righteousness have led me to look for alternatives. For now, my eyes will be glued to “The Voice.” Why? Because “The Voice” gets it right.
Have you seen “The Voice”? Please share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below. (If you do not see the comment section, click the post title above and scroll to the bottom of the post)
If you like what you’ve read, please subscribe to my email newsletter. You’ll receive exclusive content, updates, and more!
Related posts:
