The latest reality talent show, “The Voice,” debuted on NBC recently, informing America that this show would be different than every other singing craze. The two hour lullaby of a premiere was director Mark Burnett’s attempt to shift viewers away from Fox’s “American Idol” and persuade others from turning to Simon Cowell’s upcoming show the “X Factor,” but the show was not markedly different.
“The Voice” tries to show a non-superficial side to the music industry by creating a panel of “coaches” made up of Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Blake Shelton, and Adam Levine. The auditions were lackluster and the contestants were pre-screened, which defeats the show’s credibility of its objection to looks. The host, Carson Daly, at least tries to be humorous and help the show move along, but his attempts continually fail. He’s just not funny.
The goal of each coach is to create a team of talented singers- which arranges the coaches into a competition of their own. To create teams, the coaches sit with their backs to the contestants- showing that appearance isn’t significant to them. And if one of the coaches happens to enjoy the hopeful candidate’s rendition of a repetitious, overplayed song, they press a big red button and spin around in overly dramatic fashion to see their future team player. After the contestant is done singing and is chosen by a coach, the panel simultaneously does an unintentionally funny 180. The roller coaster ride to find out who their team player will be is quite unnecessary. If someone isn’t picked to be on a team, then the judges all turn around in their spinning chairs to awkwardly explain why the contestant wasn’t chosen.
Once the teams are made up of 8 singers each, the contestants go through a series of competition rounds to battle against each other to reduce the teams to 4 singers per coach. The singers meet in a large, tackily embarrassing boxing ring to compete. Then it’s up to the coaches (still not called judges) to choose who they want on their team (and still not allegedly to be superficial). After each team is cut to four singers, it’s up to America to choose who they want to continue in the competition.
The show’s premise is an attempt at being unique, but the whole idea seems set up. The only thing “The Voice” has going for itself is its celebrity power; that may wrangle in some viewers, but over all, the show is a tedious disaster. In order for their credibility to stand tall, Mark Burnett needs to change the way the show’s auditions are done and consider hiring a new interior decorator for the show’s ludicrous environment. If the show wants to survive for seasons to come, alterations need to be done to the way the show executes their one-of-a-kind and commendable ideas. Although there is at least one ounce of promise left for “The Voice,” this season is off key.
