Yeah, if you'd have told me a few months ago that I'd be one of those Reality Singing Competition Fangirls...I'd have punched you in the teeth. But then, if you'd told me a few months ago that I'd own three pairs of white jeans and be pairing blazers with them in earnest, I'd also probably have punched you in the teeth. So, maybe that means when I swear I'll "NEVER" do something or watch something or wear something, it's basically more like a mild statement of distaste and a worn out attitude toward American Idol, from which all other obnoxious talent television has been spawned. I watched the first season of American Idol - that's it. No "Dancing With the Stars," no "So You Think You Can Dance," no "America's Got Talent" (grammar - ugh!). Nope. Not even those a capella barbershop singing contests hosted by ex Boy Band wash-ups. At least not of my own free will.
I hate those shows.
Previously, the fanatics that wanted to SQUEAL about them on Facebook or Twitter (or in actual conversation -- yes, I still occasionally have those) were IRKSOME at best, blocked from feeds at worst.
Yeah, I'm that fickle. Ditto people who post too many things about sports championships or how miserable their lives are. Apparently I use social media for my own glee and amusement and have a sort of zero tolerance policy for divergent interests. Sad truth. There's an entire cadre of articles out there talking about the fact that our preferences (and customized sidebar ads and anticipatory Google searches, etc) are shrinking our world view and creating sheltered little bigots out of us...and I think, to a slight extent, I can see that manifested in my own webernet lifestyle. You mean there's a world out there beyond discount designer overstock sales and shoe websites???? How long before we're never even exposed to things that don't match our browsing/posting/searching/THINKING habits? The more I think about how easily that could happen, the spookier the webernets become.
But what's THAT got to do with "The Voice?"
N-O-T-H-I-N-G.
Except that I broadened my horizons, set aside my Singing Show Reluctance a few months ago and absolutely fell in love with "The Voice."
Yeah, that show where Christina Aguilera shows up and seems drunk and flashes parts of herself we shouldn't see unless we call her mommy and depend on those giant silicone globes for food. If you catch my drift. Seriously, I make at least one comment per episode to the effect of "Look at those things! Ohmygoodness -- it's like they're screaming for mercy! Make it stop!" And then I force Mr Wonderful to stare at them, too, and agree with me. "Aren't they scary? Doesn't it look like that bustier thing HURTS? Do they freak you out?????" And he'll kindly oblige, admit her outfits are sort of obscene, decides she looks generally inappropriate and we can go back to wondering why the Cee Lo wears sunglasses the entire time.
My theory: ALL of the judges are loaded on something. The Giant That Is Blake Shelton admitted as much last night. Something like, "It's not just water in my glass."As the show goes on, the judges get more and more punchy, the one-liners make less and less sense, the jabs between each other seem increasingly confusing. And that's part of what makes the show fun. There's great singing, some fun, incoherent "competition" between the judges, we get to see glimpses of famous pop star personalities, get attached to the competitors - it's fun.
And then I read THIS article on Mashable that brought attention to just how interactive the show aims to be for viewers. Here's a snippet:
The Voice is about a journey, and Yaron says the NBC.com homepage has been focusing on “24/7 storytelling and continuing all of the reality stories and experiences of the artists and the coaches and the rivalries between them.” By cultivating the story online and providing a look behind the scenes, The Voice is becoming more than just a weekly television show — it’s nonstop entertainment online, complemented by an hour or two of live performances every week.
“The artists are not sequestered, they’re encouraged to talk about the show as much as they can,” Haislip says. “Regardless of how they do on the show, they still will come out of the competition with something that is going to help them in the future, and they’re all getting a huge leap ahead of the competition.”
That “something” Haislip refers to is digital savvy and a strong fanbase. From the minute they landed in LA for blind auditions, artists were given training in blogging and Facebook Pages and handed Samsung Galaxy Tabs and cameras to document everything from team dinners to rehearsals with photo and video. Each artist has his own hub on the site that links to a blog, Facebook, Twitter, video and photos — viewers really have the opportunity to be heavily invested in the show and the artists, and that translates to better ratings and higher engagement. Giving the artists free reign has let their personalities flourish — Beverly McClellan has started a fake talk show called, “What’s Up With That?” and Jared Blake captured his new ink session on video.
“This is something that every other reality show has kind of shied away from, but we feel really strongly about it,” says Yaron. “We are giving the artists the same platform that real musicians have. We’re training them and mirroring the new ways in which the music industry works. We’re giving them the tools to be the next Lady Gaga. It will help them stay in the competition and become successful music stars. We felt that it was time for a reality show to do that.”
I LOVE that. I love that the show is not grooming contestants to be better COMPETITORS, but to be viable, successful artists who have cultivated a strong, involved, interactive fan base BEFORE they even hit the studios, before they've even won the competition. That's smart.
Of course, it's also gimmicky, and yes, they do dedicate time during each episode to lots of Tweet babble and patting themselves on the back for the fact that they're trending world wide, BUT, the fact that they've introduced social media and iTunes into the voting process is pretty convenient. It treats the competitors on the show like legitimate recording artists straight out of the gate. Makes sense.
So, onto the actual SINGING part of the show.
Here's the thing: from the very first audition episodes, I LOVED all of the would-be competitors. Part of that stems from the fact that the producers hand-selected many of the competitors, most of whom had already established themselves as artists, but in a smaller, less "NATIONAL TELEVISION SHOW" sort of context. Some had small recording contracts, some were backup singers, some traveled around with their bands - the level of talent was MUCH higher than American Idol straight out of the gate. And rather than subjecting us viewers to hours and hours of REALLY LAME audition episodes, they paraded competent singers up on the stage, weeded out the few that didn't appeal to the coaches, and hit the ground running with really strong performances from REALLY likeable competitors.
They weren't all polished and pretty, but they all have compelling personal stories, amazing talent and an immediately likeable..."watchability" that meant I was always bummed when the episode was over.
Also working in The Voice's favor: the format from episode to episode was different. A few audition rounds, a few "battle" rounds that whittled the field down by half and left the coaches to pick the stronger of two members of their teams after the team members competed against one another in coach-selected duets. The chemistry between the contestants was great. The song choices have tended to be more fun and current than a lot of what I remember sitting through during American Idol. The spirit of the judges tends to be encouraging; there are no snarky Cowell-esque sycophants out to tear anyone down, the coaches seem genuinely excited to see their teams succeed - it's great.
That said: I have some favorites. AND, for a little sample, I've included videos of their live performances over the past week along with the original songs they covered; in both cases, I think The Voice competitors created stronger renditions of the songs than the original artists. These are some skilled performers. Different styles, different genres, different demographics they probably appeal to, but I think they're both marketable and feel like they'd have solid careers ahead of them.
So - enjoy.
Vicci Martinez - Jolene:
Dolly Parton - Jolene:
Dia Frampton - Heartless:
Kanye - Heartless:
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