The new season of The Voice has begun. The eleventh cycle brings new coaches as Alicia Keys and Miley Cyrus join Blake Shelton and Adam Levine on the panel. What did you think overall? So far, Alicia appears to be taking the Pharrell Williams flatter-the-contestants-with-zen-and-self-actualization route. She’s all about art as a spiritual journey. She knows how to connect to a contestant emotionally. For instance, when she was vying for Jason Warrior, and he literally broke down and cried? There was no way Adam and his “I can make you better” pragmatism was going to be able to compete.
Miley talks. A lot. And she interrupts. I hope she isn’t annoying in the unedited live shows. Having said that, she does bring a measure of unpredictability to the show. She seems willing to walk a contestant close to the edge if they are willing to take a risk. That’s something a safe player like Blake will never offer. But it all comes down to whether she’s a good mentor or not. Pharrell was awesome during the blinds, but when it came down to achieving results with the singers, he couldn’t produce.
The narrative so far seems to be: The women are here to give the veteran dudes some stiff competition. Already, Adam is having trouble picking up artists. But again, this first episode (like the Olympic premiere) may be purposely Miley/Alicia heavy in order to establish their place on the panel.
The talent so far seems pretty solid. However, unlike season 8, 9 and 10 there is no pimp spot heir apparent obvious winner. Maybe the producers realize they’ve got to bring back some suspense to the proceedings. Figuring out the winner by the end of the premiere puts a damper on the season, don’t you think?
My favorite singers from tonight are: Dana Harper and Dave Moisan. How about you? Click for a full recap of the show, including performance videos.
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