The ever-opinionated legendary pop superstar, Elton John, slammed The Voice in a recent interview with BBC Radio 4’s Front Row.
“The Voice is all about watching the judges, it is in America.
That’s true. But fans of the show like that about it. However, it does make it tougher for singers to use the show as a true launching pad to stardom, when the emphasis is on the coaches.
“Nobody on The Voice in America has had a hit record. Nobody on The Voice in England has had a hit record – they’re nonentities.”
Well, that’s true so far. Although, in America, the latest winner, Danielle Bradbery has a lot of buzz. If she breaks through, it will be more about having the powerful Scott Borchetta from Big Machine records in her corner than anything that happened on the show.
But in Britain, Leanne Mitchell, who won the first series, sold less than 1K copies of her debut album. Controversially, a The Voice UK mentor, Danny O’Donoghue, blamed Leanne for her own terrible sales, instead of the poor promotion she received.
Elton also criticized talent shows in general for thrusting hopefuls into the limelight before they are ready.
“Television and video have done a lot of damage to music. They’ve propelled people into stardom that aren’t ready for it, you know, and can’t sustain it. And they’re only as good as the next song.
“I hate that. I hate people being cast aside. It breaks my heart to see people like Michelle McManus who won ‘Pop Star’ [Pop Idol], whatever it was, but it’s not fair.”
Via Digital Spy
