And the Winner of the VOICE is Javier Colon…Team Adam!
I think it’s hilarious that, despite stacking the deck with girls–the ratio was 6-2 in the Top 8 and 4-1 in the Top 4–a GUY still managed to win The Voice. Not so different from Idol after all, eh? Apparently, though, the margin was only 2% between the winner Javier, and 2nd place finisher Dia. I was rooting for Dia a little bit. I wasn’t invested in any of these contestants, but I did enjoy her performances. Now, lets see if coach Blake Shelton puts his money where his mouth is. Hell, lets see if these superstar coaches, who go on and on for the TV cameras about how much they love their charges–actually help them once the cameras stop rolling.
Tonight’s finale had very little suspense and a whole mess of bad singing. I kept wanting to switch over to So You Think You Can Dance, quite frankly. Figuring out how to present an entertaining results show is just one of the tweaks the Voice producers need to work on.
Also: Ditch Carson Daly. His low key persona may work ok on that psuedo-hipster late night TV show he hosts, but it’s terrible for a competition reality show. He’s not only got to keep things moving, but build excitement and engage the cast and the audience. Carson keeps the show moving more or less, but he’s like a zombie. The host of the undead. Ryan Seacrest is a little frenetic at times, but he’s the heart of Idol, keeping all parties connected and engaged. New host. STAT.
Get rid of that stupid twitter room. I don’t need somebody telling me what’s on twitter…if I AM ACTUALLY ON TWITTER. If I’m not on twitter? Why would I care? The backstage interviews are awkward, and often unintentionally hilarious.
Unless the coaches decide to offer some constructive criticism or offer up more than platitudes, I’d cut back on them too. If I wasn’t recapping, I’d probably be FFing. MORE SINGING PLEASE. Having said that, I know that I’m probably missing the point of this show, It’s actually SUPPOSED to be all about the judges. But in order for the show to survive the long haul, the contestants have to matter, too.
The biggest problem the producers have right now, is that the current format, especially the Battle Rounds, do not encourage viewers to become super-invested in the contestants. Four performances in an hour? Fake battles between contestants that are mismatched half the time? I can honestly say that I got to the end of those rounds not really knowing or caring about any of the contestants. And it took 4 weeks to get through them. The producers want to add more, but I say have less, with more singers to keep the shows moving. Design the video packages to emphasis the CONTESTANT rather than the superstar coach and their superstar assistant. By the end of that round, we should already be picking favorites and be totally INTO IT.
The Good: The audition rounds are working for them. Those first few weeks got people hooked. Unlike Idol, The Voice features all good singing all the time, which keeps the exasperation level I feel at the Idol audition phase way down. The chair gimmick is silly on one hand, but does eliminate distractions, forcing the coaches to really listen. Waiting for the judges to turn around is suspenseful. And anyway–the swiveling red chairs are the central conceit of the show, so it’s pointless to complain about it.
For all the hype, the talent level on this inaugural season was average, despite the presence of many plants. Both Dia and Javier, for instance, have had major label deals that didn’t work out. The producers seem to be casting their nets wider for the Season 2 talent search, which is a good thing.
I also hope NBC runs The Voice only once a year. FOX was tempted to run multiple seasons of Idol, but bit the bullet. The result? Idol became a highly anticipated event, and appointment television. The addition of The X Factor in the fall may prove to be too much of a good thing. But at least, if one show fails, the other will carry on. If NBC loses The Voice, they are doomed. But we are talking about a network that can’t seem to do anything right…
Which of the Top 4 contestants will win The Voice? Eh. There’s really no suspense here. iTunes tells the tale. Either Dia Frampton (Team Blake) (#1 on iTunes) or Javier Colon (Team Adam) (#2 on iTune) will walk away with $100, 000 and a recording contract.
Vicci Martinez (Team Cee Lo) and Beverly McClellan (Team Christina) might as well chillax and enjoy the show. With iTunes rankings that are considerably lower (#11 & #25 respectively) than their fellow contestants, it seems that Vicci and Beverly didn’t resonate enough with viewers to bring in the big votes.
Blake Lewis is in the audience tonight!
Recording stars pair up with the finalists for duets: Miranda Lambert with Dia , Pat Monahan with Vicci, Ryan Tedder w Beverly and Stevie Nicks with Javier.
Final show recap! Almost as boring as twitting with Alison!
Now, we are behind the scenes of the Tonight Show. The contestants behave as if Jay Leno is some kind of rock star. Ugh. Enjoy your time on Leno kids. It’s your first, and probably last visit. Oh HI RICKEY MINOR.
First up, Vicci Martinez sings a duet with Train’s Pat Monahan. Apparently one of her favorite artists? Really? They duet on “Drops of Jupiter” and their voices blend…terribly. Pat Monahan his toothpick legs and skeery hair TOTALLY CREEP ME OUT. HATE.
Time for Cee Lo to gush about Vicci. “I love you so sincerely, ” he tells her “We will forever be bonded…blah blah blah.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwM26okDFm8
Javier Colon sings his duet with the great Stevie Nicks! They sing “Landside”. Somehow, I’m not surprised. Stevie sounds wicked nasally. Javier sings a descant as they harmonize. The resulting sound is harsh. They’re both pushing their vocals hard. Not a perfect marriage, but way better than that Pat Monahan monstrosity. Poor Vicci. Stevie gets huge applause.
Adam does not want to cry! He tells Javier the duet is the coolest thing he’s ever done besides having kids. The best duet he’s ever heard in his life? It wasn’t that good. HYPERBOLE.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIAsQtNi2Qs
Beverly McClellan is next. She sings her duet with Ryan Tedder. Yeah. You heard me right. They sing “Good Life”. Holy shit what the hell is THAT NOISE! Matching hernias? Somebody put them out of their misery. HOT MESS Y’ALL. BRUTAL. I knew putting those two together was a terrible idea. Their styles don’t match at all. It was like they were singing two different songs.
Christina: Blah blah I love you BLAH BLAH BLAH. Christina tells her fellow coaches they are like the big brothers she’s never had.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRTQv6jo_RQ
Dia Frampton is ready for her duet. She sings a song with Mrs. Blake Shelton…Miranda Lambert! Dia reminds Blake of his wife the “mold breaker”. They sing “The House that Built Me”. Miranda sounds beautiful. Dia’s sounds beautiful when she harmonizes, but why is she whispering the verses? By far, this is the best duet. Finally some beautiful harmonies!
Blake has nothing prepared to say. “You’re family to me now, ” says Blake. “I’m so proud of you.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqdWPKn24A4
Results!
The voting was extremely close. The Top 2 were within only 2% of each other. Javier looks like he’s going to barf! The two artists with the most votes are Dia Frampton and Javier Colon.
Beverly McClellan and Vicci Martinez are eliminated.
And the winner is…Javier Colon from Team Adam! We’re almost out of time, so there isn’t much of a speech, and no winner’s song singout. And we are out until January.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSqI6tsxElQ
