The Voice is pioneering a new “instant save” feature via Twitter. It’s the first time instant voting on the day of eliminations will help determine who is going home.
The “Instant Save” will take place live during the results show on Tuesday, Nov 12. Previously, “The Voice” coaches exclusively had the power to save an artist from elimination, but now America will have an immediate say during the live show on Nov 12th.
After the outcome is announced during each results show, America will have the opportunity to choose which of the bottom-three artists will be saved by tweeting their pick. Fans will have five minutes to tweet to save their favorite artist. Those tweets will then be tallied and the final results will be announced live. To utilize the “Instant Save,” fans would need to log onto Twitter and tweet out #VoiceSave along with the artist’s name.
Viewers in the Eastern and Central time zones will be able to watch and tweet during the live show. Viewers in the West and Mountain time zones will also be able tweet their choice at the same time as the Eastern and Central time zones if they are following the @nbcthevoice handle, which will announce that the save period is open and what artists are eligible. For more information on voting on the West Coast, please go to http://www.nbc.com/TheVoice.
The social engagement platform from Telescope, the technology company used to authenticate votes on ‘The Voice,’ will tally the tweets in real time and the saved artist will be announced before the end of the telecast.
The “Instant Save” will be used on the Nov. 12, 19, 26 and Dec 3 shows.
That’s putting an awful lot of power in the hands of twitter users don’t you think? How many Voice fans even use the social networking site? Now, a dedicated fan of a contestant who could be in trouble will feel obligated to sign in and make sure to vote during the window. Folks who live outside of the central and eastern time zones are put at a particular disadvantage.
I get the desire to be cool and modern and create more buzz around the show, and to increase social engagement, (Idol still has the highest social traffic out of all the singing shows) but for fans, it’s a pain in the butt. Why not let America’s vote determine the bottom two contestants going home? Keep it simple. Straightforward is good.
