The Voice Premiere
The Voice (Tuesdays at 9PM? on NBC)
It's NBC's answer to American Idol... but was it better?
My short answer is NO.
Last night's episode we got the info we needed to know what this show was all about...
Four successful music mentors: Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Blake Shelton, and Adam Levine. Each of them must choose 8 singers from a "blind audition round".
We saw part of that round last night. Each mentor sat in a reverse-facing chair as the auditioners came out one by one and sang a song of their choice. If a mentor liked what they heard they would push a button and be turned around. If they turned around they're in the running for that auditioner to be on their team. If they didn't push the button, they were turned around after the performance was over and had no chance of having the auditioner on their team. If more than 1 mentor turned around, the auditioner had the choice of what mentor they wanted to have. If no mentor turned around, the auditioner was eliminated from the show.
And last night we saw every combination from no chair turns to all 4 chair turns. But for me, the show lacked a little bit in one area. I want to get to know the contestants... you know the ones that want to make it big and haven't yet. That's what Idol is good at, even if you hate the sappy back-stories or love them, at least you come out knowing more about the contestants. On the premiere of The Voice, I didn't get that. Sure we got itty-bitty clips of certain contestants and why they were auditioning, but really we have no idea who most of them are at this point.
What we do know? The judges. Was it just me, or does Adam Levine (from Maroon 5) and Christina Aguilera hate each other. From the dirty looks to Xtina repeatedly calling Adam a used car salesman. If I wasn't preggers, it would make a very good drinking game, you'd be wasted after the first 30 minutes. I would say it was friendly banter, but I'm not sure it was. It was if these 2 have the biggest egos of the mentors and are battling each other already.
Photo Credit - NBC
As for the other mentors, it seems Cee Lo is in it to really have fun and actually nurture talent and Blake knows exactly what he wants and only goes for it if he does, which I can at least, respect.
Oh, and the "host" Carson Daly, didn't do much hosting actually last night. He did however spend some quality time with the contestants and their families and outranked Ryan Seacrest, but not nearly reached Cat Deely status, in that arena.
And their opening number of Cee Lo's "Crazy" was just gosh-awful...
Each mentor chose 3-4 singers last night to join their team. Next week, they'll fill out the rest of their squads by more "blind auditions". After that, each mentor will train and mentor their groups, who will then be pitted against each other in following rounds, their mentors deciding 1 person from each group to go home each week, until only 4 members per mentor are left. Then it's down to America to vote.
Christina Aguilera's Team Thus Far
Tarralyn Ramsey - 31-year old, first contestant, who sang Faith Hill's "Breathe" - I personally thought she was terrible, she was so nervous in the beginning her voice was trembling and I think her high notes were sharp. But Xtina and Cee Lo both turned their chairs and Tarralyn chose Xtina.
Photo Credit - NBC (by rickey.org)
Frenchie Davis - remember the voluptuous lady who was kicked off Idol for some "naked pictures"? Yeah, that one! She's starred on Broadway in Rent but wants that music contract. She sang Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl". I don't think it was the best song choice for her, but Xtina turned around and thus Frenchie is in the running.
Photo Credit - NBC
Beverly McClellan - the 40 something, bald (by choice) rocker chick. She sang "Piece of My Heart" and was totally into it from start to finish. Both Xtina and Adam turned their chairs, and another brawl come of it, this time Beverly chose Xtina.
Photo Credit - NBC (by rickey.org)
Blake Shelton's Team Thus Far
Patrick Thomas - the kid not so into sports that would cry after school, donned a cowboy hat and sang Tim McGraw's "Live Like You Were Dying"... he got a couple chairs to turn around, but duh... he went with Blake.
Photo Credit - NBC (by rickey.org)
Josh and Nicole - the only duo of the night, and blissfully married and living in her parents basement sang "Falling Slowly". Blake turned first, because he had to see them, and so did Cee Lo. After what seemed like forever, the duo decided to be on Blake's team because he promised he could keep them together.
Photo Credit - NBC (by rickey.org)
Xenia - the youngen that is super shy at school; the one with the raspy, unique tone. I was waiting for her to really let it go on a high note, but it never happened, she's a diamond in the rough I think, so we'll see if Blake can polish her up.
Photo Credit - NBC (by rickey.org)
Cee Lo's Team Thus Far
Vicci Martinez - didn't get much of an intro-clip, but sang Adele's "Rollin' in the Deep", again for me, it wasn't so great. She was pushing her voice to the limit and I felt she didn't have much power or control over it. Cee Lo and Xtina thought differently though and turned their chairs... she ultimately picked Cee Lo.
Photo Credit - NBC (by rickey.org)
Kelsey Rey - is the pretty girl tired of people judging her on her pretty looks (oh, cry me a river honey!) She got Xtina, Cee Lo and Adam to turn around and ultimately went with Cee Lo because he complimented her voice, not her appearance.
Photo Credit - NBC (by rickey.org)
Tje Austin - he was the only one we got a "blind audition" from, as the cameras only panned at his feet until after a few bars of the song. He grew up with white Mormon parents, but he's a sci-fi nerd, afro-tastic, skinny-jean wearing black guy. He ends up picking the zany Cee Lo.
Photo Credit - NBC (by rickey.org)
Adam Levine's Team Thus Far
Jeff Jenkins - the baby-faced guy who's singing for his mama who recently passed, and was by far the best singer last night in my opinion. All four judges turned around, but Adam made the best case and snagged him.
Photo Credit - NBC (by rickey.org)
Rebecca - the dark haired woman who tours around the country doing what she loves. I thought she had a nice and comforting type of voice, and Adam was able to nab her up. (XTina turned her chair, and Rebecca told her she's picking Adam because the trajectory of his career is more so what she's looking for. Basically she told XTina that she didn't want her career to start off really well, than plummet like hers has recently... LOL, literally)
Photo Credit - NBC (by rickey.org)
Javier Colon - he's a father that tries to make it by through his music; he sang an acoustic version of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" and I thought he did an okay job with it. The mentors all dug it though and they all turned around. After some bickering between Xtina and Adam, Javier chose Adam.
Photo Credit - NBC (by rickey.org)
No Turning Chairs
Jared - tattoo'd dad that got clean but couldn't get any judges to turn around during his performance of Cobra Starship's "Good Girls Go Bad"
Sonia Rao - the beautiful girl that had to convince her parents singing was a good career choice, who sang "If I Ain't Got You", it wasn't strong enough for any of the judges to turn around, although Cee Lo was regretful that he didn't because he liked her hot bod.
Joanne - the older lady that came out singing "I Say A Little Prayer", I thought she was decent, but you could also tell the age in her voice. She didn't get one chair to turn, although Xtina considered it.
