Many think the last thing the TV landscape needs is another talent competition. Of course, NBC is marketing The Voice as different than anything else out there, so fans of American Idol and The X Factor need not worry — there’s enough room for all the shows.
Well, just like American Idol was a spinoff of the U.K.’s Pop Idol, The Voice is modelled after Holland’s top-rated talent show, The Voice of Holland. But that’s where the similarities between Idol and The Voice end. Here’s a breakdown of what to expect:
Premise
It’s called The Voice for a reason. The show’s format features three stages of competition: the first begins with the blind audition, where the four judges can only hear the auditioner, not see them. So for all of you who can belt it out but have a face for radio, this is the show for you.
If a judge is impressed by a contestant’s voice, he or she pushes a button to select the auditioner for his or her team. If more than one judge selects the talent, the contestant gets to pick who they want to work with throughout the competition.
That’s when the battle begins. Each judge-turned-coach assembles “their own roster of eight artists each because the coaches are competing against each other to hopefully mentor the winner of the voice,” explains executive producer Mark Burnett (Survivor) in a recent conference call with the media, making it clear that there will be one winner coming from all this. “In the final episode, there will be one artist from each coach. And the [final] artist will win the voice.”
Judges
The Voice is hosted by Carson Daly, who channels his former VJ gig (on MTV’s Total Request Live) with his long-running late-late-night hosting gig (Last Call With Carson Daly). He joins four A-list musician coaches in singer-songwriter Christina Aguilera, Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine, singer-rapper-producer Cee-Lo Green and country superstar Blake Shelton.
“Thank God for Christina,” laughs Burnett. "[She] always brings it back to the business. She is absolutely the rock and the voice of reason from between these three very naughty boys.”
Aguilera was happy to take on the school marm or “mama” role, as she refers to it. “These are boys that speak their mind and sometimes get off track from what we’re there to do. [But] you can see we’re having fun up there and we’re having a blast together and feeding off of each other. I almost feel like the schoolteacher within a classroom of naughty boys sometimes. But they’re fun. They’re actually really hilarious so they keep me laughing a lot.”
What’s great about The Voice is that the four judges/coaches have all experienced what the contestants are hoping for, from setbacks and successes, says Aguilera. “We all came from a place of just starting with a dream and then accomplishing it eventually.”
Contestants
Yes, it’s a competition but Aguilera, Levine, Green and Shelton are there to provide positive, constructive criticism for the participants — unlike some other reality competitions out there.
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“We’re not trying to tear anybody down for a TV moment,” insists Aguilera. “This is all about bringing up amazing talent because each and every person that gets up on that stage can sing and has a voice.”
Aguilera’s goal, and presumably the other judges, is to be a support system for the contestants. Sure, there’s a sense of competition in the series (otherwise people wouldn’t watch it), but that’s what makes it so fun to watch.
“There’s a competitive nature involved, but I want to take their essence and the quality of the music and the sound that’s coming out of their mouth and their passion and their heart for what they're doing [and] bring it back to that, because that’s what’s most important to me. And I think that’s what really resonates with an audience — the true passion.” |
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Why it worksA lot happens during the early auditions of any reality show, especially the singing ones. And aren't you annoyed when a singer gets through to the next round based solely on how they look? Well, that isn’t the case on
The Voice, which makes it a refreshing take on the competition genre.
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“You're judging them based on purely being moved by something in their vocal ability,” says Aguilera. “It's not necessarily range or how many notes they can hit or how many technical ad-libs they’re executing. It’s basically boiled down to something that truly moves you and that you truly connect with. And that’s what I think is so unique and so special about the show. It's also coming from people that have been there and done that: we know what it takes to get on a stage and have great shows, have bad shows, and tour stories for days. We were sort of feeling that and seeing that through these young people’s eyes, who are just dying to have the opportunity to do what we do.”
Levine, Aguilera, Shelton and Green will be using real-time interaction and feedback from people at home in their decision-making as they manage their teams via the V-Room, which viewers can access on NBC.com and social media sites.
But it’s not just a talent competition. “This is true hybrid of music and game shows,” says Burnett. “At essence, this is a credible music competition because the talent is so good. The show’s secondary element is that it’s also a fun game in which the coaches have to try to get their rosters together [and] make their selections.” |
Can it work? Of course it will. Network schedules are jam-packed with similar fare — there’s Idol, of course, as well as Simon Cowell’s The X Factor in the fall, CMT’s Next Superstar, executive-produced by Nigel Lythgoe, along with Bravo’s Platinum Hit, which debuts at the end of May and stars singer Jewel and former Idol judge Kara DioGuardi — but in spite of all that, The Voice won’t be stopped.
The public’s appetite for these competition shows have always been voracious. Idol has set the bar and it’s been proven that copycats don’t work. But The Voice is definitely a different beast, with an entirely different makeup and more performer-based talent associated with it. Even if it’s just for curiosity’s sake, people will tune in — and once in, they’ll be hooked.
The Voice premieres Tuesday, April 26 at 9 p.m. ET on CTV/NBC.
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