Now I Have to Watch the Voice Too????

I guess I do.  I haven't blogged the show, but I sure liked it. To me, it compares favorably with American Idol and, in fact, leaves AI in the dust in some ways. First off, I find the judges credible and entertaining. And after several years of following reality contest-type shows on TV, I've learned that it's all about the judges. Although these judges are not any more incisive than the AI judges in their comments, their extreme music chops and their role as coaches ups their credibility many times over the AI judges. let's face it. JLo, Steven, and Randy are all on the downswing of their careers. Not so Adam, CeeLo, Blake, and Xtina. Plus I'm in love with CeeLo and have fallen for Adam. Not so much Steven and Randy.

Second, the singing talent is more polished and mature, and the musicianship in general is more entertaining. Not to mention the stagecraft. Only James Durbin on AI has ever approached The Voice level of staging. One thing I will say for American Idol though - it's more of a contest. I always have my favorites and get really excited to see who will stay in the running and who will win.  All four finalists in this premier episode of The Voice were so outstanding that I wouldn't have been sad to see any of them win. I was rooting for Beverly McClellan (Christina's team), a superb rocker, but I didn't think she had the popular support to win. During the final performance show, I was very impressed with eventual winner Javier Colon of Adam's team, although I thought that Xtina and Beverly's duet of Beautiful was the most beautiful thing I'd ever heard (and not in the Steven Tyler sense of every performance being 'beautiful').

This brings me to the third point of The Voice's superiority over AI: the coaching. AI guest coaches seem bogus, and I think  Jimmy Iovine may have done more harm than good last season. The Voice coaches all know what they're doing and seemed to be helping their teams. It was clear that Javier Colon, who was on his last chance in a failing music career, benefited hugely from Adam Levine's advice. He was a different and much better singer at the end of the competition. He deserved to win.

I'll be back next year with Idol though. Nothing beats seeing young people grow into their talent. But let's see how The Voice shapes up in future seasons. Meanwhile here is Javier in his outstanding winning performance of Stitch by Stitch. (Btw, having the competitors sing new, unreleased songs was a great move. They are not hampered by anyone else's version or performance.)


How did you like The Voice. Was Javier the Best?