Five (+1) reasons to tune in to The Voice
(1) IT’S NEW – the concept of the show, may on first read, seem a little ridiculous. The auditionees sing to the judges back’s. (And I use the term judges loosely). But it’s just different enough for this show to feel fresh in a saturated Saturday night schedule of wannabe star entertainment.
(2) A DISTINCT LACK OF PUBLIC HUMILIATION – I cannot stand things that make me cringe, comedy and reality television are the usual culprits and Saturday night talent programmes tend to blend the two together at the less talented auditionees’ expense. The hammed up comical looks of horror on the judges faces when someone who really should not be holding a mic gets up on stage in front of them and sings their heart out generally have me hitting the mute button or turning the channel over. No matter if the entrants are crap, their hopes and dreams are being crushed the same as most everyone else in the show, talented or not, and on top of that they get to be the joke of the week for the entire country. In The Voice, entrants have clearly been screened first. Everyone on the show can hold a tune, which means crucially that there is no profit being made out of the public humiliation of the less talented entrants. And because they are pre-screened that means that...
(3) NO ONE GETS A NO – I started watching The Voice tonight mainly because there was nothing else on and I thought I’d give it a try. But one of the things I’ve always hated about the ‘judging’ process on Pop Idol, X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent and (if anyone remembers it) Fame Academy is the ‘It’s a no from me’. Whether they are awful or not, the fact that a person’s crashing realision that they are just not good enough for the erstwhile judges is packaged as Saturday night entertainment is almost horrifying (and I’m definitely not taking the moral high ground here, I’ve been as glued to these scenes as anyone else in the past). But on The Voice the judges listen to the acts (backs turned) and then hit a button. Their chair then lights up saying “I WANT YOU”.
There are no ‘No’s’ in sight. Even if no one turns around during the performance, they all turn around at the end, tactfully explain why they didn’t hit their buttons and generally give the artists praise and constructive criticism.
The difference is noticeable in the interviews after they leave the stage. Less tears (though there will always be some), a shrug, a smile and a better luck next time attitude. Positive reinforcement; it does wonders.
(4) THE JUDGES DON’T JUDGE – they really don’t. Even when they don’t hit their button, when they turn round they generally have positive things to say. What they are doing is tring their best to be picked by the auditionee. That’s right, the dramatic music, the umming and aahing over whom to choose, that’s when the auditionee has to choose whose team they want to be on. Once they’ve turned round the judges have to make the auditionee want them. This is the only aspect of the show that made me cringe a little, but even then it was mostly hilarious. Watching Will.I.Am and Tom Jones competing over an auditionee, bringing out the big guns and name dropping like crazy is far more entertaining than it sounds, and doesn’t it already sound pretty damn entertaining? Add to it Danny O’Donoghue (of The Script) laughing and rolling his eyes, making snarky comments like “he’s dropped something over here” when Will.I.Am mentioned working with Macy Gray, or Jessie-J good naturedly exclaiming this is why she didn’t turn around because how could she compete with this “but I met Justin Beiber once!”. It’s laughter and actual entertainment, rather and cringing and hiding behind your hands whilst the judges snipe bitterly at one another. They are coaches not judges, and they pull off the ‘trying to win’ aspect in an entirely more genuine way than the over dramatised ego-inflated X Factor ever could.
(5) TOM JONES - Enough said.
(+1) AND FINALLY... - A distinct lack of Simon Cowell.
The Voice of Holland originally aired in the Netherlands in 2010 and a US version of The Voice aired last year with a panel including Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green and Adam Levine.
Other countries including the Ukraine, Belgium, Mexico, Portugal, the Republic of Ireland and more have all developed their own versions. The UK version of The Voice is headlined by coaches Tom Jones, Will.I.Am, Jessie-J and Danny O’Donoghue, with presenters Reggie Yates and Holly Willoughby handling the before and after interviews of the acts.
The Voice airs on BBC1 Saturday at 7.00pm. Tune in and try it. I will be for as long as it is makes me laugh more than it is making me cringe.
You can read more about and catch up on The Voice here at the BBC webpage and check out the wiki page for The Voice to see how much of a global phenomenon (not to mention threat to the X Factor) it is becoming.
