Sing Like No One's Watching

     The Voice is back for its third season and better than ever! With its new premier in fall this year, it’s ready for some serious talent. The four spinning chairs, phenomenal coaches, and humorous bickering over incredible singers are back yet again. This season promises to be exciting, talented, and full of new twists and surprises. With two great seasons under its belt, this show is ready to soar to all new heights.

      Produced by Mark Burnett, The Voice follows a simple set of rules. There are four coaches with the potential to add a strong singer onto their sixteen person teams, and all they have to do is press the big red button that sits tauntingly in front of them. All four chairs face away from the stage so that the coaches can hear the voices without seeing the contestant. Once they’ve hit their button, the floor tiles in front of them explode with a bright white light as their chair spins to face the contestant. If only one coach turns around then that singer is automatically placed on their team; however, if another coach spins at any point before the end of the song, then the singer gets to choose which team to be on after hearing each argument from the coaches. On the other hand, if no one turns around by the end of the song, that contestant does not get placed on any team, but the coaches still give them feedback before they leave the stage. 

    The coaches remain the same this season and for good reason. First off, Christina Aguilera, a sensational pop and soul artist, has been singing since she started at twelve on the Mickey Mouse Club House. Not to mention she’s won four Grammys, and one Latin Grammy! Next is, of course, Adam Levine, a high-pitched rock artist and lead singer of Maroon 5. He originally started as Kara's Flowers when he was younger, but has since blossomed into the well known group, Maroon 5. He and his band have earned themselves three Grammys so far. Then there is our third coach, Blake Shelton, a very well known country star and good friend of Adams. This six feet tall country singer has had quite a few hits, as well as winning three Country Music Awards along with various other awards. Last, but not least, is Cee Lo Green, a successful song writer, singer, and rapper. He’s most well known for his hit single “F**k You,” but he has done so much more, including creating the group known as the Goodie Mob until he left a few years later to pursue a solo career.  Each coach is unique allowing for a more diverse range of talents.

       

      Now with all four ready to go, they needed a way to start the season off right, so to kick off the night they pumped up the crowd with “Start Me Up” by the Rolling Stones. After the performance, they all sat down and relaxed in their big red chairs to begin. The first performance of this season came from a Scottish rocker, Terry McDermott, who got Cee Lo, Blake, and Adam to all turn around, and he eventually went with Blake as his coach. Next up was De’Borah, a soulful, colorful artist who sang “Hey Soul Sister” by Train and in the end chose Christina as her coach. Off to a great start, the coaches spun around once again just before Gracia Harrison walked off the stage. This bubbly blonde belted, “I Want to be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart” by Patsy Montana, and got all but Christina to turn around with her powerful yodeling. Blake and Adam battled it out trying to sway her onto their teams, and after hearing all of the arguments, she chose Blake for his southern charm and expertise. Sixteen-year-old Garrett Garcher was next to go up, but unfortunately no one turned around due to a lack of control in his voice. Afterwards was Devyn Delora who dared to sing Christina’s song “Ain’t No Other Man,” and said that singing this coaches song was, “Suicidal.” Fortunately, her voice was strong enough to bring the audience to life and left the coaches reeling to turn their chairs around first. Blown away by their reactions, she had a moment to stand in awe just before she chose to join team Christina. Hoping for a second chance, Daniel Rosa returned with “Someone That I Used to Know” by Gotye, and this time he got to join team Cee Lo after shedding a few tears and getting a hug from Adam. The night continued with a sweet girl from Jamaica, Anita Antoinette, who failed to get any of the coaches to turn around with “No Woman, No Cry” by Bob Marley. However, she did make them regret their decisions after she sang a more meaningful version a cappella. Moments later, Joe Kirkland, a college band backup singer, came out singing “Gives You Hell” by The All American Rejects and ended up with his fellow rocker Adam. The next segment of the show featured three more competitors who didn’t have what it took for the coaches to hit their buttons. To finish up the first night with a bang, Trevin Hunte, an eighteen-year-old powerhouse who grew up with people saying that he’d never amount to anything, walked nervously out on stage. As the music started and he began to sing his incredible version of “Listen” by Beyonce, not only did he prove all of them wrong, but he also made the coaches scramble to spin around. Stunned of what effect his voice had on the audience and judges, Trevin took a moment before he joined team Cee Lo. By the end of the night each coach had filled two spots on their sixteen person teams. 

      Overall, a lot of elements work well with this show. The part that makes the show a hit is having the chairs facing away from the stage. It’s simple, yet powerful; it takes away all potential bias and allows for all of the hopefuls to have a fair chance to be judges solely on their voice. Allowing the contestants to choose their coach, if more than one turns around, adds some suspense to the show that gets the viewer excited and invested. Structurally the show is very orderly and can begin to lean towards boring, but the creators were smart to choose the outgoing coaches to help with that. Because of the coaches being able to argue and bicker with each other, it makes the show a lot more comical and helps the viewer to see the comments made when there are no restrictions. Another great part of the show is the back-story it gives before each singer walks out on stage. It creates an emotional attachment between the viewer and the performer, which makes the viewer want to continue watching to see how far they make it in the competition. Even though there is so much of The Voice that is good and well thought out, there are some areas that could use improvement. 

      The greatest flaw is when the show allows professional singers, or at least were professionals at some point, to go on stage and compete. This gives them an unfair advantage over the others, and it would benefit the show to have contestants that have very little to no professional experience. Another minor error is the back-story. It’s necessary to have, but when it drags on for so long it loses the viewers’ interests and will at the very least make them think about watching something else. The last piece that can be repaired is the length of time it takes for a contestant to choose a coach. It starts out dramatic and gets the viewers guessing which coach they’ll choose, but then it continues to the point where they begin, if not completely, lose interest. 

     All in all I think this is a fantastic show that works with what the people watching want to see. It deserves to last many more seasons, and I believe it will continue to be a hit for as long as it airs. This show receives a ranking of four and a half out of five stars from me, and has definitely become one of my all time favorites.