I have to admit, I wasn't that excited about watching the third season of The Voice when the fall TV season kicked in.
First, I wasn't sure how I felt about NBC's decision to air the reality show twice a year, fearing that I'd get sick of it, instead of anticipating its annual spring outing against American Idol. Although I did guess that they didn't want The X Factor US to be the only high profile singing competition in the fall prime-time lineup.
And second, I felt that the The Voice's second season wasn't as compelling as its freshmen run. So, I was apprehensive that I could end up actually dropping it from my TV viewing list.
Except that I'm a fan of Maroon 5, thus a fan of Adam Levine, and Marvin's man-crush Blake Shelton, so I figured that I might as well just get it over with and see if watching their banter is worth the potential disappointment (well, aren't I the pessimist).
Considering how NBC decided to hinge their entire fall programming strategy around The Voice, I should have realized that they would have found ways to improve on their just-okay sophomore run.
The Voice retained its signature blind auditions and battle rounds, but its creators or producers made the all important decision to add new elements to the show. And I found these elements to be largely rewarding as an audience member and fan of the reality singing competition genre.
The first element was the steal that the coaches could perform during the battle rounds. After a coach chooses a winner, the other coaches have the option to steal the round's loser. This was particularly exciting because the coaches have a chance to steal the contestants that they previously wanted but lost out to others or have missed out on pressing their buttons for. The steal was also a great way to overcome a fatal flaw of the battle rounds, which can be the cause of losing great contestants when two equally compelling performers were pitted against each other.
The second element was the knockout rounds, which was held after the battle rounds. The coaches have to decide once again on which two contestants in their team would have to out-sing each other. Unlike the battle rounds wherein the contestants have to sing a duet chosen by their coaches, however, the knockout rounds involves both acts singing songs that they've chosen, giving their coach and the audiences an idea about the type of music that they consider themselves to be making in the future. It also gave audiences more time to become more familiar with the contestants, especially since the third season of The Voice still incorporated the elimination of at least two contestants per episode in the live rounds.
The third very important element about the latest season of The Voice is the fact that the judges were no longer guaranteed to have a contestant during the finals. This means that last spring's travesty of having to choose between Juliet Simms and Jamar Rogers (who were both better than the other coaches' finalists) from Team Cee Lo would never be repeated. And with the finals only featuring the top three contestants, there's at least one coach who would be left out of the running at the end of the season.
These elements made the stakes higher for the coaches and more exciting for the audiences to watch. I was sold the moment the coach's steal was announced, appreciated the opportunity the knockout rounds gave for me to know the contestants better, and relieved that they addressed the various flaws of the previous seasons. The Voice was officially back on my must-watch list.
Even the coaches seemed to be revived by the new elements, with Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Cee Lo Green and Christina Aguilera giving the audiences their great signature banter once again. Heck, I even enjoyed Christina Aguilera's part in the show, since she became more gracious and less of a sourpuss (though not completely rid of the quality) when things don't go her way. And by the way, kudos to Carson Daly for his mega improvement over the last three seasons. I've griped before about how sleepy and awkward he seemed during his hosting stint in the series, but I have to admit that he's now more energetic, finally engages in banter (even witty banter, at times), showcases humor, and actually have a great chemistry with the contestants.
This season's batch of contestants were also stellar and definitely more memorable. I know I'm watching a good reality singing competition TV series if I can't immediately decide who I want to win it, because I end up enjoying more than one performance every week.
While I can't begrudge those who ended up in the finale week, I do have to lament the loss of certain contestants.
- If we're talking about sheer talent and daring choices, I would have pegged Amanda Brown to be the overall winner. All her performances since the battle rounds were epic, with the exception of her cover of "Spectrum", which was all kinds of messy. I think I'll be listening to her rendition of "Paris (Ooh La La)", "Someone Like You", "Stars" and "Here I Go Again" over their original artists' version for a long time. But if we're talking best of season contenders, then you have to watch her live performance of "Dream On". I can go over how each performance is earth shattering and epic, but it's better if you watch it yourself. Come on, the woman held her own in a live performance with Ne-Yo, instead of looking like a back up singer (which happens a lot in The Voice) or a starstruck contestant.
- De'Borah would have to be Christina Aguilera's biggest mistake. I mean, how could you choose to save Adriana Louise and her tremulous rendition of "Firework" over De'Borah's emotionally charged "Who Knew"? I may not be a Grammy winning artist, but I at least know that somebody who could sing "You Found Me" and "Message in a Bottle" the way De'Borah did deserved to make it past the first week of live performances.
- While I'm not sure if she could have made it all the way, but I would have picked Nicole Nelson over Loren Allred during the knockout rounds if I were Adam Levine. Unfortunately, Nicole's crystal clear tone was apparently lacking compared to the one glory note Loren was able to muster during their sing-off. Unfortunately for Adam, he lost a great contender who was stellar in her renditions of "Hallelujah" and "If I Ain't Got You". No Adam, a single, lone, isolated big moment does not trump talent like that.
- I'm blaming America on this one... how could you not vote for Michaela Paige and her awesome renditions of "Everybody Talks" and "Blow Me (One Last Kiss)" ?
Since Christina Aguilera isn't coming back next season, I won't complain too much about how she hurt her own contestants' chances by being so obviously reluctant to give compliments to other teams. Nor would I complain about how the coaches tend to be overtly generous with their compliments, even when they are not deserved. What I won't hold back on, though, is this... NBC, could you please just bring back Alison Haislip as your social media correspondent? I swear, if I hear Christina Milian say "Heeeyy... What's up, Carson?" one more time, I'd throw something at my TV. And I love my TV. A lot.
All in all, The Voice had a strong third season run and is kicking The X Factor US second season's ass in many aspects. I'm also pretty happy with the season's winner. While I wasn't a fan of Cassadee Pope and the show's penchant for over-hyping her, she did live up to that hype and gave stellar performances. I think I teared up when she sang "Over You" and "Stupid Boy". "Over You", in particular, was what made me a fan and made me realize that there is truth to her coach words that she does very well in telling stories through songs. It was hard to not be caught up in the moment, especially when she
raises her arm to punctuate the glory notes that she released throughout
the competition. Even if I believe that Blake Shelton's likability gave her a major boost, I also believe that Cassadee was a deserving winner in her own right.
Come spring 2013, Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green will be leaving the series, making way for new coaches Usher and Shakira. If they can be as good as coaches as they were funny in the first ad spot for the upcoming fourth season of The Voice, then I think that all will be well in the reality singing competition front next year.
And their rivalry with American Idol will be epic.
Happy viewing!!Labels: Must-Watch, NBC, Reality, Singing Competition, The Voice, TV, TV Series
