Awesome thoughts on NBC's "The Voice"

Yep. It happened. I started up this nonsense (read: blogging) again.

I'll skip the boring back story of what's been going on since my posts in 2008. No one cares about that (particularly as I have no readers or followers at this time). Let's get right to it then.

"The Voice". It's the by-product of NBC's belief that television is not yet over-saturated with singing competition reality shows (also reality shows in general), and the dollar signs their executives have constantly spinning round their eyeballs. Alas, I am a sucker for watching not-famous people sing, so I'm at least giving it a shot.

It is a little different than most shows of its kind (though whether or not I'd call it "refreshingly" so is another matter). It's actually a competition between the stars/judges/coaches as well as the actual performers. The coaches are each to choose a team of 8 performers that will compete against the other coaches and their teams. They create their teams by listening to the performers with their backs turned. If they like what they hear, they press a button/buzzer, turn around and meet their newest team member face-to-face. If multiple coaches do so, then the performer gets to decide for themselves the coach with which they'd like to work. It's a significant change from traditional singing contests in that it's not just the "new talent" that's competing; it's the judges as well.

I say "new talent" (think air quotes, people) because the other way in which this show greatly differs from others of its class is that the contestants aren't amateurs. I won't get into that much further, but you can read more about it here.

The judges are an interestingly varied sort: Christina Aguilera, Cee lo Green, Blake Shelton and Adam Lavigne. They're all stellar in their own right. Does that make them decent coaches?

• Christina Aguilera: She seems rather dis ingenuous ("dis ingenuous" is such a kick-ass thing to say), which is disappointing for someone with so much talent. She lends to the show her own brand of "campy."
  
• Cee lo Green: I love this guy. He's cooler than Randy Jackson, and his voice is far too addicting for my own good.
  
• Blake Shelton: Outstanding country performer, and (surprisingly) the most outwardly aggressive and competitive coach. He's probably the funniest. Also, he's a pretty tall guy.
• Adam Lavigne: Right off the bat, he admits that he's not as good a singer as some of the contestants. What a fantastic observation. I'm glad he agrees with me. He's also the pickiest of the judges, really hesitant to vie for a contestant unless he's truly blown away by his/her voice. That gives him a nice edge over the other judges, and he nabbed what is in my opinion some of the more talented contestants. It is noteworthy, however, that he apparently has not heard "Bless the Broken Road" before and somehow figures this gives him license to proclaim that some nasally schmuck could sing it better than Gary LeVox >.> This is fail. Dense fail. Neutron star fail.
  

Should we talk about the host? It's Carson Daly. Meh. But at least he's not as intrusive and ridiculous as Ryan Seacrest (seriously, when are they going to stop paying that guy for sucking up my oxygen?).

I'll give the show props for not capitalizing on the humiliation, tears and inherent hilarity of watching terrible singers perform and get run through by the harsh let downs of their idols. The chemistry between the judges is a bit off, and there are some contestants that are just truly underwhelming, but it's got an interesting enough premise in its break from the singing competition norms. I'm not at all hooked, but not entirely turned off. Guess we'll see where it goes from here.

One more thing: the show gets props for introducing me to the most bitching 'fro I've ever seen.

Seriously, look at that shit. Dude has gotten soooooo much more play than you.

[insert witty sign-off here]