The Voice Season 4

[Outcast]

Thought I'd start a thread for it as after watching the promos vids I decided for the first time to watch an entire season of this show:



Looks like it's gonna be a good season, I've always been a fan of Shakira and she is awesome in her new role so far, ditto for Usher. I hate Idol this season so I can't wait for The Voice to start.

[john]

I've watched bits and pieces of The Voice, mostly on YouTube. One thing I like about the show is that the singer has some choice (usually, I guess) with respect to their mentor. And the relationship between mentor and contestant seems more like a collaboration. I like the personalities and playfulness of the judges on the show.

I like the X-Factor set up the least -- where the contestants can get stuck with a mismatched mentor who might pick lousy songs and arrangements (e.g. as the XFactorUSA described it: " Britney Spears turned Carly Rose Sonenclar into a mini her in a school girl uniform for her performance of Flo Rida's "Good Feeling" at the first Live Show."). They also do annoying things like having mikes picking up screeching by audience members.

I will probably continue to just watch individual performances of singers from these various shows. But who knows.

[Outcast]

It starts tonight, yay! Idull has been boring me to death this season.

[mercfan3]

Watching a show with Usher on it made me feel like a 13 year old girl again....

He's still...nice to look at....and quite charming.

Shakira's adorable. And I always liked Adam and Blake. (although I wish country singers would pick someone other than Blake every time.)

Plus..watching a show with Carson Daly makes me feel like a 13 year old girl again.

[Tom22]

Remember.......They are NOT picking the BEST singers but BEST POTENTIAL they see as professional singers building a team!

That is key to keep in mind to enjoy the show.

Very key.. not to think.. "that person sang better, they should be picked"

The Judges/coache truly act as teachers an mentors each week with the same contestants.

The judges/coaches also walk the walk as they get up on stage and sing themselves almost every week.. sometimes twice in a week.

It gives pretty good credibility to see that they're pro's for a reason. You can hear how able they are at singing a duet in harmony or deft in turning the rhytym of a phrase etc.

The Coaches will often pass over someone with a good voice that puts a fully together performance and instead pick someone that performed a song with some clear flaws but with a stronger or more unique voice or style that they think they can make more special than the first.

Also, in the Knock out rounds.. the Coaches are NOT trying to create an EVEN playing field ... they are testing the attributes of each singer to see the they can stretch the way they hope they can and pick songs to stretch contestants.

They will often pick a contestant that seemed to perform slightly worse than the other on the song they chose because they were looking for specific things about how contestants handled it. They also judge heavily on how flexible and trainable the contestants were in practice.

So... only after the knock out rounds are over does it become a contest. Prior to that, it is a matter of a coach using their personal experience to fill spots on a team that they think they can develop to the best team by show time.

So, figure on witnessing professional singers practicing their trade and sharing some insights and the show will be great. If you 're looking for a tournament you'll be disappointed ...because that isn't what the show is. It is a team selection trials at arbitrary hoops designed to show traits they're interested in, then at the end, the typical fan preference contest with at least more viewer-voters who don't have the teen tastes.

[Outcast]

^Makes sense. You can't do any real work if you have nothing to work with (i.e. the vocalist doesn't need work).

[Outcast]

I enjoyed last night's episode. I haven't found a contestant to root for yet so I'm still more focused on the coaches at this stage.

The opening was awesome. Though it was a not so subtle stab at the fact that rock isn't represented on AI this season. And Usher on bass guitar rocked my world!

Shakira is my fave coach, I've always been a fan of hers but she is great at this, can she replace Christina permanently?

[Outcast]

I like that Sara girl with the raspy voice, love raspy voices. But why did she pick Adam? Ugh, she should've picked Shakira! Adam has the strongest team so far, BOO!

[mercfan3]

I liked the girl who sang in Spanish. Definitely thought she picked correctly though.

Shakira is hilarious on this show.

[Himm2]

I do like Shakira better than Christina & Usher better than CeeLo.