The Voice - season 1

I'm hoping Hulu has it to watch, as I had other shows that I taped last night...hearing good things about the format.

There are a lot of (former) Idol fans who love the new show.  The only turns offs are the (compared to Idol) byzantine collection of rules and the fact that the big gimmick (the blind vocal assessment) only lasts through the auditions.  Sure, they can call it "The Voice" now, but when the public starts to get a vote, they will probably need to rename it "The Penis Guitar".

BTW, that married couple?  They totally sucked.  Neither had a good voice and their harmonies were terrible and off-key.

The best so far is the 16 year old girl who sounds like a 40 year old woman.  Her vocals were amazing.

My favorite was the heavy set guy who got all 4 judges to turn around.

That guy reminded me of Mikey from Recess.

Rock Star Season 2 winner Lucas Rossi was supposed to be on this show... but he never made any air time.

Yeah, I figured at least one of Blake's men would be saved.

Hanson, they're called "blind auditions", so once people are chosen, why would the chairs still be facing away from the stage? Certainly the coaches know what everyone looks like by now, since they've been working with them personally. Feel free to turn your chair away from the TV if it makes you feel better.

I enjoyed all of the evening's performances, including the two numbers by the judges, which is something I don't think I have ever said about American Idol.  Overall, I think the performances on The Voice are better than AI.  The productions, including the lighting and video and band, are *definitely* better--there's simply no contest in that regard.

AI needs to stop tossing the band up stairs or tucking them in a pit like an orchestra.  Don't they realize that a lot of singers perform much better when they have the energy and power of the band behind them?  I also think AI needs to completely abandon any and all limitations on playing instruments.  I don't care if a judge or producer thinks it's a crutch, or if they would like to "just see them sing" for one week.  It's effectively telling an artist to change a piece of what makes them an artist, and it's just stupid.

Though Carson Daly is a terrible host--I mean the worst out of all the reality hosts--and the format needs a bit of fine-tuning, I think The Voice is a superior program to AI.

I was upset that Jeff Jenkins left the show in favor of Casey. 

I think the best judge on the show is C-Lo in terms of genuinely wanting the singers to succeed, providing good feedback, and choosing good songs for the contestants. I also think he made the right choices in who he selected to pass through to subsequent rounds.

I think Blake is the worst judge by far. I think the pairings and the songs he chose didn't showcase the contestants most of the time. 

Adam was the best in picking talent, but I think once he had Javier on his team,  he didn't really care much about other the other people he chose. He basically said it on TV tonight, that he wanted Javier in the finals, and he put him there despite the fact that he thought other singers might be on his level (in this case, Casey).

Christina seemed to just enjoy making snide comments to the other judges. Her team was very lackluster in terms of talent, except for Beverly.

I liked the premise of the show, (your voice gets you on the show).  I just wish that it maintained that premise throughout the show.  It seems like your voice is not as important as your stage presence, and overall performance on stage.  I think a lot of the best voices were eliminated because they did not perform as well as people like Beverly (who in my opinion does not have the greatest voice).

I could see the appeal of Dia's voice on her blind audition, but every song since then I questioned myself why I ever liked her.  I think people are more in love with her good looks than her voice.  I don't see the appeal of Vicci Martinez at all (looks or voice).

If I could rework this show, I would separate the coach/judge into two different people.  I would keep the judges turned around until the winning contestant is decided.  I don't like how a coach can pick a song that the contestant may be uncomfortable with, then judge them when they fail on that song.  As it stands right now, the show seems no different to me than American Idol.  It just seems like a popularity contest based on how the contestant looks and acts on stage.

....or I guess they should just change the name of the show, because "The Voice" implies that they are picking the best singer.