TV Gripes: Be Still My Beating Heart!

I’m not usually captivated by trailers and promo clips but when, during The Voice finale, NBC previewed the clip for SMASH— which seems to be based around the production of a musical about Marilyn Monroe and the team’s search for a star to play the lead role— there was no doubt that I would be watching. I love musicals and the idea that I will be able to see one every week for weeks at a time gives me the tingles. And, the potential leads (Katherine McPhee of American Idol fame and Megan Hilty of Wicked fame) both have actual talent so I anticipate that there will be some great musical numbers coming out of that show. With such a cast of esteemed actors and Steven Spielberg at the helm, SMASH can only be a hit. January can’t get here fast enough!

TV Gripes: Yes, I'm Still Watching The Voice

Since it premiered back in April, I have been faithfully tuning into NBC’s The Voice week after week, not because I was so enamored with the hodgepodge concept but because it’s taken me this long to decide whether or not I want to continue watching. Convoluted, I know. With American Idol, I knew that things would become dull after the auditions round but with all it’s gimmicks, The Voice manages to keep things fresh and interesting. Still, while they are the very things that I previously used to recommend The Voice, I’ve been finding myself less than impressed with the “talent” displayed by the contestants as the competition wears on. The performances didn’t suck entirely but neither did they prompt me to run to YouTube for a replay the next day. They were simply okay, not great. The judges continue to be an interesting factor and I enjoy the bromance and flirty banter whizzing back and forth but frankly, they give effusive praise where none is warranted. Without fail. This is becoming annoying. And, they don’t always make the right (read: my) choices when selecting who they want on their teams. But what I find most puzzling is that after the chair-turning gimmick and elaborate staging with the boxing ring, producers of The Voice could not manage to pull out another of their tricks and fit 8 performances into an hour-long show instead of stretching it out over two long hours. I understand why they would do this but it doesn’t make me any more appreciative. Still, after last night, I have decided to fully embrace the crazy that is The Voice. Last night I bore witness to true talent and am eager to see how far my picks for the final showdown will progress over the course of the competition.

I’ve always felt that Adam Levine had the strongest team and after listening to their group rendition of “A Little Help From My Friends” that opinion has not changed, although the backing gospel choir probably did more for that than Adam and the actual competitors. However, strong as Team Adam is one of Cee Lo’s charge, Vicci Martinez, clearly stole the show with her performance of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”. Talk about raw! This girl clearly knows her talent and how to use it to engage the audience. Each team has at least one person with an interesting voice (Beverly from Christina’s team; Xenia from Blake’s team, Casey from Adam’s team, and Vicci from Cee Lo’s team) and if that was enough to win competitions, they would be the last four standing near the end of the competition. Since it isn’t, we cannot discount Javier Colon who, as Adam puts it, has amazing range (and is one of my picks for the final round) nor Jeff Jenkins and Nakia, both of whom have powerful, if not entirely unique, voices. Everyone has something to recommend them and that makes for good competition.

At this point in the competition, Both Team Christina and Team Blake have the two competitors I expected in Beverly and Frenchie and Dia and Xenia respectively so no surprise there. Cee Lo and Adam and have a tendency to go left when you expect them to go the other way so it is harder to predict who they’ll have at the end but I’ll go with the obvious in suspecting that Vicci and Nakia will represent Cee Lo while Javier and Jeff (with Casey Weston as a dark horse to win America’s votes) will stand for Adam. I’m not sure what the next gimmick will be after this round but I will be tuning in next week to see if my predictions bear fruit. However it shakes down, I expect to see Vicci and Javier battling it out to be crowned The Voice. IMO, the other competitors just aren’t as ready to take a singing career to the next level.