For me, The Voice is about a lot more than who advances and who gets eliminated. There’s a lot going on that doesn’t make headlines but makes for plenty of great memories.
In the first week of live shows we got a lesson in standing up for who you believe in and in the second week I got a surprise visit from the person I believe in more than any other (coach Adam Levine). So I asked myself, What the heck could possibly happen in week three?
Apparently, a lot. Possibly looking to ramp up the drama, NBC introduced “instant eliminations” at the end of the performance shows. In a nutshell, two people still go home each week, except one is now sent home by their coach instead of America and it happens on Monday instead of Tuesday. All this seemed to do was raise everyone’s stress level. Coach Blake Shelton was vocal in his dislike of the new rule and Team Christina’s Chris Mann called it “the worst thing we’ve done.”
That development and others led to plenty of controversy surrounding the show this week, to my chagrin. Whether it was Christina Aguilera‘s choice to eliminate the popular Jesse Campbell, or her risque outfit during Team Christina’s performance with their coach, or Blake having to part ways with Raelynn, or words being exchanged on Twitter again, there was a lot of drama. One of things I love about the show is that there isn’t too much drama, so it was a little hard to take. I’m hoping we get back to the positive next week, even as the stakes continue to rise.
However, there were a lot of good and fun things that happened this week as well. Here are my thoughts, in no real order:
- As a Maroon 5 fan, it was an incredible pleasure to be in the studio for the premiere of their new single “Payphone.” I have a hard time describing it, but when these guys get on stage it’s just something special and unlike any other live music experience I’ve ever had. And I’ve been lucky enough to be in the room for the premiere of both their singles, after I was also there for the premiere of “Moves Like Jagger” last season.
- The only thing cooler than being in the studio while Maroon 5 is playing is to be standing backstage with Maroon 5. It made my day when guitarist James Valentine remembered me from last year’s tour, said hi and high-fived me just moments before they went on stage.
- On Tuesday night I ended up standing next to The Wanted and later Justin Bieber. Not quite the same thing as I’m not a fan of either, but it was still neat. Especially because they were all coming over to say hello to the young lady in the wheelchair next to me. So I’m not a fan of either of their sounds, but I was impressed by that classy gesture.
- Pet peeve: the horde of teenage girls feeling the need to scream “We love you, Adam!” as he’s trying to make comments to an artist. I love him, too, but I don’t interrupt him and take away from the important stuff that’s happening on stage. Plz to confine your screaming to an appropriate time?
- Thanks to Chris Mann, I now finally understand the lyrics to Coldplay‘s “Viva La Vida.” One of the things I love about his performances is that he always enunciates.
- I am not normally a fan of big production numbers, but I will say that Team Christina’s performance of “Fighter” was very cool to see live. And to start it with a hilarious prank on Blake was even better.
- If you’re wondering how the coaches know when to stop talking, they have a 20-second clock in front of them that starts counting down the moment they’re cued by host Carson Daly.
- Now this instant elimination thing: I’m not a fan either. But I understand the coaches’ decisions, as much as I’ll miss both Jesse and Jordis Unga. It’s true that Jesse had a great voice, but it sounds like Christina was looking for people she could continue to work with going forward, and my guess is she thought she’d done all she could for him. While it is a competition, the coaches have all said more than once that they’re also concerned with being able to nurture talent.
- She may not have won this thing, but The Voice‘s Most Improved award goes to Team Christina’s Ashley de la Rosa. We really didn’t get to hear a lot of her in the beginning, but she busted out and became someone great by her exit. It was definitely the smartest decision yet for Christina to have saved her two weeks ago, because she changed a lot of opinions, Adam’s and mine included.
- I was surprised that Raelynn went home, but it only increased my respect for Blake as a coach. He didn’t pick the artist he had a soft spot for – he picked the one who gave the best performance Tuesday night. As it should be.
- Awkward moment of the week, part one: the audience warm-up guy decided to come over and interview me. While I chose not to ask to say hi to Adam (being that I was working and so was he), I did admit to being the honorary thirteenth member of Team Adam…which would have worked better if any of them had been sitting in the room next to me to support that claim. They were all in the Sprint Lounge. Whoops.
- (Sidebar: Besides, I ran into Adam’s tour manager and generally cool guy, Shawn Tellez, later on. I just asked him to tell Adam hello for me later. Shawn is a great guy, FYI, and I don’t think he gets enough credit which is why I’m mentioning him here.)
- Awkward moment of the week, part two: waiting to go back to the press room after taping, I was approached by a couple. The incredibly sweet woman told me I must be someone important since I was being interviewed. Um…
- Awkward moment of the week, part three: hearing from multiple people that they saw me this week on the local news. I still haven’t seen it.
- I got a bonus day working on The Voice this week as I had breakfast with the top 12 at NBC Universal’s summer press day. I’m minding my own business, eating my crepes, when I get group-hugged by Jamar Rogers, Juliet Simms and Mathai. I ended up getting hugged by almost everyone. That is an excellent way to start the day. I appreciate that I can spend time with the artists just as people…and that they’re happy to see me when I do.
- I want to give a particular shoutout to Jamar, who sat down with me and told me how he admires what I’ve accomplished. It was so lovely to hear that, especially from someone that I also think highly of. Those words stuck in my head all day. I wish that I had his positive energy. And I may have met his mom. I’m not really sure.
- Jermaine Paul informed me that Chris has pretty much taken over their shared bathroom.
- And I’m not gonna lie, it’s pretty cool when I’m waiting for a Voice panel to start and Blake Shelton spots me and waves at me.
See? There was a lot going on this week! But I also learned something pretty important that I want to share with you, dear readers. Follow me over to page two…
Photo Credit: NBC
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Greetings. Glad you got good responses to your column. I always look forward to reading your new installments.
We got to see a lot more of the dark side of the internet, this week. Like everyone else, I was shocked, but I thought Jesse handled his elimination with class, much more than some of those who supporting him. I also thought Christina articulated herself pretty well on Tuesday’s show. I’m glad Adam and Cee Lo got the chance to put her decision in its proper perspective, and that Cee Lo chimed in on some of the “flak” he’d received for his decisions, as well. He seems kind of discouraged and heavy-hearted. All of this does take away from the general positive vibe of the show, unfortunately.
I think the instant elimination is a negative gesture. It’s one thing to save someone, or to advance to the live show. It’s quite the opposite to single out someone to cut, and it came across to me as a shallow way to a) make the Monday performances more relevant, now that there’s a 2nd chance song on Tuesday, and b) add drama to the pure performance shows. By this time, everyone remaining is a strong talent in their own way and I, personally, liked the pure performance shows. I enjoy the music for its own sake, and these make great TV concerts.
*POST AUTHOR*
I agree with you – to me, the “instant elimination” idea just comes off as one more way the producers can manufacture more drama (and give those involved more stress). Hopefully they’re listening to the feedback from the artists and coaches.
There was definitely a dark side this week and it’s never fun to see that. I appreciated, though, that the other coaches were respectful of Christina. Other reporters asked them more than once to comment on her choice, and they never threw her under the bus even though I’m sure that’s what some of my colleagues were hoping they’d do.
I know Cee Lo once tweeted (since deleted) that he wanted to quit the show after the Erin Martin thing, and that just broke my heart.
But I appreciated the reminder that I guess we can do good things on the Internet just as much as not.
Not sure if you have access to Carson Daly (who’s a producer, this year), but there’s an obvious solution to their Monday-Tuesday dilemma: top vote getter is advanced AND bottom vote getter is eliminated by the audience; middle two singers get a 2nd chance song to be saved by their coach. Seems real easy to me, for next season.
*POST AUTHOR*
Funny you should mention Carson: I have never, in my year and a half of working on the show, formally met him.
But one of my good friends from this season is Justin Hopkins, who used to play in Carson’s house band. And I’m pretty sure this Tuesday Carson was pointing at me during one of the commercial breaks and he said something to me…but given the volume in the room, I have no idea. It was kind of funny and kind of cool.
One of these days, I’m going to have an actual conversation with that man.
Great post Brittany! I always look forward to your columns!
*POST AUTHOR*
Thanks Toni! Appreciate you reading.
I’m not sure how I’ve been missing these posts for the past few weeks, but now I’m all caught up. I totally agree with you. I’m getting tired of the negativity on the internet. I guess when people are anonymous they feel they can say anything, including stuff they would never say in person. There is a way to word it nicely while still putting forth your own opinion. I really, really hope that the contestants aren’t seeing any of the negative stuff that’s out there. I’ve stopped reading some reviews of The Voice for that very reason.
I didn’t like the “instant elimination” this week as it doesn’t seem to be keeping with the positivity of the show. I thought instead they should have an “instant save” on Monday nights. I love Carson Daly’s idea that the middle 2 singers get a chance to be saved. I hope you get a chance to talk to him. : )
That wasn’t Carson’s idea – it was mine. I was thinking, maybe Brittany might suggest it to Carson, if she crossed paths with him (which she hasn’t). (Maybe she could suggest my idea to Adam (or Blake), who could suggest it to Carson…?) I think Carson, in his blog, mentioned Adam’s observation that the singers were doing way better performances on Tuesday, when they were singing to be saved, than on Monday, so the thinking must have been to inject the same level of danger into the Monday performances.
Oops. Sorry about that, MoSolomon. I totally missed that. Serves me right for reading too fast. So I should correct myself and say that I love your idea about the 2 middle singers getting a chance to be saved. Hopefully, somebody out there will read this or perhaps Brittany will be able to pass your idea on. Too bad they can’t get rid of the “instant elimination” next week, but that wouldn’t be fair to Teams Blake and Christina.