[NEWS] WHY 'THE VOICE' IS HITTING THE HIGH NOTES

The Voice is suddenly on a hot streak - the kind of streak reserved for lightning-in-a-bottle pop-cultural phenoms that elevate hope and talent over hype and humiliation. The kind of streak that suddenly threatens to cast American Idol in the shade.

How is The Voice better than American Idol? Let me count the ways.

. The Voice has coaches, not judges. Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine, and country vocalist Blake Shelton have a vested interest in the success of their 12 chosen team members.

. The Voice auditions focus on performing ability; American Idol auditions focus, as often as not, on humiliation and the vocal train wreck. The Voice's contestants are chosen in advance, based on their singing ability; Idol's contestants are chosen from whoever walks in the door.

. The Voice is tailored to the individual performer's chosen field of singing. American Idol forces contestants into a box. This week, disco, next week, power ballads, the week after that, duets with Pauly Shore. The Voice simply asks: Do you have a good voice? Good. Now show us how good. And do it your way.

. The Voice's coaches are singers themselves. They're working in the industry now, and their music is contemporary, relevant and on the song charts. Shelton is on tour now, with his finalist from The Voice last season, Dia Frampton.

. The Voice is changeable and adaptable to shifts in musical tastes and tracking trends. American Idol is locked into more of a stiff format. The Voice bends and moves with the times; American Idol is trapped in the past. The Voice is karmic; American Idol is dogmatic.

. The Voice is inclusive. Last season, two of the four finalists were openly gay, and no one cared. American Idol appears uncomfortable with the subject, at least during the competition phase. (One theory holds that, because Idol's core fan base lies in the conservative, U.S. red states, alternative lifestyles are deliberately downplayed on the show.)

. The Voice makes no secret of the fact that many of its contestants have previous experience in the recording industry. In some cases, they've had record deals, only to be dropped by their label over time. American Idol, on the other hand, likes to pretend its contestants fell off the back of a turnip truck, even though some of them have experience, too.

. The coaches are expected to be themselves, not play TV versions of themselves. Levine is high-energy, uptempo, combative, sarcastic and outspoken. He's all about the music, not the fame. As he told me last month, "I trust this show more than I trust the business," when it comes to finding new talent. Green is soft-spoken and watchful; he listens more than he talks. Aguilera is effusive and open-hearted, but also given to moments of reflection and introspection. And Shelton, who some Voice insiders have tabbed as the standout coach, is as much about nurturing and encouragement as he is about album sales and tour dates.

TV-reality competitions are not quite the same as real-world talent contests. They're designed for TV, for one; the talent part is secondary. They have to deal with issues of pacing, suspense, empathy and old-fashioned storytelling. They work best - as TV shows - when there's an element of challenge and overcoming the odds, and self-affirmation. There has to be a rooting interest, and a reason to watch other than mild curiosity about who will win in the end. There has to be a reason for viewers to come back, week after week. And when talent alone won't do it - some Idol seasons are stronger than others - there's always engineered drama.

The Voice has its share of contrived drama. Every second contestant, it seems, is an HIV-positive recovering addict or a 50-something lifelong music devotee looking for that one last shot at fame and stardom.

On Idol, though - especially this season - the contrived drama has overwhelmed the singing, at times.

There was no need, for example, to shamelessly keep replaying the moment when a 16-year-old fell off the stage during Idol's Hollywood audition phase. Contestant Symone Black, already suffering from dehydration, took a tumble off the front edge of the stage after performing a credible rendition of Otis Redding's Sitting on the Dock of the Bay. There was no need to show the accident what seemed like 67 times - no need, that is, except ratings and the fact that, thanks to the magic of video editing in the digital age, the moment could be packaged and used as a teaser for nearly two hours, followed by an episode-ending cliffhanger. Was she hurt? Did she injure her back? Will she ever sing again? Tune in tomorrow to find out.

Idol has now reached the audience knockout phase. A dozen contestants remain, following last week's systematic mauling of Adele songs. Idol will dial back on the engineered drama, in theory, from here on in and let the singers take over.

There's an inescapable feeling, though, that this year's field is weaker than in some past seasons, despite the judges' constant crowing about how this is "the best group ever!" It didn't help Idol's cause that Interscope Geffen A&M chairman Jimmy Iovine told one contestant last week that his "shtick" was getting old and that the show is called American Idol, not American Comedian.

Iovine remarked that another contestant was screechy and annoying, and said of one performance - which got a standing ovation from judges Randy Jackson, Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez - that it was cheesy.

Meanwhile, The Voice has wrapped its sensational blind-audition phase - the search for the mystery voice - and is now in the so-called "battle rounds," where the coaches assign a pair of singers in their teams to perform a duet, and choose the singer most likely to advance. The singers will be helped in their task by guest mentors: Lionel Richie and Jewel with Aguilera's group, Kelly Clarkson and Miranda Lambert with Shelton's group, Ne-Yo and Babyface Edmonds with Green's group and, perhaps most intriguing, Alanis Morissette and Robin Thicke with Levine's group.

Levine told Anderson Cooper recently that he's angling to get Kanye West involved with his group. Not so long ago, the very suggestion would have been laughable. Now, not so much. The Voice is suddenly serious business.

And music to the ears. The Voice has risen lately in the ratings, where American Idol has dropped.

For once, though, the bottom line is not just about the bottom line.

The Voice is simply the better show, pure and simple.

The Voice is more relevant, more meaningful, more compelling and more entertaining right now, because it's good to listen to, not just fun to watch.

Source: TheStarPhoenix

[NEWS] THE JUDGES OF 'AMERICAN IDOL' BANNED FROM MENTIONING 'THE VOICE'!

Is there a cutthroat competition brewing between ‘American Idol’ and ‘The Voice’? HollywoodLife.com has learned exclusively that ‘AI’ producer Nigel Lythgoe is ordering the show’s judges not to utter the words ‘The Voice’ under any circumstances!

It sounds like Nigel Lythgoe wants American Idol viewers to stay focused on his reality singing competition and not that other one on NBC.

We just learned that Nigel is mandating judges Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, and Steven Tyler to not use the term “The Voice” under any circumstances — and we can understand why.

The Voice is averaging 19.4 million viewers, while its Fox predecessor is averaging 18 million viewers.

Regardless, Nigel’s mandate seems to be in full effect; just last night on AI‘s March 7th episode, judge Steven Tyler referred to contestant Jessica Sanchez as “the one” among the Top 13 remaining hopefuls.

Source: HollywoodLife

[VIDEO] 'AMERICAN IDOL' CONTESTANT, HOLLIE CAVANAGH, PEFORMS 'REFLECTION'

[SMART-PHONE FRIENDLY]

[NEWS] 'THE VOICE' SINGS LOUDER THAN 'AMERICAN IDOL' IN THE RATINGS

Barring a surprise with Thursday's American Idol, this week's telecast of The Voice will rate higher with adults 18-49 and total viewers than American Idol. Monday's two-hour installment of The Voice drew a 6.0 adults 18-49 rating and and a smidgen over 16 million viewers. Last night's two-hour American Idol scored a 5.1 rating with adults 18-49 and 15.88 million viewers in the preliminary ratings. It's likely Idol will be adjusted up a tenth or two in the final numbers, but there's no chance it will overtake The Voice this week with adults 18-49 (though there's a good shot it will work its way into a virtual tie).

So now 'The Voice > Idol" meme ensues, and I'd guess in one fashion or the other we'll see those comparisons for a while regardless of what happens. Some have asked me if I am surprised by American Idol's ratings. I tend to ignore the intra-week machinations but barring a turnaround it does appear that American Idol will be down for the season than the typical ~10%-15% annual year over year declines that always have happened. That's a little surprising since This has led some to opine that there is singing show saturation where adding The X Factor and having both hurts both Idol and The X Factor. That's perhaps a reasonable thing to speculate, but it's impossible to quantify. To be a contrarian I'd have to ask "if there is singing show saturation, why is The Voice doing better than The X Factor, and at least this week, even better than Idol? The easiest explanation to me is that for whatever reason, people just like The Voice more than The X Factor and at least this week more than American Idol (at least in live and same night DVR viewing).

But I'm much more surprised that The X Factor didn't perform better than I am by Idol being down. With a major overhaul underway, it will be interested to see what happens with The X Factor next season.

But what surprises me the most is the interest in ratings for The Voice. It's rare that we ever got much interest in Idol's ratings (Simon leaving did generate more interest in Idol's post-Simon ratings last season though). There's almost never much interest in unscripted show ratings, so that wasn't a surprise. But there is interest in The Voice's ratings and that's backed up by both qualitative data in the comments, and quantitative data in our site stats. I'm not sure if it's just a case where we were already around when The Voice launched where is Idol was on for years before we launched, or bewilderment that something besides the NFL is performing so well on NBC.

For and against, people are interested in The Voice. There seems to be the perfect storm where there are an equal number of anti-fans who will proclaim "See, I knew it. The Voice is doomed!' if it drops to a 5.5 adults 18-49 rating next week.

Source: TVByTheNumbers

[NEWS] ALL FOUR COACHES ARE RETURNING FOR THIS FALL'S SEASON 3 OF 'THE VOICE'

All four "Voice" judges will return to the NBC hit for a third season that will air -- for the first time -- in the fall, TheWrap has learned.

TheWrap reported previously that Christina Aguilera had agreed to return for $10 million for the season.

Now, Cee-Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton have all agreed to return as well, all with substantial pay raises, according to two individuals close to the negotiations. They have arranged their schedules for a fall debut, which NBC is preparing to announce shortly.

The individuals said that Green, Levine and Shelton will see their pay roughly doubled to $6 million.

Also read: Christina Aguilera Re-Ups for 'The Voice,' New Season May Air in the Fall

A spokeswoman for NBC said that the judges were not settled upon yet. "No final decisions have been made," she told TheWrap.

Representatives for the judges declined to comment or did not immediately return calls for comment Thursday.

But insiders told TheWrap that Levine of "Maroon 5" had been holding out because of the scheduling issue. He and his band have an album nearing completion, and tour dates and promotion of the album had to move to accommodate the show's move to the fall.

"The Voice" was a breakout midseason hit for NBC when it debuted in April 2011. This season, the show -- which has aired three episodes -- has the highest averaging ratings on television. It averages an 8.4 rating/21 share in the crucial 18-49 demographic and 21.3 million viewers overall. It owes that average largely to huge ratings for the premiere, which aired in the plum spot after the Super Bowl.

TheWrap previously reported that NBC was considering moving the show to the fall. Now, with the agreement to bring back the four-judge panel, that decision has been made, according to knowledgeable individuals.

The network is expected to announce the decision in the next two weeks.

That scheduling decision would have the show, now a midseason hit, airing at the same time of year as Fox's "X Factor."

Source: TheWrap

[SCAN] ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: "BETTER THAN 'IDOL'" ('THE VOICE')

[NEWS] 'THE VOICE' TOPS VETERAN, 'AMERICAN IDOL' IN RATINGS

Is "American Idol's" reign over after 11 seasons?

The Wed., Feb. 8 show earned a 6.0 rating in the advertiser's coveted 18-49 demographic, which was not enough to beat NBC's "The Voice" this week.

On Mon., Feb. 6, "The Voice" pulled in a 6.7 rating in the demographic and 17.7 million viewers total. But the Feb. 8 "Idol" episode -- the first edition of Hollywood Week -- did beat out "The Voice" in total viewers with 18.9 million.

But "The Voice" is closing the gap. Last week, "Idol" had a 6.0 rating in the demo and 18.5 million viewers.

In terms of total viewers in the key 18-49 demographic, 7.7 million viewers tuned into "Idol," while "The Voice" had 8.5 million viewers.

The battle between the two reality series has been brewing since "The Voice" entered the scene in 2011. Earlier this week, "Idol" executive producer Nigel Lythgoe told The Hollywood Reporter that though the competitive NBC series has a "fun format," "they need stronger talent -- we'll see.

It was that same argument that "Idol" stars and crew used at the Television Critics Association press tour in January to bash "The Voice." According to TVGuide.com, Longtime "Idol" judge Randy Jackson said:

"'Idol' is still the best TV show that's come on anywhere ... We're the original. We kind of invented this whole game that everybody's now copying -- and I say that they're copying it, right? ... The winner of 'The Voice,' I will remind you, [Javier Colon] was an artist who had a deal at Capitol Records for several years, a failed contract … That show was almost 'second chance people.'"

Adam Levine, "The Voice's" judge-coach who helped lead Colon to victory fired back on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" early in February via EW.com:

"Shame on Randy Jackson for saying that. Because he of anybody should know that if you're in this business, you need second, third, fourth and fifth chances. And so we love and embrace having that being part of the show ... It was an irresponsible thing to say that."

Spats aside, though "Idol" ratings have been slipping, Nigel Lythgoe told THR, "After 11 years, I'm thrilled with these ratings," adding: "Isn't it fantastic that we're still America's No. 1 show?"

The only question is: For how long?

"American Idol" airs Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 p.m. EST on Fox. "The Voice" airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on NBC.

Source: HuffingtonPost

[VIDEO] ELLEN'S INTERVIEW WITH CHRISTINA AGUILERA, ADAM LEVINE, AND BLAKE SHELTON

[SMART-PHONE FRIENDLY]

[VIDEO + PHOTO] SNEAK PEEK OF 'THE VOICE' COACHES ON 'ELLEN DEGENERES'

Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, and Blake Shelton drop by The Ellen DeGeneres Show on an episode airing Friday (February 3).

The celebrity coaches from The Voice reacted to unflattering comments American Idol judge Randy Jackson made about the NBC talent competition, insinuating it was a “second chance place”.

“Shame on Randy Jackson for saying that, because he, out of anybody, should know that if you’re in this business you need second, third, fourth and fifth chances,” Adam said. “So we love and embrace that being part of the show.”

“You know, God bless Randy. He was a working musician for a long time and had a lot of success and then the show Idol kind of blew him out of the water. And he is a household name now. It was an irresponsible thing to say that,” Adam continued.

[SMART-PHONE FRIENDLY]Source: JustJared

[NEWS] CHRISTINA AGUILERA REPORTEDLY MAKES AN UPWARDS OF $10 MILLION FOR 'THE VOICE'

Paula Abdul, Nicole Scherzinger and Steve Jones were all fired from "The X Factor" on Monday, according to individuals close to the show.

Fox and producers Fremantle and Simon Cowell were looking to make a clean sweep, according to those individuals, and are looking for new talent to replace the two judges and the host.

Said one of those individuals: "They survived this year, but it didn’t really work. So they’ve figured they have an opportunity to fix it.

"They expected Paula to be the goofy girl, and Nicole to be the pretty one. But Paula was so bad that it made none of it work."

A Fox spokesman confirmed the departures of Scherzinger and Jones, but could not immediately confirm Abdul's departure.

Part of the issue, the insider said, was that Fox chose to spend its money on an elaborate set and glitzy production values for the live show. By contrast, NBC's "The Voice" spent its budget on hiring top-shelf talent, including Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton.

Aguilera is said to be receiving upwards of $10 million per season for "The Voice." One insider told TheWrap that Abdul was receiving only $1 million for a season of "The X Factor."

Jones confirmed his exit on Twitter.

Scherzinger, the lead singer of The Pussycat Dolls, replaced original "X Factor" judge Cheryl Cole, who was dismissed from the show in May 2011.

The show has scored admirable ratings, but hasn't lived up to creator Cowell's expectations. He said last summer he hoped it would top "American Idol" as the country's top-rated show, but it failed to climb from the roughly 12.49 million viewers who watched its September launch. Indeed, "X Factor" earned only half of his former show's ratings in its first season, which wrapped in December.

The show stirred buzz for certain episodes -- most notably the Dec. 8 live results show when teen contender Rachel Crow unexpectedly got the boot -- but "X Factor" viewership fell to as few as 8.51 million.

Scherzinger was knocked for indecisiveness, especially when she refused to make a crucial ruling on which of two contenders should go home. Abdul was largely a peacemaker this go-round, and had few of the sparks she displayed with Cowell on "American Idol." Instead, Cowell feuded with new judge L.A. Reid.

"X Factor" has averaged a 4.2/12 rating among Adults 18-49 and 12.4 million total viewers last season, close to the ratings of NBC's new singing competition, "The Voice."

"The Voice" returns to the airwaves on Feb. 6. "X Factor" hopes to have replacement talent locked in by April, according to the insider.

Source: VancouverSun

Editor's Note:

Christina Aguilera actually makes more money per episode than her Pop music peer, Jennifer Lopez. Lopez reportedly makes $20 million dollars per season of American Idol, which spans about 39 episodes. Aguilera's 'upwards of $10 million dollars' for The Voice spanned 17 episodes for season one. Mathematically speaking, $20 million dollars divided by 39 episodes of American Idol puts Lopez at $512,820 thousand dollars per episode. $10 million dollars divided by 17 episodes of The Voice puts Aguilera at $588,235 thousand dollars per episode. Let's pretend The Voice wants to extend it's season by doubling the amount of episodes from season one. 17 plus 17 equals 34 episodes which is 5 short of Idol's 39 episodes. What does this mean? Idol is trying too hard. Relevant much? Flop, what? #StayPressedHaters

Credits: Sodaclub

[NEWS] TCA: WHY 'THE VOICE' ISN'T 'X FACTOR' OR 'AMERICAN IDOL'

The executive producer and stars (or coaches) of NBC’s The Voice had no problem distinguishing their show from the glut of singing competition shows dotting the television landscape.

The show usually makes a big deal about its blind auditions, the item that makes them the most obviously different from other competitions and Friday's TCA session was no different. But, they also touched on something that makes them especially different: The fact that they don't even air the bad auditions.

"The idea of finding people who couldn’t sing and making a mockery of someone" isn't the show's style, executive producer Mark Burnett says and the show's stars firmly back him up on that.

“We all told them we’re not signing up for this show if it’s about ridiculing someone or mocking talent,” said Christina Aguilera, in a thinly veiled swipe at Fox’s American Idol and X Factor.

“Essentially this show is about artist development,” added Cee Lo Green.

And Adam Levine explains that the talent level definitely makes the critiques different, as well. There's a difference between being critical and just willfully mean. The talent level, especially this year is pretty high that you can be honest and say, 'This isn’t your best' rather than they suck."

At the same time, Burnett knows that fans have been trained by its competition to expect the conflict that bad talent and judges' comments bring to a show such as this one. He says that's replaced on The Voice with the idea of superstar judges begging unknowns to join their teams and competing against each other throughout the competition.

The Voice has become a bright spot for basement-dwelling NBC. And the network will bow the second season of the show Feb. 5 after NBC’s telecast of the Super Bowl, giving The Voice a monster lead-in that will expose the show to millions of potential new fans and likely juice the show’s season tune-in average for the entire season.

Still, executive producer Mark Burnett declined to speculate on the show’s sophomore season ratings predictions. “I’ve had shows that have done phenomenally well and shows that haven’t done well. I’m not that good at predictions.”

Asked if he learned anything from Simon Cowell’s overblown ratings forecast for the premiere of The X Factor, Burnett bluntly replied: “I’m hoping the lesson learned there is say less about your big predictions. I’m not that good at predictions.”

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

[NEWS] 'MOVES LIKE JAGGER' & 'THE VOICE' NAB A 'PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD'

CLICK TO VOTE

Credits: Sara

[CALENDAR] 2009 & 2010 UPCOMING APPEARANCES UPDATES

NEW DATES!

17. September 2009 Christina's Project Runway episode “What A Woman Wants”

17. September 2009 Alma Awards (possibly)

24. September 2009 VARIETY celebrates “Power Of Women”. Christina receives honor.

September 2009 Christinas PSA advertising spots to the world hunger assistance goes on transmission.

September/October 2009 new Perfume of Christina “By Night"

October/November 2009 Christina performs on “The X-Factor” (possibly)

November 2009 publication of its new album, Amazon writes 27.11.09 (officially still no confirmation)

November 2009 at the beginning of the shootings to “Burlesque”

2010 Christina as guest Judge with American Idol

2010 Christina's next tentative world tour

2010 June guest appearance in the film “GET Him to The Greek”

[NEWS] CHRISTINA TO MAKE A GUEST APPEARANCE ON AMERICAN IDOL

Editor's Note: I was not aware that Christina is going to be on American Idol this season 2010!!! How did I miss this news?!!

Katy Perry joins an illustrious list of guest judges on this season's American Idol including Mary J Blige, Shania Twain, Joe Jonas, Christina Aguilera and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham.



Katy will be presiding over the final two days of auditions this week in Los Angeles alongside regular judges Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi as the contestants battle it out for the last few "Golden Tickets" to the second stage of the show in Hollywood.



American Idol returns in the US for its ninth season in January 2010 on FOX.

Source: EMI