[NEWS] 'THE VOICE' RECAP: THE SHTICK SUCCEEDED

During the premiere of The Voice last night, however, the bald, the "tall" (the show's euphemism-of-choice for overweight) and the painfully shy waltzed through on merit alone. One hot girl got scratched. Another hot girl cried happy tears at making it through for reasons other than being hot. A giant boy with a baby face sparked a bidding war between all four judges – the shtick here being that each celebrity judge blindly assembles a team of musicians to then coach to victory. Could this concept be the best Dutch import since tulips and Eddie Van Halen?

Then there was the bald lady, Beverly McClellan, a proud, 41-year-old lesbian who said that in the past she has shocked "teenagers and grandmothers" who hadn't realized bald ladies can sing. (Teenagers and grandmothers in question: Bald ladies are just ladies who don't have hair. They can sing. Pass it on.) At the topsy-turvy Voice studios, where up is down and bald is Pantene model, Adam Levine and Christina Aguilera fought hard to woo Beverly, who ended up buzzing off the high of getting to pick Christina.

'American Idol' Recap: Where Have You Been All Our Lives, Stefano?

They were the adversaries of the entire night: Adam and Christina, male pop vs. lady pop, brunet vs. platinum blonde. They secured their teams like dogs peeing on trees. Adam was crafty – a "wheeler-dealer," said Christina – stepping up his charm when it was clear he'd fallen behind the others' pace in collecting eight protégés. Meanwhile, Cee Lo Green cruised on the strength of his rep. He swiveled in his chair like a wise gnome, smiling when he lost a prospect, pleased when they came to him. The quietest of the celebrities – country sweetheart Blake Shelton – steadily racked up a solid cast of folksy, twangy types who knew what they wanted.

By the end, the coaches were tied at three apiece. Blake had recruited Patrick Thomas, a country crooner who proved his authenticity by wearing a cowboy hat; a folk duo called Elenowen who live in their parents' basement and look like models; and the adorable 16-year-old Xenia Martinez, who whispers her words with serious indie potential. Assessment: v. strong. Cee Lo won Vicci Martinez, powerful despite her tiny size; Kelsey Rey, the hot girl who wants to be judged only on her reed-thin voice; and Tje Austin, who, with his smooth control, reminded the judges of Cee Lo himself. Assessment: strong, but possibly boring. Adam, despite exuding the shakiest know-how of the bunch, managed to walk away with Jeff Jenkins, the kid everyone wanted; Rebecca Loebe, she of a Tori Amos disposition; and yet another singer everyone wanted, Javier Colon. Assessment: unbelievably strong. Adam is clearly a clever guy who deserves all the credit for the inexplicable success of Maroon 5.

As for Christina, for whatever reason – and gender theorists can probably supply plenty – she fell flat with the guys. She landed an all-woman team of Tarralyn Ramsey, Idol Nudie-Pic-Hall-of-Shamer Frenchie Davis and Beverly McClellan, the first two of whom sing a lot like Christina except not as well. Beverly, on the other hand, sings entirely like herself. She's raspy, loose and a proud, bald symbol of why this show could easily trump the others.

Source: RollingStone

[PROMO] 'THE VOICE' BLIND AUDITIONS ROUND TWO

[VIDEOS] SNEAK PEEK: 'THE VOICE' BLIND AUDITIONS ROUND TWO

[VIDEO] 'THE VIEW'S' WHOOPI GOLDBERG TALKS ABOUT 'THE VOICE' COACHES CHRISTINA & CEE LO

[TWEET] @SIAMUSIC: 'POWER VAGINAS...'

[VIDEO] 'EXPRESS' COVER BY: AXEELA

[VIDEO] 'THE VOICE' SEASON ONE, EPISODE ONE, BLIND AUDITIONS ROUND ONE [INTERNATIONAL]

[VIDEO] 'THE VOICE' FUNNY MOMENTS

[VIDEO] BROADWAY BEAT SPECIAL: 'EXPRESS' PERFORMANCE CLIP

GO TO 1:50 FOR A SHORT CLIP OF THE PERFORMANCE OF 'EXPRESS'

Credits: Jasy

[TWEET] @THEREALXTINA: 'ON @NBCTHEVOICE I COACH RISING STARS AT @WEFEEDBACK I GIVE...'

[NEWS] 'THE VOICE' REPEAT A RATINGS SUCCESS

With American Idol, Fox easily won the night with adults 18-49 and total viewers. American Idol’s 6.9 rating was down 3% from last week, but the recent typical final adjustments are likely to increase that. At 9:30pm, Breaking In was up a tenth of a point vs. last week to a 2.6 rating.

The only new episode on CBS Wednesday, Survivor: Redemption Island scored a series original low 3.0 adults 18-49 rating, down a tenth from last week.

On ABC, Better With You’s 1.5 adults 18-49 rating was down a tenth from last week tieing a series low. Cougar Town’s 2.1 rating tied a season low and was down 9% from last week. While Happy Endings recovered sharply from last week, up 17% to a 2.1 rating.

A repeat of The Voice premiere episode for NBC delivered a surprisingly strong 2.1 adults 18-49 rating from 9-11pm. Earlier in the evening, the special Inside the Royal Wedding wasn’t so regal, drawing just a 1.2 adults 18-49 rating.

On the CW at 9pm, America’s Top Model drew a 1.0 adults 18-49 rating.

Source: TVByTheNumbers

[PHOTOS] CHRISTINA AGUILERA AND MATT HEADED TO BOA STEAKHOUSE

Christina was photographed headed to Boa Steakhouse last night, with Matt, for a late night dinner. Christina wasn't the only celebrity caught headed to Boa. Nicky and Paris Hilton spent the night there, and so was Limp Bizkit front man, Fred Durst. Wonder if any of them interacted with each other. Christina met up with friend and director of 'Burlesque', Steven Antin, inside of Boa. Hmm... what could this mean?

Credits: Roli

[TWEET] SIA: 'I LOVE WORKING WITH XTINA. I DON'T LIKE WORKING ON...'

Credits: Roli

[NEWS] NBC'S 'THE VOICE' DELIVERS THRILLING TV & SUSTAINS HIGH RATINGS

NBC’s hotly anticipated and heavily promoted talent show ‘The Voice’ premiered in the US last night and ratings were on fire! The show attracted over 11.4 million viewers during the first hour and increased in its second hour to a very impressive 12.2 million viewers. These numbers also beat out popular TV show ‘Glee’ by over 2.8 million viewers. The Carson Daly hosted show consists of judges Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Cee-Lo Green, and Blake Shelton going through a “blind auditions” process so that vocals are the only quality that gets judged. All coaches battle it out for the singers to join their teams hoping that they can find the next big recording artist. The winner will then snag a recording contract with Universal Republic.

‘The Voice’ was a very enjoyable affair last night. What makes it so much more refreshing from conglomerate talent shows such as ‘American Idol’ and ‘The X Factor’ is that there are less gimmicks. They do not exploit unfortunate singers for entertainment value. This alone gives the show that nice balance of authenticity. It’s also fascinating watching the coaches compete against each other, and selling themselves to the contending singers. Judging by the previews, I assumed it was Aguilera and Green who were the competitors. However, last night’s episode saw Levine and Aguilera playing cat and mouse antics whenever they’d reach out to the same singers. Levine came across as ruthlessly cunning with his dirty selling tactics to an extent where contestants felt backed into his corner even before making their decisions.

Christina’s approach was fun, bubbly and sexy. Her flirtatious nature with some of the male singers made for entertaining viewing and her laugh is very contagious. I liked that she went after the soulful powerhouse singers that she felt were in her comfort zone. All the judges had the same motive, selecting acts that they could relate to in terms of their OWN singing techniques and genres. For example, all the powerhouse soul singers are assigned to Aguilera, and all the country singers are assigned to Shelton.

Biggest laugh of the show? Tarryln Ramsey‘s eye watering lace front and Aggy telling a country male contestant to drop his pants. Biggest shock? Seeing disqualified American Idol contestant Frenchie Davis auditioning and making it through to Team Aguilera. Now that’s random! The fact is, ‘The Voice’ isn’t just your typical talent show. It is based on pure vocal talent and judged by a panel who ALL have vocal talent themselves. Neither coach is allowed to have their judgment clouded by good looks, sexy costumes and whatever gimmicky tactics you’d see on American Idol.

If you’re looking for a talent show with a great concept and a completely different twist, tune into ‘The Voice’ every Tuesday night. Make it your top priority entertainment. I simply cannot wait to tune in next week. Congrats to Aguilera on achieving a ratings winner, which is indeed “What A Girl Wants”. After her latest struggles, this is definitely the push Aguilera is in need of to positively catapult her career again.

Source: ToyazWorld

[NEWS] LORENA SAYS: I HAVE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH CHRISTINA AGUILERA ALL OVER AGAIN!

Christina Aguilera has had her share of misfortunes this past year, but they’ve only made her more relatable and now she’s back with her new show The Voice!

I’ve already expressed what a fan I am of Christina Aguilera‘s new show The Voice, but I’d also like to touch on how it has made me like Christina even more. I’ve always been a fan of Christina’s music, and I don’t think even her worst critics can deny that the girl can sing beautifully. After her Super Bowl flub, her trip up at the Grammys, and her public intoxication arrest (oops), Christina caught a lot of grief for her post-divorce behavior. But, in my opinion, the world is about to see a wonderful side of Christina come through on The Voice and I already began to see glimpses of it last night!

The only girl in a sea of boy coaches, Christina was the jovial cheerleader of the bunch. I loved the chemistry between all four of the coaches, including Christina, Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, and Cee Lo, all of whom were very nice to the contestants. But Christina and Adam’s bickering kept me laughing and we are already starting to see a very relaxed Christina in her element. She teased Cee Lo when he turned around and saw Sonia Rao, the girl whom nobody had turned for and was thus eliminated from the competition, was very pretty. “He’s kicking himself right now,” laughed Christina.

The 30-year-old complimented the contestants in a very Paula Abdul way, “You are cuuuuuuuuuute!” she crooned to a few of the singers. She even poked fun at the cowboy of the group, Patrick Thomas. “Take off your hat!” she instructed him before adding, “Now take off your pants!” The singer often put both hands up and danced in her chair, with a giant smile on her face. Christina was completely in her element and was given a shoutout by many of the contestants, regardless of whether they chose her or not. She is very respected in the music world, so it’s no surprise this is where she is at her happiest.

There’s nothing more America loves than to be able to relate to their celebrities and idols, and I think Christina’s recent transgressions have shown the world that although she has a superb voice, she’s only human. The exposure she is getting with The Voice will give us weekly access to one of Hollywood’s biggest pop stars of our generation.

Are you excited to get to know Christina better? What did you think of her attitude on The Voice? Is she your favorite judge? I loved her but Adam and Blake are also vying for my number one favorite judge. Who did you love most? Let us know your thoughts! And if you missed last night’s premiere, check it out again!

Source: HollywoodLife

[NEWS] 'THE VOICE' PREMIERE: CHRISTINA AGUILERA TAKES THE REINS

The Voice," NBC's heavily promoted singing competition with Christina Aguilera taking the focal reins, opens with the four celebrity "coaches" singing Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy." The performance is steady without being remarkable, competent yet hardly sparkling an omen of sorts for the performances that fill the two-hour premiere tonight (Apr. 26).

After a rules explanation that eats up a healthy chunk of time, about a dozen singers take the stage and run through hits by the likes of Faith Hill, Adele, Nirvana, Aretha Franklin, Bruno Mars, Janis Joplin, Estelle and Rascal Flatts.

Host Carson Daly explains the concept: Aguilera, Maroon 5's Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton will have their backs turned while performers sing a single selection. They do not know the singers, names, ages, backgrounds; they are forced to trust their ears.

Each coach will create teams of eight singers each -- they get about half way there in the debut -- making their selections known by hitting a large red button that turns their chair around to face the performer. If more than two coaches spin around, which happens often in the first episode, the singer gets to choose their coach. Each coach takes a slightly different tack to entice a singer: Levine and Aguilera go thick with compliments; Green plays things cool; and Shelton uses aw-shucks country charm. If none of them turns around -- and this occurs three times on the premiere -- the singer returns home.

Not surprisingly, "The Voice" borrows more than a few tricks from "American Idol," chiefly the stationing of Daly with the contestants' families during each performance so he is there to greet the singers once they know their fate. Lots of tears, lots of hugs.

Storylines that involve a troubled past are dispatched quickly. One girl tours the country in her 1992 Toyota and has no home; one guitar strummer has six children and a few years of sobriety; and a married couple is living in the basement of the wife's parents' home, hoping for their musical break.

Then there's the one story that does not quite click with a sympathy vote: A pretty girl who has spent her life being known as "the pretty girl with the good voice." She has had enough of it. She just wants to be known as a singer. Green and Levine, who clearly like her singing, are none to shy about expressing how happy they are that she can sing -- and is quite pretty. Seems like that fact won't go away.

One singer after another is as professional as the next one. Fear gets a hold of some of their voices, especially at the start of several songs, and when the coaches weigh in on instances where they did not buzz in, it is usually the lack of a unique quality in the singing.

Two performers stood out for taking chances with their interpretations, former Capitol Records artist Javier Colon and Rebecca Loebe. More than the others, they arrive with shaped musical personalities, but there is no telling whether that will help or hinder in the coming weeks when they are put in head-to-head matches with other singers.

A couple of performances do get all four coaches to buzz in and in one case it is for a singer who may have been discounted based on his physical appearance. The producers have gone for a few singers that may have been pre-judged for their looks. There are shaved heads and Afros, neck tattoos and beer bellies, teens and fortysomethings, and at least one bad hat selection. More than just Colon will be familiar faces to some: "American Idol" dropout Frenchie Davis, Texas troubadour Tje Austin, who has three albums to his name, and musical party girl Kelsey Ray, whose "Masquerade" video has been played 1.4 million times on YouTube, are in the competition.

While America waits to see which singers will quickly emerge as favorites, there's no denying that right now this is Aguilera's show. She takes control whenever possible, blending congeniality, glamour and sass in an attractive package. And the cameras can't help emphasizing her either -- her cleavage is given much more air time than any of the men's assets.

Source: Billboard

[NEWS] 10 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT NBC'S 'IDOL' RIVAL, 'THE VOICE'

1. Focus on quality: Instead of weeding through open auditions a la American Idol, The Voice’s A&R team went out looking for performers, upping the overall performance. While some of the auditions are challenging, there aren’t any colossal train wrecks like we’ve seen on Idol.

2. Traces of Survivor: Once contestants have joined a team, the Battle Round begins, where coaches select two of their own teammates to go head-to-head in a performance of the same song. Coaches then consult one another on each performer’s merit, offering feedback that could potentially sabotage each other. During the premiere, a rivalry between Levine and Aguilera is born as they go head-to-head for many of the same contestants. Blake, meanwhile, seems to stick to the country music genre for which he’s known, while Green is more of the risk-taker -- and flirt -- of the bunch.

3. More Paula Abdul, less Simon Cowell: While Idol has been known to be brutally honest, the format for The Voice celebrates the performers and is more Paula Abdul, less Simon Cowell. Aguilera cemented that, saying : “At the end of the day, that's what The Voice is really about -- emotion and touching people.” Banter between coaches is lively and funny, with Levine standing out as the class clown as he vies to land contestants in ties with his fellow coaches. And the coaches know their stuff: The four have 32 Grammy nominations and 11 wins between them.

4. Emcee Daly, meanwhile, told THR that his style is more in line with Hell’s Kitchen’s Gordon Ramsay than Ryan Seacrest and will cut right to the chase. “I watch a lot of Hell’s Kitchen and what I like about him is his honesty and the way he carries himself on camera,” he said. “Music is my cooking -- it’s what I’m passionate about -- and the artists are like my chefs. I thought a about what I enjoy when I watch him on TV, and I realized that it’s his no B.S. approach.

5. It tweets: Twitter is worked into the show with #TheVoice hash tag prominently displayed, as rivalry tweets between coaches and messages of support to both contestants and those who fail to make it regularly appearing on screen. Sibling network Comedy Central found success with the hash tag strategy last month with its Donald Trump roast.

6. Come one, come all: Duos, semi-professionals and former reality series contestants are all welcome. Season 2 American Idol contestant Frenchie Davis -- who was disqualified in 2003 after racy photos surfaced -- is among those featured in the premiere.

7. It takes advantage the Glee effect: All songs performed on the show are immediately available for purchase on Apple’s iTunes. Idol didn’t begin offering iTunes availability until Season 7, when only live performances and studio recordings were offered. Idol has since expanded its offerings and now includes weekly studio recordings and compilation albums after performance night.

8. Green turned down Cowell’s X Factor. The coach recently told reporters that he was “unfamiliar with the concept of The X Factor. I knew the name and I knew the parties involved, but as an enterprise, I didn’t know what made it distinctive enough. Quite honestly, I felt like American Idol and these other entities had run their course.”

9. Hot seats: The much-hyped Star Trek-like chairs only stick around for the first two episodes -- the time in which it takes the coaches to pick their team members. The large buttons attached to the desks signal when a coach wants to select the performer for his/her team and prompts the chair to turn and face the stage. “I love that I get to sit with my back turned away and use one sense alone: to hear these voices,” Aguilera said.

10. Less may be more: The winner will receive a $100,000 recording contract with Universal Republic. Cowell’s X Factor, meanwhile, will reward its winner with a $5 million deal.

Source: HollywoodReporter

[VIDEO] 'BOUND TO YOU' COVER BY: SAMDASINGA

[TWEET] SIA CONFIRMS SHE'S WORKING ON CHRISTINA AGUILERA'S NEW ALBUM

[NEWS] NBC DRAWS A CROWD WITH 'THE VOICE'

“The Voice,” NBC’s much-promoted new singing competition show, proved two things in its premiere outing Tuesday night: The current television season has a legitimate, out-of-the-box, ratings hit; and NBC, for all its recent ratings disasters, still knows how to draw a crowd.

“The Voice” posted the best ratings for the premiere of a new series since February 2010, and that show, “Undercover Boss” on CBS, had the huge benefit of following the Super Bowl.

“The Voice” managed a 5.1 rating among the advertiser-preferred audience of viewers between the ages of 18 and 49; nothing introduced by any network this television season has approached that number. It also pulled in 11.8 million total viewers, which is a strong number, but one that underscored that “The Voice” seems to be especially strong among the younger segment of viewers.

The program was by far the night’s biggest draw among those 18-49 viewers, but was even more dominant among viewers between 18 and 34. And “The Voice” managed that success despite facing two of television’s other most potent hit series, “Dancing with the Stars” on ABC and “Glee” on Fox. The NBC show beat both those handily head-to-head in that 18-49 audience.

Fox expanded “Glee” to 90 minutes Tuesday night, and NBC executives saw that move at least partly as an effort to blunt the opening of “The Voice.” The last half hour of “Glee” faced the first half hour of “The Voice.”

The NBC show dominated that half hour with a 4.6 rating to a 3.4 for “Glee.” And from 9 to 10, when it faced “Dancing” on ABC, “The Voice” also scored a big win, averaging a 4.9 rating in that hour to a 3.5 for “Dancing.” The latter remains the strongest show of the night among total viewers because of its enormous popularity with women over the age of 50.

NBC, which used every available moment on the network and most of the cable channels NBC owns to promote “The Voice,” made a decision late last week to repeat the premiere Wednesday night from 9 to 11. At the time, the network executives hoped to grab some viewers who might have been lost to that tough competition.

Now they are hoping word of mouth drives more viewers to the repeat, and they show up again next Tuesday for the next new edition of “The Voice.”

Source: The New York Times

[POLL] ACCESS HOLLYWOOD POLL: WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE COACH?

Following Tuesday night’s premiere, who is your favorite coach on ‘The Voice’?

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

[TWEET] @THEREALXTINA: "THANKS FOR MAKING @NBCTHEVOICE #1 SHOW LAST NIGHT..."

[VIDEO] CHRISTINA ON 'ELLEN' WITH ELLEN DEGENERES

[NEWS] CHRISTINA AGUILERA DESTROYS SIMON COWELL, 'THE VOICE' VERY POSITIVE & HUGELY ENTERTAINING

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 4/26/2011 – “Can you say a few words about the show?” asks NBC executive Paul Telegdy to Christina Aguilera. “I think you’ve said it all,” says Aguilera, who is interrupting an exclusive press screening of THE VOICE at Universal Studios.

“I’m having the most amazing time on THE VOICE,” says Aguilera. “Root for my team on the show.” Aguilera has popped in on her way to talk about THE VOICE with Jay Leno on the Tonight Show. As one of the contestants exclaims on the show, being in the room next to the radiant Aguilera is like looking at the sun. Dazzling.

THE VOICE presents celebrity singing coaches Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton out to discover the best singers and have them compete to win the title of best singer, to be THE VOICE. NBC was the network that tried to define itself without having any shows, with it being all Jay Leno all the time. When that daring plan didn’t work, and the affiliates threatened revolt, the network had to re-invent itself quickly. Key to NBC’s plan is competing with hit “alternative” programming, notably Fox’s American Idol. Can NBC build an Idol-killer? Apparently, it can. THE VOICE has more heart and more touching family moments and is more fun.

“THE VOICE is a very positive show and hugely entertaining,” says Telegdy. “NBC is the most similar to the BBC of the American broadcasters. When it’s great, it’s searingly relevant with quality entertainment.” Telegdy came to NBC from the BBC, where he made his mark with the surprisingly entertaining car show Top Gear. Key to making that show work, one of the longest running reality series on the air, is the close yet competitive/comedic relationship between the show’s hosts. THE VOICE reveals a kittenish yet fiercely competitive Aguilera out to best her male co-hosts who aren’t going to give an inch. This adds an element of fun that goes beyond the music competition of the contestants.

NBC has derived recent success from shows like Celebrity Apprentice, produced by Mark Burnett. He’s also producing THE VOICE. “The reason these stars are sitting there is Mark,” says Telegdy. “They know they can trust him. I was buying a show in November and wanted it on the air in April. Mark was the only choice.
A show like this takes a lot of machines, a lot of editors. It goes to air completely wet. One pass and it’s off. The best editors come from shows like Celebrity Apprentice. They all work for Mark. It’s several dozen editors. Alan Carter, the director, does a lot for us. Really knows his stuff. Great live too.”

Telegdy began listening to country music when he moved to the United States. “In Britain we don’t really have country music.” Telegdy found that having a country star on THE VOICE not only gave it American relevance, but humor. “Blake Shelton is one of the funniest people to walk the Earth.”

While they wanted humor, Telegdy and Burnett didn’t want the show to ever be a farce. “We didn’t want to put a bad singer up there,” says Telegdy. “These artists are very busy. We weren’t going to f**k around with them. You saw Christina [at the screening]. She was here for like twelve seconds.” Because the auditions are blind, only the singer’s voice matters. That means the contestants are not limited by age or appearance. The show makes some surprising choices of contestants. The celebrities’ chairs spin around so they can see the singer only after they’ve chosen the singer to be on their team.

THE VOICE was shot initially at the L.A. Center, then moved as it grew. There are three different sets: the chairs, the boxing ring, and the live show arena. The arena set holds about 1,000 people. “Americas Got Talent has 600,” says Telegdy. “So imagine 400 more. The live shows start June 7th. Warner Brothers Stage 18 is 80,000 square feet on the lot. It’s huge. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s the feeling not of a TV show but an arena tour.”

Telegdy may not wake up Wednesday morning with the ratings of American Idol, but he can take satisfaction that NBC now has a show to compete or exceed Idol on all levels, with huge stars, amazing singers, and heartwarming stories. Telegdy says a show can’t be all about second chances like Susan Boyle of Britain’s Got Talent. Maybe not. However, THE VOICE is definitely a second chance for NBC. The series premieres on Tuesday, April 26th, at 9/8c.

Source: HollywoodToday

[POLL] PEOPLE POLL: 'THE VOICE:' ARE YOU HOOKED?

It's hard to say what was more entertaining on the premiere of NBC's new singing competition, The Voice – the antics deployed by celebrity coaches Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton, or the singers with the dramatic back stories.

Rebecca Loebe, a young folk singer who had been living out of her car, sang a stirring version of Nirvana's "Come as You Are." Another singer, Frenchie Davis, was seeking redemption after American Idol dropped her in 2003 during season 2 for appearing in racy photos. She sang a soulful rendition of "I Kissed A Girl" by Katy Perry.

When Green turned his chair around, he recognized the singer right away. "What up Frenchie?" he said. "You sounded great. What a pleasant surprise it's you. You just won't give up, will you momma?"

But some of the big voices were overshadowed by the friendly competition between the superstar coaches as they convinced their favorite singers to join their teams. Aguilera urged one male singer to drop his pants (that contestant resisted temptation and chose Shelton). Later, Aguilera warned another singer, Beverly McClellan, to be careful around Levine, warning that the Maroon 5 singer would sell a used car to his grandmother. It worked. The singer picked Aguilera.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

Source: People Magazine

[POLL] Us POLL: DOES THE VOICE HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO OVERPOWER IDOL?

If Tuesday's premiere of NBC's The Voice is any indication, American Idol has some serious competition.
Modeled after Holland's reality series of the same name, The Voice features top-tier talent coaches -- including Christina Aguilera -- and offers three phases of competition: The blind audition phase, a battle phase, and a live performance round. Aguilera joins Cee Lo Green, Blake Shelton and Maroon 5's Adam Levine to mentor the contestants.

"We want to make them shine!" Aguilera enthuses of the singers, including season 2 Idol finalist Frenchie Davis, who appeared on Tuesday's premiere.
As The Voice prepares to go head-to-head in the primetime ratings war against Idol Wednesday, tell Us: Which show do you prefer?

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

Source: UsWeekly Magazine

[NEWS] 'THE VOICE' - MORE WATCHABLE THAN 'IDOL'

"The Voice" wasn't shy about staking its claim as a more legitimate music experience than a certain unnamed talent show, setting the tone for Tuesday's premiere by proclaiming itself a "singing competition unlike any other . . . because it puts vocal ability first."

Before the night was through, we'd been reminded that "on THIS show, only the voice matters." And they wouldn't even show one of the better singers of the night until his song was almost over after telling us, "Let's see if you would push your button . . . BASED on voice alone."

That button is what helps them keep the competition . . . BASED on voice alone.

Four celebrity coaches - Cee Lo Green, Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton and Adam Levine - sit with their backs turned to the singers in chairs that look like something dreamed up for a cheesy "Star Trek" knockoff on a public-access channel. Each chair is equipped with a button, and when a coach hears something he or she would like to work with, the button gets pushed, the chair swivels around and the coach gets a first-ever look at the singer.

BASED on voice alone. If more than one coach hits the button, the interested coaches have to lobby for the right to coach that singer and the singer gets to choose which team to join.

Once each team has eight singers, the coaches train and nurture them as they compete. That's why they call them coaches. If it sounds like the rules are the product of a six-year-old's imagination, yeah, I thought that too. But I like that they're keeping the focus on the singing. Nobody wanted to work with the prettiest girl of the night. Because they couldn't see that she was beautiful. I love that.

But the tattooed 41-year-old who looked like she was going trick-or-treating as Rob Halford? She got chosen. BASED on voice alone. What ultimately makes this show more watchable than "Idol," though, is that panel of coaches.

They're just genuinely funny people, especially Shelton and Levine, who told the first singer, "I didn't push my button because you're a better singer than me and I was very upset."

There's already a chemistry, too. They tease each other in a way that doesn't feel contrived or forced, like "Idol" often does. When Shelton mocked Levine at one point, the Maroon 5 singer joked, "If you weren't 6-5, I would kick your ass." But the best part was when Green and Shelton were competing to coach a 16-year-old singer, Xenia Martinez.

Shelton said, "At your age, too much change in your life can be, you know, devastating, and Cee Lo's gonna come dressed in like Batman one day," to which Cee Lo responded, mock-defensively, with, "No, I won't."

Then, after pausing just enough, he said, "No, I can't promise you that. I can't promise you that."

It was great TV. And they managed to dig up some really good singers, including one guy in a cowboy hat who may be signed by now . . . BASED on voice alone.

And he looked the part, which doesn't matter here.

Source: AZCentral

[NEWS] 'THE VOICE' - 6 REASONS WHY WE'LL KEEP WATCHING

We're a bit spooked not only because we liked NBC's new reality singing competition, "The Voice," so much, but because so many people we know also did.

The show's premiere won the coveted 18-49 demo Tuesday (April 26) and increased its first hour viewers from 11.4 million to 12.2 million in its second hour - beating "Glee" in the half hour in which they overlapped.

What we saw were the auditions, but in a whole different way than "American Idol" handles them. Instead of stringing us along for weeks as we watched the judges in a dressed up hotel conference room alternately making fun of and celebrating its contestants, "The Voice" took us straight to the stage and took away the -- hate to use the current buzzword -- bullying out of the process. Who knew Americans would watch something so insanely positive en masse? Crazy, to paraphrase coach Cee Lo Green's hit.

So, what would it take for you to come back next week? We can tell you what we liked and what we're looking forward to.

Here are Zap2it's 6 reasons we'll keep watching:

1.) The talent. Since we're skipping all that mess that is the open calls, we're getting the best of the best. Even the singers who don't earn a spot on one of the teams are pretty good singers who just failed to strike a chord (excuse the pun) with the judges.

2.) Host Carson Daly is not annoying or overpowering. His style is very much like that of a spectator, supporter, and he's clearly on the performers' side. He doesn't seem interested in playing the typical circus ringleader role we've seen in the past. We'll need to see what he's like once we get to the battle rounds. But, for now, we appreciate his relaxed style.

3.) It doesn't waste our time. That's funny to say after we just sat through two hours, but the show doesn't have all that crazy filler, cheese-tastic "pants on the ground" antics we've become so used to on "Idol." Even the post-commercial break recaps are quick and to the point. We don't know how long this will last, but we expect it to continue for at least the blind audition segments of the competition.

4.) The coaches have great chemistry. There's something very refreshing about this foursome. The idea that they're forming teams to do battle with one another gives their relationship an interesting twist. It's both adversarial and collegial. By the way, can Christina Aguilera and Adam Levine get a room already?

5.) We have to know what's up with Tje Austin. His family is Mormon. His father wears a cowboy hat. Um, and he's black and his parents are white? We are starving to get the back-story on this one. In fact, it might be a smart move that the show didn't tell us, because we'll watch until we get it, dammit.

6.) Second chance callbacks. Who will get a second chance to join a team? We're thinking that Cee Lo's pretty mistake, Sonia Rao, perhaps?

Source: Zap2It

[VIDEO] ADAM LEVINE: 'SURPRISING, SHE'S A GREAT GIRL IT WAS REALLY NICE MEETING HER...'

[TWEETS] CELEBRITIES SUPPORTING AND LOVING THE PREMIERE OF 'THE VOICE'

[NEWS] NBC'S 'IDOL' RIVAL 'THE VOICE' DEBUTS HUGE HIGHEST RATED PREMIERE OF THE SEASON

NBC’s high-profile attempt to cash in on the singing craze was a success on Tuesday. Airing against stiff competition (a two-hour Dancing With the Stars! A special 90-minute episode of Glee!), The Voice was the No. 1 show of the night in the all-important 18-49 demographic.

The two-hour show pulled a 5.1 rating/13 share in the demo and 11.8 million viewers, according to early estimates. NBC says that it was the top-rated series premiere on a major network since Undercover Boss debuted following the Super Bowl on Feb. 7, 2010. Each 18-49 ratings point equals 1.3 million.

Head to head, The Voice beat Glee (4.6 versus 3.4 from 9-9:30) and Dancing With the Stars (4.9 versus 3.5 from 9-10). It improved the time period versus NBC’s season average in the demo by 89 percent (5.1 versus 2.7) and in viewers by 60 percent (11.7 million versus 7.3 million). Excluding sports, the 5.1 rating achieved by The Voice was NBC’s highest in the time period since May 12, 2009.

Other notable highs/lows: Glee was down 11 percent from last week; it was also a season low for the dramedy. The last time it posted such a low rating was on Nov. 25, 2009 (a measly 2.5). The DWTS results show, however, was up 17 percent in the demo.

CBS shrewdly bowed out of the heavy competition and ran repeats of NCIS, NCIS: LA and The Mentalist. Other shows suffered from the intense interest in The Voice: an original of Raising Hope on Fox earned a 1.9/5 — down 10 percent from last week — while Body of Proof posted its lowest 18-49 rating to date on ABC (2.3/6).

ABC won the night in total viewers (14.3 million), followed by NBC (10.3 million). The DWTS results show was the most-watched show of the night with 17.9 million eyeballs.

One final (and fun!) ratings tidbit: The last time an NBC show opened big was on Jan. 6, 2008. The show? American Gladiators. It earned a whopping 5.9/14 in the demo. Too bad it didn’t last long. Maybe Christina Aguilera will have a better chance.

Source: EW

[VIDEO] BLAKE SHELTON: 'CHRISTINA MAY BE THE BEST SINGER I'VE EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE...'

[NEWS] 'THE VOICE' RECAP: CHRISTINA AGUILERA, ADAM LEVINE KICK OFF RIVALRY

With the recently revamped season of "American Idol" and the hype surrounding the Stateside arrival of "The X Factor," there's some stiff competition going on in the realm of reality singing competitions. But on Tuesday evening, it was all about NBC's two-hour series premiere of "The Voice," which introduced viewers to a different kind of search for America's next singing sensation.

Before sifting through a string of aspiring superstars, celebrity panelists Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton kicked off "The Voice" on a high note, covering Gnarls Barkley's smash "Crazy" and showing off their own vocal talents to a cheering audience.

After the star-studded performance, it was time to get down to business as host Carson Daly broke down the rules to the highly anticipated show, which begins with blind singing auditions, where hopefuls are judged solely on their vocal ability. With their backs turned to contestants, the panel first decides whether they like an audition performance by pressing a button and then claiming him or her as one of their students. If more than one judge likes a contender, the contestant decides which star they'd like to be his or her judge. If no button is hit, then the auditioner is sent home.

Once they have each chosen eight contestants, the panel will train their teams for battle rounds. Eventually, the teammates will also be competing with each other, as the judges cut their crews in half. Viewers at home will have the final say in choosing the show's winner during a live round, with the champion taking home $100,000 and a record deal with Universal Republic.

Among the first of the evening's contestants was 31-year-old Tarralyn Ramsey, who soared through a rendition of Faith Hill's "Breathe." Toward the end of the performance, Cee Lo and Xtina pushed their buttons, with Ramsey choosing the latter.

"I absolutely love 'What a Girl Wants,' and I have all your records. And I even try to sing the Spanish ones, and I don't get them right," the emotional contestant told Aguilera. "I would be honored to work with you. Thank you."

The audition footage focused less on the wacky contestants (like early rounds on "Idol") and more on the talent. Other successful tryouts included contestants Vicci Martinez (teamed with Green) and Jeff Jenkins (teamed with Levine).

Jared Blake was the first of the aspiring singers that was shown not receiving a vote from the panel.

"I think it started off like fire out of the gates. ... For some reason when it hit the chorus, it didn't fully come to life the way I wanted it to," Levine said. "Remember, we have our backs turned as well, so performance is kind of not a factor."

"The Voice" further distanced itself from "Idol" with an audition by a duo. Elenowen, a Nashville-based married couple who live in the wife's parents' basement, covered Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová's "Falling Slowly" and quickly secured a spot on Shelton's team.

Die-hard fans of reality television may have caught a familiar face as former "Idol" contestant Frenchie Davis — who was booted from the second season of the show for posing for an adult website during her younger years — took to the stage to belt out her rendition of Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl." Davis found her second shot at fame when Aguilera snatched up the singer for her team.

There was also some rather friendly competition between the judges. Levine and Aguilera playfully duked it out when trying to convince contestants to choose them as their mentor, particularly during the very last audition.

Beverly McClellan, an extra-hyper, tatted, 41-year-old rocker, proved that age is nothing but a number by jamming out to "Piece of My Heart" (the song first sung by Erma Franklin but made famous by Janis Joplin). In the end, McClellan chose to team up with Aguilera over Levine.

"Ultimately, it is your decision, but [Levine] is a little bit of a wheeler-deeler schmeeler," Christina joked. "He will sell you a used car to your grandma. Be careful of that one."

With three aspiring superstars on each of the panelist's teams, next week's episode of "The Voice" will find the judges choosing five additional contestants to complete their teams and prepare for the battle round face-off.

Source: MTV

[AUDIO] 'THE VOICE' COACHES PERFORMING 'CRAZY' + DOWNLOAD LINK

The Voice Judges - Crazy by javierarmandotovar

DOWNLOAD SONG HERE

[VIDEO] TEAM XTINA PERFORMANCES: TARRALYN + FRENCHIE + BEVERLY

Editors Note:

Well guys we have 5 more people for Christina to choose. How do you guys feel about the people that she has so far on her team? I honestly love how powerful and incredibly talented these women right here are. Our of these three lucky women who do you like and why? Please let us know your choices in a comment. If I had to choose one... it would hands down be... Beverly. She owned that stage and made her self stand out with all that energy she started that competition with. Love you guys.

WANT TO SEE THE OTHER PERFORMANCES CLICK HERE

AGUILERAONLINE EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: CHRISTINA MAKING HER WAY TO CELEBRATE AT THE ABBEY

AGUILERAONLINE EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: UP CLOSE & PERSONAL, CHRISTINA AT THE ABBEY

[TWEET] CHRISTINATHEVOICE + #THEVOICE + FRENCHIE DAVIS TRENDING WORLDWIDE

[TWEET] @THEREALXTINA: 'MORE AND MORE BLOWN AWAY BY THESE AUDITIONS...'

[TWEET] @THEREALXTINA: 'EXCITED FOR THE PREMIERE OF @NBCTHEVOICE...'

[VIDEO] CHRISTINA 'THE VOICE' ON EXTRA

[VIDEO] CHRISTINA TALKS ABOUT NEW ALBUM + 'THE VOICE' BACKSTAGE ON JAY LENO

[LINK] LIVE STREAMING LINK FOR NBC'S 'THE VOICE'

CLICK HERE

[VIDEO] SNEAK PEEK OF CHRISTINA ON ELLEN

[NEWS] CARSON TALKS ABOUT CHRISTINA: THEN & NOW

What does each coach bring to the table?

We got Christina Aguilera who's the voice of the generation and one of the best female artists and singers of all time, hands down. She's got a fiery spirit and is the only female you know who loves all sorts of music. She's great with her team. She'd be a great choice for any artist.

Having worked at MTV, you've known Christina Aguilera since she was a teenager. In what ways is she the same and in what ways is she different from when you first met her?

Oh my God! I think the world of her. I've been very clear about that. I think she is the, when they mentioned this show, the voice. To me, she is the voice of the generation. I think you can't have a female coach without having her. She's a woman now. It's great to see her. You know, I haven't seen her in a little while in the last, you know, so many years since the TRL days. When I knew her then, she was a fiery young songbird. She was a little girl with big pipes and now she is a, now she's a woman and a mother and she's mama bear and she just, she owns it and she's really confident in her voice and her business. It's like she's in her prime right now. It's been awesome to work with her again recently and get to know her. She's so great in this show. Any reservation or any sort of trepidation that somebody would have had about how incredible she is in this show. She goes all in to try and help her team.

Source: Zap2It

[NEWS] CHRISTINATHEVOICE IS TRENDING WORLDWIDE

CHRISTINATHEVOICE INFORMATION TO TREND TODAY/TOMORROW

Trending ChristinaTheVoice on April 26 to promote Christina Aguilera on NBC The Voice show premier the very same day!

STARTING TIMES:

• UK: 5:00PM
• EUROPE: 6:00PM
• USA CALIFORNIA PDT: 9:00AM
• USA OKLAHOMA CENTRAL CDT: 11:00AM
• USA NEW YORK EDT: 12:00PM
• BRAZIL RIO DE JANEIRO BRT: 1:00PM
• ECUADOR QUITO ECT: 11:00AM
• AUSTRALIA SIDNEY EST: 2:00AM

Should you wish to find your exact time zone conversion check this out: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

Date and times are final. No further changes on this.

VERY IMPORTANT! PLEASE REMEMBER THE FOLLOWINGS:

1. No # until we trend ChristinaTheVoice.
2. No multiple ChristinaTheVoice in one tweet or you risk to be reported and blocked! Some do that on purpose to stop trending counts by Twitter!
3. Multiple topics in one tweet count as SPAM = not trending!
4. No sequence of numbers before or after ChristinaTheVoice as it's SPAM
5. No sequence of alphabet letters before or after ChristinaTheVoice as it's SPAM
6. RT top ChristinaTheVoice tweets!

More to come on the day. For the time being this is all you need to know to get ready.

Gotta be trending CHRISTINATHEVOICE to promote Christina Aguilera and NBC The Voice!

[VIDEO] CHRISTINA ON 'THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO'

[PHOTO] CHRISTINA AND MAX DYING EGGS FOR EASTER

[NEWS] CHRISTINA AGUILERA TALKS ABOUT THE SUPERBOWL FLUB + MATT + MORE WITH ELLEN

Christina Aguilera makes an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in an episode airing Tuesday (April 26).

The 30-year-old Voice star was asked about boyfriend Matthew Rutler but played it coy, telling Ellen, “There is someone very lovely in my life. Yes.”

Christina also talked about singing the National Anthem at this year’s Super Bowl - and the aftermath of her fumbling the lyrics.

“I think had a moment where I was at the Super Bowl at 30 years old. I took in the moment a little bit too much. Shoot me for appreciating the moment but here I am at the Super Bowl, singing for a team and in front of the world. And remembering what it was like to be that young and look where I made it now. And then it was like, oh,” she explained.

“That night I knew, I just made myself a Trivial Pursuit question - in 2011 what female singer, ya know, flubbed the lyrics. It’s just insane. But I have a really good laugh about it and you get over things. You get back up again and you just prove to yourself and to everyone you that much stronger,” she added.

FYI: Christina is wearing a Zac Posen dress, Alaia belt, Christian Louboutin shoes, and jewelry by Tom Binns and Loree Rodkin.

Source: JustJared

[PHOTO] HQ CHRISTINA AGUILERA ON ELLEN

[PHOTOS] SNEAK PEEK OF CHRISTINA ON ELLEN

[VIDEO] SNEAK PEEK OF CHRISITNA ON LENO

[VIDEO] CHRISTINA AGUILERA ON 'THE ELLEN SHOW' COMMERCIAL FOR TOMORROW'S SHOW

[NEWS] WHAT'S NEX-TINA?

Last week I wondered aloud to you all if NBC's "The Voice" could do for Christina Aguilera what Fox's "American Idol" has done for Jennifer Lopez -- ya know, reinvigorate a floundering recording career while simultaneously reminding America why they fell in love with her to begin with.

And judging from early previews of her as a judge/mentor, "The Voice" offers Christina the perfect platform to own up to -- and move beyond -- her past mistakes while also coming across like a fun, bubbly superstar.

With that out of the way, the next logical question is: How will Christina financially capitalize on this resurgence? Cue the new CD chatter!

"For this one, I really want to make a real rooted, heartfelt record. After someone goes through the things that I have, regarding a divorce, there's a lot of emotions that are stirred," she tells USA Today.

"I prove to myself that I'm stronger than just to let things take over me, and take over my head space. I'm very honest with myself in seeing if there are things that I need to change about my life, or if there are things I need to do stepping forward. That's in part why I got the divorce. It's a new beginning for me. It's all positivity for me. I've been through some hard things, but I'm on the up and up. I love to sing. It's what moves me and inspires me. To be able to do that is a gift."

I don't know about you, but I could swear that paragraph is filled with more lyrics and song titles than a thousand teen girl diaries.

Source: NY Post

[TWEET] CELEBRITIES EXCITED FOR 'THE VOICE'

[VIDEO] CHRISTINA TALKS ABOUT THE OTHER COACHES AND 'THE VOICE'

[NEWS] CHRISTINA AGUILERA WANTS TO COLLAB WITH CEE LO GREEN

Christina Aguilera has said that she would love to work with fellow The Voice mentor Cee Lo Green.

The 'Fighter' singer will join Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton as celebrity mentors on the upcoming show which judges hopefuls purely on vocal talent.

"Cee Lo and I have been trying to work together for a really long time so hopefully something will work out," she told reporters on a recent conference call.

The star also teased what viewers could expect from the special performance from all four celebrity mentors on the opening episode of the NBC show.

"It was interesting and fun," she said. "Adam was playing the drums and it was like a fun jam session between four artists and musicians."

Executive producer Mark Burnett added that his "jaw dropped" when he saw the collaboration, saying: "[Host] Carson Daly said, 'Ladies and gentlemen, that's how it is supposed to sound. It really sets the standard for this show'."

The Voice features a "blind audition" format that means aspiring stars will audition behind the mentors' backs so they are judged purely on their talent rather than other factors like appearance.

If a mentor likes what they hear, they can press a button that will bring the auditionee into view and indicate that they want to work with them, but if more than one mentor likes a performance, then it's up to the contestant to decide who they want to work with.

The Voice premieres Tuesday, April 26 at 9/8c on NBC.

Source: DigitalSpy