[REVIEWS] 'THE VOICE' GARNERS RAVE REVIEWS

Christina, Cee Lo, Adam, Blake: The new supergroup?

Perhaps the "American Idol" judging panel of Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler should take note.

A preview of NBC's singing competition show, "The Voice," features a group performance by coach/judges Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton that might be a glimpse of things to come.

The four, who have achieved individual stardom in differing genres, rock out on Gnarls Barkley's anthem, "Crazy," with Aguilera and Green on vocals, Levine on drums and Shelton on the guitar. In spite of their differing styles, the four mesh well together.

When asked if the four were considering performing together down the line, Green said the possibility exists: "It may not be easy with our schedules, but it's not impossible.

Source: LATimes

'The Voice's' Cee Lo Green: 'American Idol' Has Run Its CourseApril

NBCNBC’s The Voice isn’t pulling any punches when it debuts April 26 at 9 p.m. And neither is musician coach Cee Lo Green.

Green, who had been offered a high-profile gig on Simon Cowell’s The X Factor but signed on to the Mark Burnett-produced rival instead, told reporters that he turned it down because he was simply “unfamiliar with the concept of The X Factor.”

He added of Cowell’s upcoming singing competition, “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.” (He admits the series has since improved with new hosts Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler.)

With The Voice launching just as Fox juggernaut American Idol is ending its 10th season and Cowell’s U.S. version of X Factor preparing for its fall debut, Green and the rest of the panelists are ready for a showdown.

“Not only do we have a competitive spirit amongst ourselves, but also we’ll compete with these other shows as well,” said Green at NBCU’s summer press day. “And I like this one better.”

An exclusive clip from The Voice was shown during the session, featuring a spine-tingling performance from the four musician coaches, Green, Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and Christina Aguilera, singing Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy.” (Reporters also got a first look at how a contestant gets chosen by the musician coaches and a brief taste of their warm rapport.)

“There will be some more [performances by the coaches],” executive producer Mark Burnett said, with Daly joking to Green and Shelton that they could do a Hall & Oates cover. “Its a matter of getting [rehearsal time].”

“When we shot that opening sequence, it was fun to be a fly on the wall ... with the four musicians [trying to figure it out],” Daly said of the “Crazy” performance. “ “We probably only did three passes on that song.”

Daly, who spent years hosting MTV’s Total Request Live, has high hopes for the future of music on television. “Television is still the most powerful medium, especially in music. You see that with Idol’s numbers,” he said. “Behind the success of that show ... is people’s passion for music and The Voice is a brand new fresh take on that.”

In response to a question about whether there would be any contestants who are there for their entertainment value rather than their talent, Burnett said, “It was only about the voice, 100 percent. You will not see people [performing] for a joke.”

Source: HollywoodReporter

NBC’s The Voice judge coach Cee Lo Green says he didn’t want to be a judge on Fox’s fall rival X-Factor because the show “wasn’t distinctive enough.” “I was unfamiliar with the concept of The X-Factor,” Cee-Lo told critics at NBC’s press tour junket in Pasadena when asked why he supposedly turned down Simon Cowell’s show. “I didn’t see it as distinctive enough. It kind of seemed like shows like Idol had run its course. That was before Steven Tyler was cast on American Idol and they’ve done a great job [reworking the show].”

A rep for Cowell’s series has said Green only met with producers, but was not actually offered the gig.

And at any rate, Green then made it clear he’s all in favor of competition among the still-healthy singing competition reality show marketplace, though adds he does not think that he would have fared well on a show like Idol. “I’m not sure I would have sang and stood in line with 20,000 people and stood out,” Green says. “I’m not the shortest distance between A and B, I’m more of the scenic route.”

NBC gave critics a 15-minute preview of The Voice and, judging from their tweets, many were impressed. The coaching panel seemed to have a pretty lively chemistry, at least based on the introductory clip.

Source: InsideTV