Taylor Swift is a positive addition to The Voice in her role as a voice coach - (Jana Zills Photo)

Video Beat Part 1 - CHINKS in THE VOICE & AMAZING RACE's ARMOR

James Loving - National Radio Text Service

The older than dirt song selections went on and on, raising the question is The Voice being bought out by publishing companies or other interests to promote their material? - Recommended TV Listings

Saturday, November 08, 2014

POOR SONG CHOICES by The Voice's JUDGE/MENTORS

Just when we became fans of The Voice chinks have been exposed in their armor. The first sign was the poor choice of songs that the judge/mentors made for their team member during the battle rounds. In too many cases the mentors chose songs that were recorded before the contestants were born. Decisions such as that go against the grain of bringing the best out of their singers rather than challenge them with songs and lyrics they can't relate to.

Knock on Wood is a song that is a case in point that was chosen by Adam Levine. His charges, Damien 35 and Kelli Douglas 31 wee born long after that song was released. It's not the type of song that would be covered again and again to remain popular. Damien won but he won his audition stage singing "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday." Douglas won her audition singing "Danny's Song." Both of their selections are a long genre away from the old soul standard Knock On Wood.

Blake Shelton made the same mistake in selecting "You're No Good" for his contestants Bree Fondacaro 24 who sang "It Ain't Me Babe" in his audition while Taylor Brashears, 21 sang "You Ain't Woman Enough" in the audition. Brashears won the dual.

Mentor Pharrell Williams chose another moldy oldie from the 50's "On Broadway" for his pupils Brittany Butler 21 who sang the "The Girl from Ipanema" in the audition and Ricky Manning 19 who sang "Love Me Again" in the audition stage. "On Broadway" is a song that most likely predates the birthdates of their parents.

The older than dirt song selections went on and on raising the question is The Voice being bought out by publishing companies or interest to promote their material? The old song selections were a reoccurring theme that raises red flags is the show is really interested in finding the best voice? As the shows popularity grows are they abandoning the best interests of the contestants or is The Voice becoming the pimps for corporate interests?

Williams also drew attention when he chose an inferior singer to a seasoned back-up singer Maiya Sykes 36 who sang "Stay with Me" during the her audition that received raves from all of the judges in a four chair turnaround. Williams pitted her against Elyjuh René, 18 in the battle round to sing "If I Ain't Got You."

After Williams selected Rene as the winner Sykes gave him the cold shoulder when she wasn't saved and walked off the stage past him. Williams reached out to her but as Isaac Hayes sang she just Walked on By.

Williams had a shocked looked on his face and fellow judge Gwen Stefani recognized that he was in a land of hurt. She jumped out of her chair and went to Williams to give him what she thought he needed…. A HUG.

There is no excuse for the older than dirt song selections but perhaps there is a guilty with and explanation for Williams questionable choice of Rene. Rene has a good voice but no where near as strong as Sykes who had the strongest voice in the competition (opinion). The possible behind the scenes twist to this scenario is Williams may have had a chemistry problem with Sykes. It is possible that he felt he couldn't work with her and there was a clash of egos.

This is a legitimate reason for a judge to select a lesser talent over another. When they choose a talent from the auditions they don't know their personalities. When it gets to the coaching stage it all comes together or falls apart. This is not to say this is the case in this instance but it purely an opinion from the world of shoulda, woulda, coulda.

The addition of Taylor Swift to be a mentor for all of the judge's contestants is a good move. For a 23-year-old she is very smart and knowledgeable. She adds a bit of spice t the show as well as being eye candy. The question is can Swift save a ship that is beginning to waver under what appears to be tampering of corporate pressure?

The bottom line is although this team of judges has the best team personality of all of the judging teams during the seven seasons of The Voice there seems to be some interference from some powers that be with how things are done. The show seems to be going through a negative adjustment period that is similar to the too many absurd changes and over production that sank American Idol. Stay tuned…

Part 2 - THE AMAZING RACE is LOSING FACE

National Radio text is published in five languages, Thai, French, Russian, Khmer (Cambodian language) and English, Any of our foreign language material and our Roman Wanderaugh columns is legally available ONLY on our National Radio site. Our sports, entertainment and feature programming has been broadcast on over 1000 radio stations.

TV SCHEDULE

Note: The shows listed are for the Cambodia/Thailand time zone. Check our chart or your local listings for time in your area.

NOTE TIMES OF THE SAME TELECAST IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES

© Copyright: National Radio. Any use of these materials, whole or in part, is prohibited unless authorized in writing by National Radio. Contact: nationalradio@yahoo.com All rights reserved.