Thus far there is smooth sailing on The Voice minus Adam Levine with the judging cast of Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, John Legend and Kelly Clarkson - (The Voice/NBC photo)

Adam Levine could be considered OUT THERE when he exposed his tattooed chest in this season's Super Bowl half time show - (Screen shot - photo)

Video Beat - THE VOICE…. POST LEVINE

James Loving - National Radio Text Service

Thus far there is smooth sailing with the cast of Shelton, Stefani, John Legend and Kelly Clarkson. Clarkson has been assigned Levine's chair at the end of the row - The danger is that if there is too much of a focus on Stefani and Shelton's relationship that The Voice turns into the Gwen and Blake Show

LIFE GOES ON… MINUS LEVINE

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

On May 24, 2019, after having initially opted to return for another season, it was announced that original coach Adam Levine wouldn't be returning as a coach and would be departing from the show after sixteen seasons. Gwen Stefani replaced Levine, marking her fourth season as a coach.

To some there was a question… how can The Voice survive without Adam Levine as a judge and the comedic antics between him and Blake Shelton. The results are in… just fine thank you.

When Levine abruptly informed the powers that be that he was quitting the show after sixteen seasons quick action was taken in replacing him. Their choice was Shelton's main squeeze Gwen Stafani who was winding up her Las Vegas show.

Thus far there is smooth sailing with the cast of Shelton, Stefani, John Legend and Kelly Clarkson. Clarkson has been assigned Levine's chair at the end of the row. She often has barbs for Shelton When Stefani bates a contestant to choose her as a coach inferring that picking her is an advantage since she is Shelton's girlfriend Clarkson inserts that she doesn't sleep with Shelton but her husband is his manager things get complicated for the contestant.

Humor also emerges between Stefani and Shelton when he points out to competitors that he has won as a coach in more seasons than Stefani has appeared on the show. He also strengthens his plea that he has won, a shows best, six times.

The danger is that if there is too much of a focus on Stefani and Shelton's relationship that The Voice turns into the Gwen and Blake Show. Thus far the producers are walking a tightrope.

Remember… the death of the previous American Idol was when they turned it into the Jennifer Lopez presents the American Idols. Too much of a focus on relationships and the judges is a slippery slope.

This season the contestants are strong competitors. With two that stand out, 38-year-old Katie Kadan a four chair turnaround and Khalea Lynee, 36 also a four chair turnaround both coached by Legend. Kadan has a powerful Aretha Franklin type voice and Lynee has a sweet but full voice that capably handled Celeen Dion's "Because You Loved Me."

Legend is coming off of being last season's coaching winner in his inaugural endeavor. This time around he show more confidence and is more vibrant in his dialog. Having had formal music training is showing in his communication with his team. He makes strong suggestions to them on how to hit their notes and explaining the differences in what they did and what he is teaching.

With Lynee and Kaden being so talented the one drawback is their age with both being in their 30's. The voting public is young who are enthused with being involved and taking the time and wanting to pay the costs to vote.

Young voters have a tendency to vote for those closer to their age as well as voting on impulse. Young voters also identify with contestants that sing songs that youths identify, songs from their era. Young voters largely fail to understand a quality voice as opposed to a visual attraction.

In one respect Legend is a challenge to Shelton in identifying talent. He also has the talent to choose songs that are complimentary to the artist. He can see what the contestant can't see in the capabilities of their vocal ability.

Song choice is king, a great voice can fail if the song doesn't compliment their voice. In The Knockout round the contestants choose the song they feel is best for them and often fail in doing so. As a result many of the contestant's performances fall short of them moving on to the next round and are eliminated.

The chemistry between the coach and the talent can falter as a result of a personality clash or quirk in their personality. Some cant' be coached and feel that they know more about their voice than their coach thus the coach doesn't want to continue with them. In some cases a talent may not be successful due to annoying spouse or guardian.

The slaughter begins in the live performances. This season the six week Live Playoffs will begin Monday, November 11, in episode 15.

For the first time since season 11 there will be a Top 20 instead of a Top 24. On Monday, the Top 20 artists perform live for their chance at a spot in the Top 13.

On Tuesday, in the live results show, eight artists will be revealed as safe by America's votes and the coaches will each select an artist to save. The remaining artists from each team with the highest overnight vote will have a chance to compete for the Wild Card and one artist will continue on.

The talent is interesting and as the dust settles with the judge's saves and steals who knows who will have the best talent. The bottom line is life goes on in The Voice minus Adam Levine.

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