The Voice Season 3 premiered last night with an ecstatic rendition of a Rolling Stones classic by the judges, which once again presented The Voice in a dim vanity project light. We know Christina Aguilera and co are able to hit outstanding high notes and all that jazz, but this celebration of self is becoming slightly awkward. The new season has allowed the producers to bring in a brand new twist called the “Steal”, where one judge is able to steal two contestants from a rival judge – once again, over-the-top self-indulgence.
There were great singers, there were good singers and there were some average singers, but as per usual, the chairs swung around and the fates of a few were in the hands of Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton. The first singer was a Scottish Rocker who did the seminal “Baba ‘O Riley”. Named Terry McDermott (not clichéd right?), this vocalist was chosen by Adam, Cee Lo and Bake, but Terry eventually ended up in choosing Blake as his mentor. The comments given to him were the usual judging school fare, with only Christina who remarked that his voice was fit for radio. The second contestant of the night was De’Borah (seriously now, were their names picked by Mark Burnett for popular appeal?) a soul gospel singer from Chicago. Her choice in mentor was Christina Aguilera, seeing that only Christina and Cee Lo pressed those damn buttons.
The rest of the contestants of the night were able to impress their vocal standard on the judges by singing the usual pop/country/R&B fare. Gracia Harrison stood out like a sore thumb with her rendition of the country classic “I Wanna Be A Cowboy’s Sweetheart”. Adam Levine told her that she’s “the best country singer” that had ever been on The Voice, but Gracia did not fall for Adam’s sweetened words and chose Blake as her mentor in the end.
The stand-out of the night was Bryan Keith, who was browbeaten by all four judges due to his magnificent rendition of the horrible Bruno Mars hit “It Will Rain”. He chose Adam in a duel for the best mentor. Daniel Rosa, who auditioned last season, returned once again to impress the four chairs by doing the superstar hit of 2012, “Somebody That I Used To Know”. In true, over-the-top sentimentality, Adam ran up to Daniel and hugged him. Adam remarked that Daniel “is the story of how to not give up.” Okay, we’ve heard that a thousand times before on a thousand talent seasons, so perhaps the archaic schmaltziness could take a break from prime time television for a while? Daniel chose Cee Lo as his judge. Yay…
Three contestants were not chosen by any of the judges (the producers had to include the less stellar singers, for without horror comes no greatness, hey?). The three eliminated sad faces were not the worst singers in the history of television, but they just didn’t deliver the “standard” which the judges required.
Most viewers at home do not realize that the decisions behind the scenes have a bigger impact on the show than the edited and pre-packaged version which you see on your television screen. Decisions are based not solely on vocal ability, but also on personality, back story and potential future popular appeal. The final contestants which are seen during the broadcast had been filtered through more production decisions than an entire season of Survivor. Mark Burnett is infamous for his production values and secretive production decisions, but please note, this still does not take any talent away from the contestants – they are still up there singing their hearts out and terrified to be eliminated. It is more a case of, what you see is not always what you get.
Finally, we bring you the pairing summary of the night, plus the number of contestants each judge has. You may use this as reference in the future episodes, so make sure to bookmark this page if you are ever caught up in a debate at work on who chose whom during the episode:
Trevin Hunte is paired with Cee Lo Green, Joe Kirkland is paired with Adam Levine, Daniel Rosa is paired with Cee Lo Green, Bryan Keith is paired with Adam Levine, Devon Deloera is paired with Christina Aguilera, Gracia Harrison is paired with Blake Shelton, De’Borah is paired with Christina Aguilera, Terry McDermott is paired with Blake Shelton
The number of contestants of each judges is as follows:
Christina Aguilera – 2, Adam Levine – 2, Cee Lo Green – 2, Blake Shelton – 2.
Stay with Celeb Dirty Laundry for more The Voice reviews and recaps and let us know in the comments below what you think of the premiere episode.