American Idol vs. The Voice

[XIserveIX]

Honestly, what's the difference? I can't really see it to be honest.

[the wanderer]

i am with you, these shows are getting out of hand, whats next, singing robots?

[Axe Elf]

I tried to resist American Idol when it started, because I detested all that it stood for. However, I happened to catch Clay Aiken's audition at the beginning of Season 2, and I was hooked. Still, it remained enough of a guilty pleasure that I tried really hard to avoid all the other talent shows that have blossomed in the Idol wake, and for the most part, I have succeeded. I did not watch the first season of The Voice, nor did I watch X-Factor, and I have not watched "America's Got Talent" even once.

Ok, I do watch "So You Think You Can Dance," but that's different. Yes it is. Shut it.

And then I left the TV tuned to NBC after the SuperBowl and caught the Season 2 premiere of The Voice--and now I'm hooked on THAT TOO, dangit! The main reason is that an artist I discovered in 2011 auditioned for the show, and got the approval of all four judges. His name is Tony Lucca, and he was one of the New Mouseketeers on the Mickey Mouse Club back in the 90s, along with Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, and The Voice judge Christina Aguilera.

The differences between The Voice and American Idol, as far as I can tell, are first that American Idol is for true unknowns and amateurs, while many professional singers are looking for their big break on The Voice--such as the aforementioned Tony Lucca, and another auditioner who has been a background singer for Alicia Keys for several years. Secondly, the format is a little different. On American Idol, the judges all critique the performers without taking sides, and on The Voice, the idea of the audition is to get one or more of the judges to turn their chair around to face you during your audition, which means they want you on their team. If more than one wants you, you get to choose whose team you want to be on, and then the four judges compete against each other over the course of the season by way of coaching their teams of performers.

So there, I watch them both. Next thing you know, I'll be watching Howard Stern on "America's Got Talent."

Until next time...
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[Axe Elf]

Another difference I noted since my last post--American Idol has an age limit of 28 and some of the auditioners on The Voice are like 50.

So I'm into my 10th season of watching American Idol, and I have now seen exactly 3 episodes of The Voice, and you know what? I think The Voice might be a better show--or at least a better showcase of talent. American Idol is pretty good at cranking out exactly what their name implies--teenybopper heartthrobs and Teen Beat centerfolds--but they're not very good at anything else. Whenever someone new and unique passes through the American Idol meat grinder, the sausage that comes out bears little resemblance to the filet mignon that went in. (See Taylor Hicks, Bo Bice, Chris Daughtry, and most recently, James Durbin--have you heard his debut album? Pew.)

In contrast, many of the artists on The Voice already seem to know who they are and who they want to be--and just need a little promotion and guidance from the stars of the show to give their careers a nudge towards the limelight.

I'm going to highlight three of my favorites so far--Tony Lucca, Erin Martin and Juliet Simms. If you like any of them, maybe you'll watch The Voice this season with me.

I mentioned Tony Lucca in my previous post; I just discovered him myself in 2011 from his free sampler album "Solo" on amazon (don't bother; it's been discontinued). He's gotten a shave and a haircut (two bits) for the show, but here he is in a live performance of one of my favorite songs on "Solo":

[Axe Elf]

Erin Martin's voice blew me away with its quirky beauty--and she's a pretty quirky beauty herself. No matter how she does on The Voice, she has "pop star" written all over her. This is one of her older songs, before she started recording fluffy dance numbers:



She also does a solid cover of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time":

Erin Martin - Time After Time

[Axe Elf]

And finally, Juliet Simms has been a vocalist for "Automatic Loveletter" and has thus been seen by patrons of The Warped Tour. Here is the studio version of her solo audition song for The Voice:

[musiclistsareus]

(It's not a philosophical choice, I just hate paying for cable-hookup, and I can't get anything otherwise), but I almost always enjoy the variety of talent shows and other reality programming when I get a chance to watch them.

[Derek]

i really dont like either but if i had to chose, it would be the voice

[Axe Elf]

Erin Martin's audition song is now up on youtube. God I love her voice--but will it be THE Voice?

[Axe Elf]

Tonight was one more week of blind auditions down on Season 2 of The Voice, with one final week to go.

There wasn't anyone tonight who totally blew me away, but my night's favorite would probly be Tony Vincent, a veteran of stage productions including "Jesus Christ Superstar," Broadway's "Rent," Green Day's "American Idiot," and Queen's "We Will Rock You." He has a legitimate rock voice, and he auditioned with a capable version of "We Are the Champions"--but again, I wasn't completely stunned.

Of local interest for me is Nicolle Galyon, a piano-playing country singer, who hails from a small town in Kansas about an hour away from me. I don't think she's going to go far on the show, but it's kind of nice to have a Kansas gal in the mix.

Parenthetically, I was in Phoenix (about 50 feet from Glendale) the year that Jordin Sparks (from Glendale) won American Idol, and then when I moved back to Kansas, David Cook from the Kansas City area, where I had lived for 18 years, won it the next season. So maybe this bodes well for Nicolle...?

The most memorable name of the night belonged to Charlotte Sometimes (her real name). When a judge asked, "What's your name?" and she said, "Charlotte Sometimes," I was just dying for one of them to ask, "What's your name the rest of the time?" but no one did.

Consider yourselves updated.