The Real Discoveries of 'The Voice': The Panel

[Mark Jeffries]

Six cycles in with a seventh to start on Sept. 22, the NBC reality comp has yet to find a superstar singer (unlike "Idol," with its two unchallenged superstars Kelly and Carrie and several others who are doing better than OK), but it's sure made its panel of "coaches" more famous than they already were--this Billboard cover story has Adam Levine mentioning that his band Maroon 5 was starting to skid before the show brought his Douchiest Man Alive persona into millions of homes and Blake Shelton (who probably wouldn't be hawking for Pizza Hut if not for the show) saying that he'll stay with the show to the very end (although he and Levine, the keys on the panel since Day 1,  are most likely reupping cycle-by-cycle):

http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6251215/the-voice-billboard-cover-story-gwen-stefani-adam-levine-pharrell-williams-blake-shelton?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=biz_breakingnews&utm_campaign=Breaking%20News

[Tom Wolper]

On Fri, Sep 12, 2014 at 10:11 AM, Mark Jeffries <spotl...@gmail.com> wrote:

Six cycles in with a seventh to start on Sept. 22, the NBC reality comp has yet to find a superstar singer (unlike "Idol," with its two unchallenged superstars Kelly and Carrie and several others who are doing better than OK), but it's sure made its panel of "coaches" more famous than they already were--this Billboard cover story has Adam Levine mentioning that his band Maroon 5 was starting to skid before the show brought his Douchiest Man Alive persona into millions of homes and Blake Shelton (who probably wouldn't be hawking for Pizza Hut if not for the show) saying that he'll stay with the show to the very end (although he and Levine, the keys on the panel since Day 1,  are most likely reupping cycle-by-cycle):

http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6251215/the-voice-billboard-cover-story-gwen-stefani-adam-levine-pharrell-williams-blake-shelton

I guess I'm getting less cynical as I grow older. I should have realized the desired outcome of these shows is to showcase the judges, not the performers. It should have been obvious when Cowell and Seacrest's stocks rocketed up when Idol became a hit, but I missed it.

In his book about the movies and their stars, Gods Like Us, Ty Burr points out the stroke of genius of early Hollywood. If they market the movie, its audience will dissipate as soon as the movie is off screens. But if they market the stars, their audience will go to all of their movies to watch them. The success or failure of these talent shows is based on whether viewers want to watch these judges season after season. The performers are incidental.

[PGage]

As these things go, that was a pretty good article I thought. I think I asked about this same issue a year ago or so, though I think my version was more like: "Why is it that "The Voice" is a much more enjoyable show to watch, while "AI" seems to do a better job of producing commercially successful recording artists?" I have since hypothesized that part of the answer is that AI is more likely to get singers who have not really had a full swing at commercial success yet, while TV seems to mostly feed on good acts that have already had a real shot, with recording contracts, national concert tours, etc, and for some reason failed. As a result, while the average singer on TV is better than the average singer on AI, most of the TV singers have already demonstrated they lack the magic to transition to a real star, while AI will occasionally hit on someone who does have it, and a few more who have enough of it to make a living. While I have enjoyed more than a few performances on TV, only one or two really rise above what you would hear from a good lounge singer.

But I think the point made here is probably even more important - either by intelligence design or accidental evolution, TV has really become a show that is much more about the judges/mentors. Not just the corny schmoozing in the twirling chairs, but the clips of them "coaching" their singers and talking a little bit about what it takes to be successful is actually kind of interesting. If there was a similar show with NBA players holding a 12 week tryout looking for a playground baller who would get as a prize a 10-day contract with an NBA team, I would be interested in hearing and seeing Kobe Bryant coach the kid up a little, and opine on what it takes to translate raw skills in to professional success. [Wait a minute - copyright that brilliant idea]. I care about basketball more than I do popular music, but I still find it interesting enough to watch. And critically, in that hypothetical NBA show, what I would be interested in primarily is not so much the playground kid (99.5% of whom would flame out during the 10-day contract, get little or no playing time and then never be heard from again) but what famous and effective professionals are like and have to say about their craft and business. AI on the other hand has figured out too late that it is about the contestants more than the judges, which I guess is why the original AI was able to succeed with a list of judges that probably would not at the time have even been considered "B" List.

On Fri, Sep 12, 2014 at 7:11 AM, Mark Jeffries <spotl...@gmail.com> wrote:

Six cycles in with a seventh to start on Sept. 22, the NBC reality comp has yet to find a superstar singer (unlike "Idol," with its two unchallenged superstars Kelly and Carrie and several others who are doing better than OK), but it's sure made its panel of "coaches" more famous than they already were--this Billboard cover story has Adam Levine mentioning that his band Maroon 5 was starting to skid before the show brought his Douchiest Man Alive persona into millions of homes and Blake Shelton (who probably wouldn't be hawking for Pizza Hut if not for the show) saying that he'll stay with the show to the very end (although he and Levine, the keys on the panel since Day 1,  are most likely reupping cycle-by-cycle):

http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6251215/the-voice-billboard-cover-story-gwen-stefani-adam-levine-pharrell-williams-blake-shelton?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=biz_breakingnews&utm_campaign=Breaking%20News

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[Kevin M.]

On Fri, Sep 12, 2014 at 2:10 PM, PGage <pga...@gmail.com> wrote:

As these things go, that was a pretty good article I thought. I think I asked about this same issue a year ago or so, though I think my version was more like: "Why is it that "The Voice" is a much more enjoyable show to watch, while "AI" seems to do a better job of producing commercially successful recording artists?"

I think the worst kept secret in the literary world is that authors with money (i.e. Bill O'Reilly) will sometimes buy enough copies of their own books to make themselves "New York Times bestselling" authors. There are legends of warehouses filled with boxes containing thousands of never-read tomes. An equally badly kept secret is that the production companies and networks behind the singing shows (who earn a percentage of everybody who performed on their show who goes on to either tour or release an album, even the losers like William Hung) propped up the careers of some of the contestants using similar methods, most likely taking money from the promotional arm of the budget. One of their artists charts, it lends a sort of credibility to the series and leads to other artists succeeding, which leads to more money for the creators. It's important to keep in mind that the TV shows aren't about singers or musicians, they are about the TV shows. The producers of The Voice or Idol only care about the success of those who appear on their shows inasmuch as it benefits the show. As shows like Idol decline in viewers, the budget to bolster the singers who "win" is lessened, which leads to less exposure for the show which leads to worse ratings... it's a cycle. As I understand it, NBC has been less reluctant to prop up the contestants on their shows (Last Comic Standing is another NBC show that comes to mind where the talent isn't followed up with after they appear), which is probably why you hear more about the "judges" than the singers. 

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Kevin M. (RPCV)