The Voice & American Idol

In the interest of seeing just how many music and singing competitions America can stand both NBC and FOX are airing shows which feature singing competitions. For the most part however the similarities between the shows end there.

American Idol now in it's tenth, eleventh, twenty-seventh, one of those seasons is a tried and true success. The loss of Simon Cowell did little to slow down the success of the show and now with Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez in their second season seems to have found its groove again.

Watching the auditions on Idol is a formula that many people enjoy and others grit their teeth through. Now that we are into the final 13 the singers on Idol are quite good. So much depends on their song choice of course and no matter how experienced they are in singing nerves play a big part. Idol has a maximum age of 28, as they are seeking a person that will provide the full star experience.

The Voice has a different set up entirely. Stating that for them The Voice is everything they audition performers only by listening. As the celebrity judges sit back to the stage the singers sing. The judges then depending on their impression of the singer turn around and then try to convince them to join their team. It is a neat setup, seeing the surprise on the judges faces when someone is not what they expected is a genuine television moment on a platform that is becoming more and more contrived.

The singers on The Voice seem to be as strong and certainly with no age limits on the performers a much more diverse group. On The Voice no performers are put on stage to fail, only good singers even appear on the show. They might not get selected but they are not some of the freak shows that Idol puts on.

What will be interesting to see is if The Voice ever puts some successful performers on the music map such as Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, and Chris Daughtry.

In the end it is simply a matter of taste. Idol is less about singing and more about the show. The Voice is more about the singing but the interplay between the judges is also a big part of the show...if you like that it is a plus, if not it can get tedious.

On Idol Steven Tyler is silly and amazingly likable. Jennifer Lopez has an approachability which is startling and act or not seems to genuinley care about the singers. Both are high on the likability scale. Randy Jackson seems to be attempting to fill some of the Simon Cowell role and he himself is a tired act.

The Voice has four judges. Adam Levine from Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera have a constant back and forth, maybe it's sexual tension. If it is not they play it up to be. One of the distracting things about The Voice is all the auditions were done on the same day and they make no effort to mask this with different outfits on the judges. As my wife says Christina is a bit distracting as she has her boobs out constantly.

The other judges are C Lo Green. He is likable more so than the first two and the singers flock to him. The last judge is country singer Blake Shelton. He is perhaps the most likable of the four.

I think that I like The Voice better. Both are shows that my wife enjoys very much. I like that she gets to watch shows she likes.