The Voice UK, which debuted on BBC One on Saturday night, seemed to fit the bill. I'd heard bits about the formula from the US show, but hadn't seen it in action, and having grown tired and fed up with X Factor, a fresh take on the reality singing show was just what I wanted.
So what's the premise? Blind auditions! Coaches instead of judges! Handpicked contestants! Sounds good so far, right? Big name coaches drew me in, too, with Jessie J, Tom Jones, Danny O'Donoghue and will.i.am making up the panel. So, the show kicked off, what did I think?
What the format did have going for it was the contestants. They're handpicked by BBC talent scouts, meaning all the acts and can sing, and to a pretty decent degree. Even the ones who didn't get through weren't being rejected because they couldn't sing. It was refreshing to go through a whole show and not have someone victimised by putting them through several rounds of off-screen auditions only for them to be laughed at by an audience and the judges. The joke acts became stale on X Factor years ago, and these days it verges on bullying. And there were some real stand out performances! For me J Marie Cooper stood out, belting out Jessie J's own song "Mamma Knows Best" and doing it in style.
There was one thing that left me hugely dissapointed, though. One of my biggest gripes with X Factor is the over-dramtic build up as we're introduced to each contestent. "Oh look, here's them pacing around looking nervous! Here's them in their bedroom singing! Here's their tale of woe accompanied by sad music!" It's been done before. I was under the impression that The Voice would be sob-story free, or there would at least be LESS of it. It's something that's been mentioned in all the promos. In reality, it's all still there. Yes the judges hear their voice without seeing them or knowing their name/story, but once they've turned around all that comes out anyway. So from now on, those who have got through WILL be judged on their image/sob story because they went and told the judges as soon as they were done singing. I don't know how the show works at later stages of the competition, and I hope it will stand apart from X Factor and continue to let the acts be themselves, but I could have done without all the build up and emotional waffle. My personal opinion, obviously.
As for the coaches, I thought Jessie J really stood out. She's clearly somebody who's passionate about music and wants the best for her acts, and as a singer songwriter who's fought her way to the top you can completely believe she's being truthful in all she says. Jessie clearly empathises with a lot of the acts, making them feel comfortable and I hope this will be reflected throughout the series as we see more of her influences on the acts. Tom Jones and will.i.am seemed to spend most of the time name-dropping, which got very boring very quickly, and the show is in danger of focussing too much on the coaches and not enough on the acts, but will.i.am showed a lot of personality and a surprising sense of humour. I'm still waiting for Danny to shine, which I think he will when it comes to acts who specialise in rocky/guitary stuff as that's really his forte. I'm glad there's somebody there so passionate about the musical side of things, and who will be great guidance to those who wish to incorparate an instument into their act.It's not what I was expecting, and I'm not hooked. Those disappointments will stay with me but I hope that as the series progresses it turns into something I can take more seriously. I'll still be tuning in next week.
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