Wednesday, 9 May 2012

The Voice Finale: Final thoughts and then I'm off!


So Jermaine Paul won! What a surprise, huh? When Carson announced that Chris and Tony finished 4th and 3rd respectively, I genuinely thought that Juliet had it in the bag. But then Jermaine's name was called and for some reason I said to myself, 'Jermaine who?'. I guess being the underdog really did have its perks, especially since out of the four contestants, Jermaine remained to be the only one untainted by controversy and dirty publicity. It's a shame for Juliet because she deserved the title more than anyone else in my opinion, but needless to say, all four will have great careers. 

I would like to take this post as a final rant (hell yeah, why not) on the Levine-Aguilera feud this season. Again, I feel a bit sad for Lucca and Mann because it seems to be that the feud between their coaches really did put a damper on their potentiality last night. Xtina and Lucca fans countered each other's votes and in the end it opened the window wide and clear for Jermaine and his coach 'Shufflin Shelton' to take the cake. Overall- and I'm not saying this as a defence for Aguilera just because I am a fan- I think Adam is to blame for this whole fiasco. Let me explain. 

It all started with that 'one-dimensional' comment right? As far as I'm concerned, Xtina was merely opining on Lucca's performance. Then she said she hoped that the celebrity sway won't put him through over his capability as an artist and his talent. Again, nothing wrong with that, and as we saw from the semi-finals, Xtina was spot on because Levine chose bromance over the divine talents of Adele 2.0 (a.k.a. Katrina Parker). So what went wrong? Adam took it to heart, swayed Lucca to the dark side by continually deciding to get under Xtina's skin via song choices each week. Hasn't anybody realised that that single critique improved Lucca's artistry vastly on the show? He even acknowledges the benefits of Xtina's apparent 'shading', because he pushed himself further. Obviously, Xtina could have done without the acidic remarks each week but then again why shouldn't she when Adam won't let it go? Opting for Britney was one thing, then the following 'How Do You Like Me Now' and '99 Problems' were clearly vindictive towards Aguilera. Lucca may not have wanted to do it, or maybe he did to get his own back, but the truth remains that out of the three, Adam was the perpetrator of the feud. Aguilera should have stopped early on, and she could have if only Adam left it at 'Baby One More Time'. 

Lucca told the press afterwards that Xtina asked him for a private audience to clear the air, and I applaud her for the maturity to at least try and apologise after all was said and done, and he apparently responded in kind. What about the coach? The press surrounding the show has suddenly started an anti-Aguilera revolution, and so has the viewers who still cannot get over the whole thing. I am personally over it, especially since the whole time I was watching the finale I was fangirling on Juliet Simms, but then again I love Xtina so shoot me for defending the girl. And that's just it as well. She's the only girl in the panel against a trio of unadulterated jocks and that on its own deserves merit. She was fighting back because Levine kept bullying her passive-aggressively. I can only hope that they grow up for the next season or there won't be another showing for either of them. Should Xtina quit? Yes-because people are WAAAAY too sensitive to hear the truth on live television especially if its about two hot guys. But then again, why should she? If she does, the press would just spin this way overboard and make it out as Adam winning overall because he got the evil bitch of the screen. As for Mr. Levine, I can see why he would get dumped by a Victoria's Secret model via the press too- he's a dick and he deserves no equal amount of respect. A mature, non-misogynist  would not have chosen songs openly attacking a lady (or a Dirrty bitch-whatever you wanna call her) on live television. Be a gentleman for fuck's sake and just bitch about her behind close doors.

As for the rest of the show (because there was a show happening amidst the drama if you failed to notice!), what was NBC doing not having damage control at the get-go? I know the feud made for some great, albeit awkward television, but seriously? They bleep every cuss the coaches drop on the show but they don't give a fuck about how the feud may have just ruined their credibility. As far as talent was concerned, I thought this season yielded better talent than the last. However, most of them were taken out prematurely for reasons beyond my comprehension. Case in point, Erin Martin. That girl did not have a single ounce of viable talent yet she took a place on Cee Lo's team instead of having some other more talented singer. I had issues with Xtina removing Jesse Campbell early, but had she not, we wouldn't have seen more of Lindsey Pavao or Chris Mann- or Ashley de la Rosa for that matter, more so because they all showed growth. Plus they are significantly more marketable than Campbell in this age of less grandiose, musical climate. Time and time again, I abhorred Adam's unceremonious elimination of Katrina Parker who was the true star of his team. For some reason people never took offence at the fact that he constantly undermined Parker's talent by saying 'Oh my god, you were the most improved, blah blah blah'. What the fuck are you talking about? Alanis Morisette was giddy towards Katrina's voice! She never needed improving. Katrina Parker WAS Adam Levine's Jesse Campbell. Other notable contestants include Erin Willet, who I enjoyed more because of her hilarious photo-bombing antics with Chris Mann, and the unbelievably talented Jamar Rogers, who I wish was not on Team Cee Lo only so he could have made it into the final with Juliet. Finally, I think they should fire Christina Milian and Carson Daly, because they simply suck. 

Overall, I thought it was an interesting season but one that could have been better. There was only one coach performance all year, which comes as no surprise given the incredibly volatile relationship between Adam and Xtina. That is a shame because I always go back to their group performance of 'Crazy' and think that they could have been a supergroup. This is the last post I will do on The Voice (until next season anyway) and the Levine-Aguilera scandal, simply because there's no point in bringing the subject up in the future. Also, my guilty penchant for reality TV during the stressful final weeks of Uni will soon come to pass, because I am nearly done! I don't really tend to write rants about TV shows but in between Plato essays and my dissertation of Greek witches, The Voice made for some exceptional late night entertainment (I do watch it in UK time). Plus it's XTINA! I adore that woman and I will come to her defence anytime. Only next time I wish she would just tune Adam out. She's managed to shut out the rest of her critics anyways, so unless she plans on sleeping with the guy to get everything over and done with, I say move on and release that fucking album already. 

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[image: CNN.com]

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