Is there room on network television for two singing competitions on the same night, head to head?
Let’s find out. Last night both "American Idol" and "The Voice" were broadcast and it turns out I was interested enough to watch them both. (Consider your market research survey done.)
First, I am an unabashed "American Idol" junkie, hooked from day one. They lost me last season, but this year J.Lo and Steve Tyler brought me back.
Plus, last night they featured Carole King, which is my idea of heaven.
(Thank you James Durbin. Thank you Casey. Thank you Hayley, very much. Scotty, you are an acquired taste by any measure except for 13 year old Southern girls.)
J.Lo’s legs got a cameo, when Durbin and Jacob Lusk wheeled the singer out from behind her judging table to serenade her in tandem. I’d pay money to watch Casey Abrams every week; as it is I get to see him for free.
That show is winding down for the season, and probably for its run, overall.
Meanwhile, "The Voice" – another European cut-and-paste – turned out to be a lot of fun, because last night it pitted the rock star judges against one another.
As each of the four listened to blind auditions so they could vie for contestants to put on their respective "teams," they got a little testy. And they had to pitch themselves to the contestants. Christina Aguilera kept tweaking Adam Levine for pitching so hard.
“He is a little bit of a wheeler-dealer,” said Aguilera of Levine, as she tried to convince Beverly McLellan, a bald, butch, tattooed singer with a pure Janis Joplin vibe, to join her team.
In trying to win the heart of contestant Javier Colon, the rock star judges laid it on thick.
Ceelo: It was perfect.
Levine (one-upping): It was perfect but tasteful. You showed a lot of restraint.
Colon picked Levine.
Hard to tell if the rest of the contest will be as entertaining. But Mark Burnett and the other producers have succeeded in making The Voice different enough from Idol to draw attention, while still remaining a singing competition.
But it’s still early. We’ll keep on watching.
