CharlieCruiser's World: Mary J. Blige

Showing posts with label Mary J. Blige. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Cee-Lo Green & Adam Levine May Host Mark Burnett's Singing Competition Show "The Voice"

Grammy scene-stealer Cee-Lo Green and Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine are in serious discussions to join Mark Burnett’s singing competition The Voice for NBC.

Producers also considered Lenny Kravitz, Roger Daltrey, Mary J. Blige, John Legend and Enrique Iglesias about occupying a judging seat on the show. Plus, there’s a major-name female star who’s in talks to join as well, but is not yet close to a deal (according to two unconfirmed sources, it’s Christina Aguilera, which would obviously be an enormous name for any talent show).

Deals are not signed and things could still change. But NBC hopes to close deals with the male singers within the next few days, and then sign another judge sometime next week. While taking a break from his work on Gnarls Barkley, Cee-Lo has been on a star-making run with his hit single “F-You” and Grammy performance with Gwyneth Paltrow (during which he was dressed, appropriately enough for a man who may judge a show on NBC, as a peacock). Meanwhile, the LA-based band Maroon 5 released their most recent album last fall and played Fox’s Super Bowl pre-game earlier this month.

As Fox discovered last year when trying to fill spots on Idol, securing high-profile judges can be difficult as pop stars tend to come with prior commitments. Signing with a network for a TV show often means canceling other obligations, sometimes at a price.

Clearly NBC is going after pop stars instead of record label suits for their judges spots, and is hoping to land current and relevant artists. If hired, Cee Lo and Levine, along with the third judge, should lend some name recognition and industry experience to the show, as well as generate press interest.

The Voice seeks to gain market share when it launches this spring in the toughest of reality genres just as Idol is ramping up for its Top 12. It’s a high stakes plan, especially since Idol has already bested one competitor this season, CBS’ performance series Live to Dance starring former Idol judge Paula Abdul. But NBC has proven it can draw a good ratings with a singing competition with its winter a cappella competition The Sing Off.

The Voice is based on a Dutch hit where contestants audition while judges face the other direction, unable to see the contestants. The Susan Boyle-friendly format has judges making their verdicts based on the singer’s vocal talent alone rather than being influenced by the contestant’s physical appearance. Once they hit a button deciding whether to accept the performance, their chairs swivel around. Unlike Idol, contestants will not be sequestered during the competition, but will be free to interact with fans and perform on their own (such as doing club dates) while trying to build their fan base.

Last week NBC announced The Voice will take the unique step of opening its audition process to any singer with a web cam.

Carson Daly will host.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Another Contestant Bids Farewell to American Idol

And then there were six. At the end of the two-hour-plus Idol Gives Back charity concert Wednesday night someone had to say farewell.

It was Tim Urban’s time to go. (Well it was about time. He may look great shirtless in his modeling pictures, but this guy surely cannot carry a tune. He should have been gone along time ago...like before Hollywood week!)

He had a better run than probably anyone — apart from friends and family — expected, largely because he always flashed an ingratiating smile, had better hair than most professional pop stars and was growing stronger as a performer week by week. But you may have sensed the end was near Tuesday night when Ellen compared him to a soup du jour that failed to please her that particular day.

Ellen’s light cleverness often gets to the essence of everything.

In an unexpected development, Casey James not only made his first trip to the bottom three (along with Tim and Aaron Kelly) but he also fell to the bottom two. Casey’s problem is turning out to be his jaunty, rock ’n’ roll consistency. He’s often better than Aaron or Siobhan Magnus, but their occasional lows make their highs seem all the more impressive.

A rocky mountain range is more striking than even the most fertile plain.

Meanwhile, the rest of the show went off in all sorts of directions, raising money and doing good with the participation of many celebrities. The best guest performer? Probably Annie Lennox, who taped a segment about an HIV-positive girl in Africa. She also sang from London. (All the Icelandic volcano smoke prevented her from catching a flight to the States).

And it was fun to see Mary J. Blige do “Stairway to Heaven” with Randy on guitar.

I also loved Joss Stone's performance, along with Carrie Underwood.

Of the comic guests, Wanda Sykes was far and away the funniest with a short but on-target monologue: She said she’d been wondering if Simon was bored this season. She also observed how cruel it is to force the losing contestant to sing each week. George Lopez's "elimination" segment was also very entertaining.

This week, Tim was spared that final performance since the show was running so late. He went out smiling like blazes, though.

Next week's mentor is Shania Twain and the six remaining contestants will be performing her songs.