WHY IS "THE VOICE" F***ING UP! MY RANT ON WHY "THE VOICE," HAS SERIOUSLY MADE ME CONSIDER STOP WATCHING, DESPITE MY CONSTANT PRAISE UNTIL NOW.

As I write this blogpost, it's a few hours before the next episode of "The Voice," airs on the west coast, when I'll be watching it, maybe. For the first time, since the show went on the air, I'm seriously considering not watching it at all, and possibly stop watching it altogether after last week's episode. I have been, possibly the single-biggest supporter of "The Voice," since it debuted, and have proclaimed it as far-and-away superior to all other network singing competitions, and I've even explained how and why it is superior in great detail on this blog, particularly on one of my "Good on TV?" posts, where I compared the main three, "The Voice," "American Idol," and "The X-Factor," and explained detail-by-detail, how the minor differences between the shows, that some can easily dismiss as minor, or insignificant, make all the difference between from a show being average to a show being great, and yes, up until now "The Voice," was great. I know people don't like to hear that about reality shows, but "The Voice," until last week, was a great show.

Oh, here's the link to the original post I'm referring to by the way:
http://davidbaruffi.blogspot.com/2012/01/good-on-tv-american-idol-vs-x-factor-vs.html

And just re-reading my old post, I realized I wrote of all three shows, "I wouldn't call any of these show, 'great'". How ironic and contradictory I have become. That was written after the show's first season, it's currently in it's third, and it's already announced production on a fourth, starting in January. (Yes, there's two runs of the show this year.) I have been the one pushing "The Voice," since the beginning, and now, I'm seriously considering backing off completely. What-the-hell happened that has made me so viciously turn on this show, supposedly when the show is at it's peak of popularity? Last weeks episode, involved drastic and possibly unforgiveable changes to the show's format, the main one being that with 12 contestants still remaining, the show has chosen from here on in, that the show will be determine solely by an audience call-in vote. This was the best reason to watch "The Voice," how it wasn't determine by a call-in vote, and now, well, let's call it what it is, they've chosen to become "American Idol," an it sucks. I'm not a fan of the call-in vote, for any show really, and for the most part, we "The Voice," didn't use them, until they absolutely needed them, and even then, it wasn't used as the sole factor in determining who stays or goes, until it absolutely had to.

Yes, there's still 4 teams,- actually no their isn't anymore, really. They're gonna pretend that there's some kind of competition going on, because the judges did pick and work with the favorites that they chose, and they do care about whether their contestant(s) stays or goes, but there are no teams anymore. Two of the teams, have 3 members, while the others only have 2, after last week, and the two people who got the least amount of votes overall were eliminated. I hope I'm not the only one who gets that now, that it's doesn't matter who's on what teams now, it's simply a competition between twelve people, and America gets all the vote, and again, why? I have Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton, Cee-Lo Green, and Adam Levine, not only judging, they're teaching and working with these amazingly talented competitors, why should I even care, who the American Voting Public thinks is the best? Could I have four more qualified people telling me who's good and who's not, why should I trust a bunch of people who are probably not as experienced or knowledgeable about music as these four, and who probably aren't determining winners based on talent anyway? That was the problem with "American Idol," and all the other shows, and the reason I love "The Voice," was specifically because that was completely taken out of the equation, so why are they putting it back in, especially since, "American Idol," is at the weakest ratings it's ever had. Last year, it fell from number 1 in the ratings to number 2, which doesn't sound horrible, but considering that it was number 1 for the last eight years, (No other show has ever spent more than five years at number one, much less, eight in a row.) so obviously the people, are getting a little annoyed at this weekly audience vote that the show is now insisting on. (And I'm personally disgusted by, but that's not a recent development)

Well, maybe that's not true. Last week, more people voted on the results of "The Voice," than ever, even more than they did, for last year's finale episode. Needless to say, I didn't vote. Normally, I do. I vote online, usually for the maximum amount for the contestant(s) I want to win, and the reason I voted is because, I knew that my opinion was going to count, the exact amount that my opinion should matter. It mattered as a fan of music, and as a member of the general public, but not nearly as much as the people that have about 20 or so Grammys between them. I know my place in the world, and that, my opinion should matter only as much as I have one, and can express it, but also, that I'm not the person people should trust to make determinations on artists, no matter how right or wrong I may be. Still, why they've chosen to alienate their fanbase, which watched "The Voice," because it was, essentially the Anti-"Idol," by making the show more like "Idol," is at minimum, questionable, and at most tragic. NBC, in the future, for your next season, I want "The Voice," to be "The Voice," next time, keep it that way.

Note: After I finished writing this blog, I ended up watching this week's episode, and sure enough, I loved it, because, well, the talent level is too so superior to all the shows, and nearly everybody gave an amazing or at least, memorable performance. I'm haven't come around to letting the audience vote mean this much, so early in the show, and I probably never will, but at least, even with this complaint, "The Voice," is still miles better than all its competition. I have chosen not to vote in protest for the rest of the season however, and NBC, I still demand that this be a one-season anomaly.