Victim of Formality

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For those who have not seen the show – if, like me, you watch American Idol and know you must choose one reality show per genre and avoid all others for fear of incurring irreparable brain damage – The Voice is a “blind audition” show. Four dubious stars – Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton, Adam Levine and Green – imperiously listen to ugly people sing, while sitting in gigantic red Starship Enterprise chairs with their backs turned.

They then meet the uggos and marvel, then fight over them in order to form winning teams in a super-positive version of the age-old sadism that is choosing sides for gym class.

I remember early promos for the shows that advanced the idea, via Levine, that, before music videos, “in the 1970s” there were a lot of “sketchy-looking people [who] had gorgeous voices.”

Levine’s logic is, of course, completely warped. In the 1970s, there were album covers, fan magazines and concerts. The Beatles did very well with female fans, despite the infrequent visuals; Elvis Presley never shot a video in his life but women are still throwing their panties at the Meditation Garden in Graceland.

Okay, these stars are good-looking, but the “sketchy-looking” people still often succeed: Is The Voice trying to suggest that the well-upholstered Cee Lo is doing well because of his good looks?