Well look, I don’t really watch either The Voice or Britain’s Got Talent but you can’t have failed to notice that one is doing rather better than the other. And it’s no good pretending that these two shows aren’t in competition and are after different audiences when production people are gleefully tweeting figures when The Voice was doing better. And obviously it is funny when people use “peak” and “share” because that often means they’re hiding something.
Last night’s The Voice results show got a little over 6.5m viewers, almost 40% down on the show’s audition highs. The previous week Countryfile managed over seven million. That means The Voice is now OFFCIALLY less cool than John Craven. The fact that The Voice loses significant viewers between performance show and results show is just another more credible way it differentiates itself from The X Factor.
We are constantly informed that “well, the live shows lose viewers internationally as well” in a way the makers of the show seem quite proud about – a fun feature, even! Well how stupid is that? Evidently there is a format issue and it needs fixing.
So obviously given the blind audition bits are the most popular, have twelve of those followed by a massive Eurovision style sing-off. Format sorted, cheque please.
And the BBC can’t even blame the Bank Holiday weather this time around. I knew the eyeballs pointed at the screen would drop off once it became a bog standard ‘sing, audience vote, wait till Sunday, safe, safe, not safe, safe, not safe, sing-off, sling yer hook, till next week, bye’ singing contest – but not that much.
I flagged up this issue that the whole hook of The Voice is the auditions, and once that’s over, it gets into a fight with the Cowell/Pop Idol shows over who can fill the set with the biggest LED walls and the most varilites chucked around the set and lighting grid.
It’s not going to happen – but, have 8 weeks of blind auditions, with the studio audience at each of the shows voting on just two singers that made the judges over-theatrically hit the button, to go through to the semi-final.
Semi Finals – audience at home wittle the 8 down to just 3 from each semi into the final
Final – 6 singers sing 2 songs of differing styles. Before a 33% weighted result from audience at home, judges and studio audience to determine who gets the one album deal with Universal, before being quietly dropped next Feburary just before the next series.
Format sorted, cheque please..
(by the way – next series, will anyone have the nerve to try and sing Aswad’s hit ‘Don’t Turn Around’ during the blind auditions? I really hope so)
Ha ha, Richard Osman did that joke on Twitter unfortunately (putting it down to a tactical error).
I think you underestimate the Cowell shows a little, I’d say the X Factor results show (for example) is a very well produced hour of entertainment not requiring the performance show to be worth a watch. The Voice doesn’t really have that.
Not being a twitter’er I didn’t read the Oz and his humerous take on The Voice. Nice to know we share the same wry outlook on modern populist culture.
Going back to what you said about the results show, Brig. I don’t deny that they are well produced and slick productions, the thing that rattles me is (as mentioned) how the big star performance hype/breathless promotion of them seems to smother the actual nature of the show – to reveal the bloomin result.
Plus, when we get to the reveal – the shameless pauses.. thumping tension beds (when you can hear it under the constant moronic shouting and shreeking from the first 31 rows).. the tight ‘up the nostrils’ camera shots of the contestants, pointless close ups of Sir Cowell of Simon etc..
..it rapidly gets very tiresome.
Millionaire was AWFUL last night!
Despite being pre recorded they seemed to rush it through the edit suite.
Also the questions seemed very easy, anyone who uses a cash machine could have worked out the most common bank note in circulation! Don’t even get me started on the PIN question…
Is it the first time they have had 15 year old contestants ‘playing’? Didn’t help matters anyway.
The person that decided audience clapping needs to go over the titles needs to be shot.
The fact they offered half the prize pot to an audience member almost suggested to me it was the only way to be sure they had an audience present!
What edition is it in a couple of weeks as mentioned by Chris at the end of the show?
>>Is it the first time they have had 15 year old contestants ‘playing’? Didn’t help matters anyway.<>Also the questions seemed very easy, anyone who uses a cash machine could have worked out the most common bank note in circulation! Don’t even get me started on the PIN question…<>The person that decided audience clapping needs to go over the titles needs to be shot.<>The fact they offered half the prize pot to an audience member almost suggested to me it was the only way to be sure they had an audience present!<>What edition is it in a couple of weeks as mentioned by Chris at the end of the show?<<
Not sure what the theme is but it features Paddy McGuinness (another celebrity who has been on the show before!) and CJ De Mooi was one of his three Phone a Friends.
It’s fair to say that their A-team hasn’t been working on this show for quite some time. If it weren’t for the international presence the show still has, it probably would have been put out to pasture two years ago.
I’ve just seen the front page of tomorrow’s Daily Mirror – and they’re really laying into The Voice over those viewing figures, as well as Jessie for something she probably didn’t even do… 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙄 🙄 🙄
Even I can’t disagree that the show’s big differences from the X Factor, Pop Idol et al end after the battle rounds, but… idiots. 👿 👿 👿 🙄 🙄
Last night’s The Voice results show got a little over 6.5m viewers, almost 40% down on the show’s audition highs. The previous week Countryfile managed over seven million. That means The Voice is now OFFCIALLY less cool than John Craven.
Isn’t that a bit misleading? On Monday night, 2.5 million people watched Ronnie O’Sullivan win the world snooker title. Last year, 6.4 million people saw John Higgins win. By the logic Mr. Bother employed, that makes John Higgins two-and-a-half-times cooler than Ronnie O’Sullivan.
I suspect that the final figures for The Voice results will be somewhat higher: experience last week demonstrated that the show can be seen on catch-up, and quite possibly should be seen on catch-up, because it’s five-to-ten minutes of actual interestingness spread over half-an-hour.
Mr. Bother is right to praise The X Factor results show: when the weakest part of a programme is a performance by global hype(r)star Rihanna, it’s a good hour of telly.