The Voice may be the anti-Idol, but NBC has decided to take one small cue from the other singing series and added separate live result show episodes to the final two weeks of the competition.
Starting Tuesday, June 7, The Voice moves back to 9pm for its two-hour live episodes, in which the sixteen remaining singers will duke it out for the coaches’ approval as well as America’s votes. This will go on for four weeks. For the last two weeks of the season, Wednesday results shows have been added: The first will air Wednesday, June 22 at 8pm, and the Voice finale has now been scheduled for the following week: Wednesday, June 29 at 8pm. Both episodes will air live and be an hour long.
The new episodes are another result of The Voice‘s popularity, as it’s averaging about a 5.5 rating/12.6 million viewers each week. This week’s final battle round was up 29% from the last, with 14.67 million viewers. NBC has already shown a major sign of faith in the freshman series by scheduling its season 2 premiere after the Super Bowl in February of 2012.
The pros and cons of extra results shows are fairly well known among reality competition fans by now. On one hand, announcing the voting results the next day means fans won’t need to wait an entire week to find out if their favorites have been saved or eliminated. On the other, live results shows are typically about 40 minutes of filler and two minutes of actual “results.”
I have one suggestion if The Voice hasn’t yet decided how they’ll fill in those extra minutes: Put those celebrity coaches (Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton, Cee Lo Green and Adam Levine) and their talented advisers (Reba McEntire, Sia, Adam Blackstone, Monica) up on stage as much as possible. That much singing star power could easily keep us entertained for two extra hours.
Did you catch that surprising contestant kiss this Tuesday on The Voice? Check out what coaches Blake and Cee Lo have to say about it after the fact.
(Image courtesy of NBC)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
Meghan hails from Walla Walla, WA, the proud home of the world’s best sweet onions and Adam West, the original Batman. An avid grammarian and over-analyzer, you can usually find her thinking too hard about plot devices in favorites like The Office, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and How I Met Your Mother. In her spare time, Meghan enjoys drawing, shopping, trying to be funny (and often failing), and not understanding the whole Twilight thing. She’s got a BA in English and Studio Art from Whitman College, which makes her a professional arguer, daydreamer, and doodler.
