Sophia Grace & The Voice

Yesterday on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, we were for about the fifth time assaulted by the two little monsters from the UK, Sophia Grace and Rosie. Why Ellen thinks they’re worth bringing back and back and back I just don’t understand. They were first on her show because Ellen had seen a video of them screaming a Nicki Minaj number. Well, it was only Sophia Grace doing the screaming, since Rosie doesn’t seem to serve any purpose but as silent sidekick to Sophia Grace, one of the most abrasive little girls I’ve ever seen. I can’t Imagine anything good in the future for either of these little girls, and Ellen is doing them both a disservice by holding them up to public scrutiny and making them think they’re really talented and special.

Last night we decided to give The Voice a look, compare it to American Idol as a talent discovery show. We were both pleased with what we saw. Idol has turned us off more and more each season we’ve watched it, with lesser talents winning almost every season, with Ryan Seacrest and his irritatingly toothy grin, with Randy and his “Yo, Dog!”, with Steven Tyler and his whatever that some people find appealing. Only J-Lo is worth watching both for her attractiveness and her insights into the talents they present. Idol seems to be more about the judges than the contestants. On The Voice, Carson Daly hosts, a much less pompous and invasive host than Ryan Seacrest, and the four judges—Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, and Cee Lo Green—make interesting and insightful comments to the performers, explaining why they did or didn’t choose them for their team. In the blind audition phase, the judges have only a minute of the performance to decide if they want the auditioner on their team of twelve, basing their decision entirely on the sound of the performer, not on the looks. I still don’t understand what they do with any leftover contestants when the four of them have filled their twelve-person teams. Just say goodbye? The next order in the format is the battle phase, when contestants on each team battle against each other to narrow the field to a final eight. Sounds a little complicated to me, but I’ll wait to see it before judging it.