The Voice

It was finale night on The Voice, with each of the four finalists singing three times, a duet with their coaches, a song each had written, and a song selected by the contestants. The duets weren’t especially meaningful except for the one with Alison Porter and Christina, James Taylor’s “You’ve Got a Friend,” which was quietly lovely. The others were just time fillers until they got to the two main songs, the one they’d each written and the one they each chose. Hannah Huston had a chance to take it all, but her duet with Pharrell was a stinker. And although her song choice, Sting’s “Every Breath You Take,” was interesting, it wasn’t powerful enough, not career-defining enough as it needed to be. But Alison Porter’s choice, West Side Story’s “Somewhere,” knocked it out of the park. And it came at the best time in the show, the final performance. I think Alison will undoubtedly be the winner, with Hannah in second, Adam in third, and Laith last. If this were strictly a show designed to find the best musician, Laith would win it. But it’s not. Somewhat like American Idol, the winner of The Voice depends on the vote of a fickle, often musically uninformed public. What might The Voice do next season to improve on this talent show? First, get rid of those really hokey waving arms down front; rely less on loud backup singers and band and let us hear the voices; cut back on the coaches’ comments all of which seem to say the same things; instruct the audience to stop their screaming during performances; and tell the lovely Christina Aguilera that she doesn’t have to show us quite so much of her bountiful bosom.