Warning! The following contains spoilers for The Voice's live results show on Tuesday, May 5. Read at your own risk!
The Voice made the bold decision to go live as opposed to pre-taped for its first Season 18 results show, a move American Idol balked at on its show. The advantage, presumably, was seeing the raw emotions of contestants in real time, but the risk of errors and other technical difficulties was high. Unfortunately, the errors far outweighed the raw emotions, and the end result was one of the sloppiest episodes of The Voice to date.
The issues started with Carson Daly, who was working from a studio with a skeleton crew to run The Voice. The decreased staff apparently meant Daly had to keep track of the show via a monitor slightly off screen, something he was caught looking at several times throughout the episode. It was an issue that a viewer would overlook on the local news program, but it became really noticeable on a show as high quality as The Voice.
The problems only worsened with the announcement of the live results which in theory was to have the saved contestant speak briefly with their coach before moving on. In execution, contestants' laggy internet hampered the ability to do this, which resulted in coaches staring at contestants with mouths agape trying to hear some noise. More often than not the contestants were unable to be heard or comprehend. Carson Daly did a lot better job at moving on later in the show, but the attempt to connect with Todd Tilghman at the top of the program was exceptionally hard to watch.
About the only thing that did go through smoothly were the performances, which may have been pre-recorded. If that's the case (which I strongly believe it was judging by video quality) then The Voice was right to do that. Also, while I don't necessarily love the skits the show does typically, tonight's skit was a welcome break for the people working live and trying their best to juggle this massive project with a reduced staff.
The general feeling of the night was that Carson Daly and crew were flying by the seat of their pants, and they did the best they could. I have no doubt that's true, and in no way do I place the blame of the sloppy execution on anyone participating in the live results show. Ultimately, I don't think The Voice realized the technical hurdle of going live was far beyond the value of what was gained from doing so. While I prefer The Voice's quarantine episodes overall, I can't really say the live results added anything to the experience, and I don't think it's worth the effort to try again.
What are your thoughts on The Voice's live remote results show? Share your thoughts in the comments, and be sure to catch The Voice on NBC Monday, May 11 at 8:00 p.m. ET. As always, stick with CinemaBlend for the latest in television and movies.
