Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Adam Levine drops the mic after Jordan Smith’s performance of “Somebody to Love.” (NBC Photo)

I mention that because The Voice is wrapping up its ninth season.

And American Idol was at about the same point in its lifespan when its popularity fell off a cliff.

For eight seasons, Idol entertained us with talented singers and nail-biting season finales. Okay, everyone knew Fantasia would win Season 3, but that was the exception.

Heck, as I recall, it was far from a sure bet that Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood would triumph over Justin Guarini and Bo Bice in Season 1 and Season 4, respectively.

Then the wrong singer won Season 8 and suddenly everything became very predictable. The white guy playing guitar would win, no matter how talented Crystal Bowersox was or what kind of Cinderella season an upstart like Haley Reinhart put together.

Flash forward to Season 9 of The Voice, easily the least entertaining yet in my opinion.

The problem hasn’t been the talent. That’s never a problem on The Voice.

The problem has been the production, a general lack of suspense and the sense that the outcome was scripted way back when the blind auditions aired in September.

Building suspense has never been The Voice’s forte. I’m truly baffled by the number of times the show gives away the outcome of an upcoming performance before it happens.

By now we know most episodes during the battle round and knockout round will end with a steal. Heck, they remind us of it during the show. Heck, they’ll head into the commercial break before the last pairing of the night and tell us about the unbelievable steal to come.

Of course, it might be more unbelievable if we didn’t know it was coming. If we watched two singers battle it out, put on a great performance and sat there wondering whether they’d both survive.

But that doesn’t happen on The Voice. To hell with suspense. We know no one is being sent home from those show-closing performances before the two contestants sing a single note.

And what about those instant saves and the way The Voice displays real-time voting during the commercial break? Is it ever a surprise when Carson Daly announces the name of the saved contestant?

Of course not. Hey, I applaud The Voice for showing us the results. I long wished Idol would do the same. But how about showing us the results after you’ve made the announcement of who got the steal? From a dramatic standout, wouldn’t that make more sense?

Oh, and that Season 9 format change didn’t help in terms of building drama. Imagine how much more exciting the Top 12, Top 11 and Top 10 weeks have been if two singers were being eliminated instead of one.

But the biggest problem with Season 9 has been the handling of Jordan Smith.

I’ve watched every season of American Idol and The Voice. I can’t remember either selecting a front-runner at the beginning of the process and promoting that singer with such unabashed favoritism, in total disregard of everything else happening on the show.

Jordan’s blind audition had barely ended and Adam Levine was already hailing him “the most important person that’s ever been on this show.” Let me repeat: “The most important person that’s ever been on this show.” Months later, I’m still not certain why.

After another performance, the coaches agreed hearing Jordan sing was like hearing the voice of God. More recently, Adam called him one of the best singers in the world.

I mean, the praise has truly been off the charts, even for a show where every singer gets a gold star every week whether they deserve it or not.

It’s like someone in Voice land came unhinged and forgot the very premise of how these singing shows work.

You present the talent.

We, the viewers, pick the winner.

But not on The Voice. Not in Season 9, at least.

So we head into the Monday-Tuesday finale with four singers and very little question as to who will come out on top.

Just like in Season 8, when we knew Sawyer Fredericks would win.

No drama. No suspense. Unless you care about who finishes second.

Oh, well, I guess there’s still hope for Season 10.

If The Voice doesn’t select a winner before it even begins.