Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Randy Jackson has made his crack about The Voice judges and their chairs borrowed from Star Trek.

And he’s suggested that The Voice  is more of a second chance show.  Suggesting, I supposed, that the perfomers would prefer to be first-chance American Idols.

Well, in Season 1, I think The Voice did as well as any of the other singing competitions in finding special voices, even if they haven’t enjoyed the post-show success of a Scotty McCreery.

Remember Season 1 winner Javier Colon?  Runner-up Dia Frampton?  How about the other finalists, Vikki Martinez and Bevely McClellan?

Each one a wonderful singer.

And, tonight, The Voice begins Season 2.  With the judges in their Star Trek chairs.

Judges, I might add, who make Randy Jackson look not very special.  But that’s just my opinion.

Each judge will apparently have 12 team members this year instead of eight.  And the judges expect the show to attract better talent in Season 2.

Here we go …

* RaeLynn, 17, of Houston, Texas: She’ll sing “Hell On Heels,” a song performed by Miranda Lambert’s group Pistol Annies.  Love the fact that they’re letting RaeLynn play guitar. This girl is good.  Watch out, Idol.  That gal just blew the socks off most your teen auditioners. RaeLynn calls Miranda her inspiration as Blake Shelton and Adam Levine try to lure her onto their team. RaeLynn is clearly torn.  And RaeLynn becomes the first member of Team Blake Shelton.

* Jesse Campbell, 42, Chicago, Ill.:  This guy has an Idol-like sob story.  He makes his living singing at churches and weddings, but was homeless at one time along with his young daughter.  He launches into “A Song for You” and three judges chairs turn around in an instant.  Now Blake joins them, making it … shoot, I forget my Voice lingo.  Anyway, Jesse sounded better than RaeLynn. That makes The Voice two for two on outstanding singers. And Jesse joins team Christina.  Says Cee Lo in response: “I can’t protect you now, brother.”

* Daniel Rosa, 20, Riverside, Calif.:  His parents tell him he’s amazing, but he isn’t sure whether to trust their judgment.  He says he’s “never played in front of this many people before.” He’ll perform “Animal.”  He has a sorta unique sound, but the judges aren’t spinning around nearly as quickly as for the first two performers.  In fact, they didn’t turn around at allmaking Daniel the first contestant to get rejected.

** Juliet Simms, 25, Clearwater, Fla.: She’s a female rocker who started performing with bands at age 16. She’ll perform “Oh, Darling.”  And after a few rasps of her voice, she gets Adam and Cee Lo to turn their chairs around. In the end, the only one not to spin was Blake Shelton.  Adam calls “the dirt” in her voice “incredible.”  And Juliet joins Team Cee Lo.

 ** Chris Mann, 29, Wichita, Kansas:  This guy majored in opera at Vanderbilt University.  He says he’s performing for his mom, who has cancer.  He’ll perform “Because We Believe.”  Putting his operatic training to good use, he entices turn-around from Christina and Cee Lo.  And Chris will join team Christina, giving her two team members.

 ** Tony Lucca, 35, Waterford, Mich.:  This guy is a former member of the Micky Mouse Club, where he performed with Christina Aguilera.  He’ll perform “Trouble” on The Voice.  Another singer-songwriter type, playing guitar and sounding very good. And he’s the second contestant tonight to convince all four judges to turn around their chairs, even if Cee Lo needed a little assist from Adam. Adam says there’s “so much real pain and energy” in Tony’s voice.  And Tony joins Team Adam.

So ends a fine first episode of The Voice, which, quite honestly, I enjoyed better than any of the audition episodes of Idol.

If I were rating tonight’s talent, I’d rate the following as the top 3 …

1. Jesse Campbell

2. RaeLynn

3. Tony Lucca.

Back tomorrow with more live blogging.