The Voice host and producer Carson Daly with Alexa Cappelli, one of the West Coast contestants eliminated Wednesday night. (NBC Photo)
They hate it.
And with good reason.
Over the last three nights, The Voice whittled its field of contestants from a Top 24 to a Top 12.
They did it with live voting. On East Coast time.
Oh, fans in the Mountain and West Coast time zones were invited to participate.
But they had to cast those votes between 5 and 7 p.m. Pacific time on Monday and between 5 and 6 p.m. Pacific time on Tuesday and Wednesday.
And they had to vote before seeing a single performance.
That’s right, folks. The show that calls itself The Voice encouraged half the nation to vote before hearing a single voice.
West Coast fans were not amused. Just go to Twitter and do a search for West Coast and @NBCTheVoice. There are hundreds of comments critical of this year’s live playoff format.
And, you know what? I hope West Coast fans keep complaining. Don’t forget, folks, Carson Daly isn’t only host of this show. He’s one of the lead producers too. One of the individuals responsible for this mess. So be sure to include @CarsonDaly in your tweets.
Here’s a sampling of comments from West Coast fans.
Huge disservice to the contestants with a west coast following. Show aired and voting closed while their fans were still at work or driving home! They were expected to vote 3 hours before they even SAW the show! Ridiculous!
— Barbara (@griphie) April 19, 2018
@NBCTheVoice How is fair to have all of #VoicePlayoffs decided by East Coast votes?? Us on the West Coast never get to see performances before voting!!!
— Ashlee Keil 4/21/18 (@LukeWinsLife) April 19, 2018
@NBCTheVoice @CarsonDaly @MarkBurnettTV @ unknown producers : As a long time viewer living on the west coast, I’d like to respectfully share my thoughts on your new live show format….it sucks. 1/2
— Susan (@sumaschill) April 19, 2018
Not pumped! How pumped can I be when I have to try to figure out how to vote without even seeing the performances. Why doesn't the West Coast matter when you film in LA?
— Kristina M (@NavyVetMom) April 18, 2018
I'm NEVER watching this mess again! The voting system is garbage and loses all the West Coast @ 5 pm voting our time 😡 #thevoicesucks
— Dawna (@dawnasthatgirl) April 19, 2018
That’s a problem for a large portion of your audience, the West Coast. Please stop declaring “America has voted” when America has not.
— Connie (@conniewhorton) April 17, 2018
@NBCTheVoice I feel it’s super unfair that the entire west coast cannot even see the performances or get home from work before we are shut off from voting. Come on @NBCTheVoice. If you are going to be an American show, give all Americans a chance to vote for @BairdPryor !!!
— Troi Lynn Hoffman (@troiwithani) April 19, 2018
NOT PUMPED!! MY VOTES AND MILLIONS OF OTHERS ON THE WEST COAST DONT COUNT!! WE DONT HAVE THE OPTION OF WATCHING THE CONTESTANTS SING AND THEN VOTING FOR OUR FAVORITES!! THIS IS UNFAIR TO THE CONTESTANTS!! AND IT TAKES THE FUN OUT OF THE SHOW FOR THOSE OF US THAT HAVE LOVED THE SH
— Laura Black (@LauraBl58343223) April 18, 2018
There HAS to be a way to NOT EXCLUDE the west coast/Pacific time zone with @NBCTheVoice #LivePlayoff voting! We follow from the blinds, invest our time and should get to vote when cutting teams in half! #TheVoice #NBC
— Wheeler (@gilmoregirls77) April 17, 2018
New format is horrible. West coast has limited say. Voting at 5 pm our time without watching performance is ridiculous.
— Lisa Bayley (@Bayley702) April 19, 2018
@MarkBurnettTV.. Boycotting tonight again..#westcoastvotesmatter
You've silenced our VOICES😶😶😶😶
Watched since season one and now you've blocked the West Coast from voting…… Why should we watch when you don't value our vote???— Michele (@mzmichele1023) April 19, 2018
@NBCTheVoice again it’s all over social media who’s going into next week before the west coast has a chance to watch….so annoying! I freaking love this show and hate having the element of surprise taken away from me!
— kim lee (@kimlee70) April 19, 2018
I would be a heck of a lot more pumped if the West Coast could VOTE!!! I am really MAD that voting has already closed when I watch the show. RIDICULOUS!!!
— Debi Thiel (@DebiGThiel) April 18, 2018
Decided to stop watching @NBCTheVoice .If you don't care about West Coast votes I guess you can do without our ratings too #ByeBye #TheVoice
— Vance S Peters-Viña (@Vancetastic) April 19, 2018
Just watching it now on the west coast where be CANT VOTE how can you expect people here to vote blindly on the app when we haven't seen the performances #WestCoastMatters
— Lori Campbell 🌊 (@rychemom) April 17, 2018
Stopped watching, why bother airing on West Coast!
— Arsenal Gooner! (@gma_27) April 19, 2018
Here’s what’s most frustrating about this live voting fiasco: It could have easily been avoided.
With three nights of telecasts, The Voice could have easily had three teams perform Monday night, one team perform Tuesday night, then retain the regular overnight voting window which runs until noon the next day. Then Wednesday could have been a results show.
The would have been fairer to viewers across the nation. It also would have been fairer to contestants with a West Coast following.
But this is the Emmy-winning Voice.
Clearly, the Emmy voters don’t have a clue either.
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7 Comments
The Voice is in deep trouble!
As a faithful viewer, since it’s beginning I have never missed a single night’s performance.
What you have done with this years format is dreadful.
The voting is unfair for those of us on the west coast and for contestants as well.
And what you did with rushing 24 contestants through their performances was like a cattle-call. Not an enjoyable experience for contestants, judges or viewers. Carson Daily rushing his intros was agonizing to watch.
I might also suggest the idea of The Blocked is unfair to contestants and their choice of a coach.
Please, producers, get your act together. American Idol is stealing your spotlight.
Very very poor format this year. I want my vote to count, too! The United States is so very diverse in music taste….this show truly only represented the east coast viewers and left the rest of us behind in the dust. Been a faithful viewer from the beginning. Lots of fabulous talent on this show…..LET US ALL VOTE. Make it fair for the viewers AND the talented contestants! Very sad. You may very well lose the many west and central United States viewers after this if it isn’t fixed!
PRYOR BARID WOULD OF WON THE ENTIRE SHOW IF THE WEST COAST WAS ABLE TO VOTE, JUST LIKE THE EAST COAST. WHAT A TOTAL DISASTER.
I will stop watching this show if this is not fixed.
I just won’t watch anymore. What a waste of time.
The west coast is the most diverse part of the country, in musical tastes as well as in population and in other ways. The Voice producers are surely aware of this and have clearly taken that in to consideration, insuring that the more diverse tastes of those viewers will not taint the more conservative voting preferences of the eastern and middle western viewers. Maybe we need a VOICE-Western edition or a competing show. For a lot of us prior viewers(who quit because of the voting limitations) this is a deliberate tactic on the part of the producers, to insure that the voices of the Black, Brown, Yellow, Red, and LGBTQ viewers are inconsequential.
I agree that the West Coast is hugely discriminated against and I also want to know why I never saw the final so called performance on the West Coast. Not only the instant save but was it aired here at all? My DVR didn’t record it and I never found it. Somebody’s messing up what used to be one of my favorite shows!