Reality RocksTop 8 Revealed: Is ‘The Voice’ Becoming Another Boys’ Club?
Last week on "The Voice," when Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton's contestants vied for a spot in the top eight finals, America voted through Team Xtina's Chris Mann and Team Blake's Jermaine Paul, with Christina and Blake respectively saving Lindsey Pavao and Erin Willett. This week, Team Adam and Team Cee Lo competed, and on this Tuesday's results show, America voted for Adam Levine's Tony Lucca and Cee Lo Green's Jamar Rogers; Adam went with Katrina Parker as his own pick, and Cee Lo picked Juliet Simms.
Notice a pattern here?
Yep, that's right: The top four vote-getters, one per team, have all been male. Over the past two weeks, four men have coasted through on America's votes alone, while eight talented ladies have been forced to give last-chance performances. This means that the four women who now remain in the competition (Katrina, Juliet, Erin, and Lindsey) are only there because their coaches saved them.
Additionally, even before that, earlier this season, every single judges' pick in the top 16 (Katrina Parker, Cheesa, Ashley De La Rosa, and Jordis Unga) was a female contestant. Yes, the girls did outnumber the guys in the original top 16--but of the nine girls, only five of them were America's picks, compared to all seven of the guys.
That's some depressing math, right there.
This is a major departure from last season, when women dominated "The Voice" and America enthusiastically got behind female contestants like the top four's Dia Frampton, Vicci Martinez, and Beverly McClellan. But then again, the one man in last year's top four, Javier Colon, did end up winning in the end. And now, as "The Voice" grows more and more popular, its voter base is perhaps becoming more similar to that of "American Idol," a show that has had four male winners in a row and may be on its way to crowning a fifth very soon.
In retrospect, it's a good thing that Adam and Cee Lo opted to cut cute, cuddly fan-favorite boys Pip and James Massone in Monday's instant eliminations--otherwise Katrina and Juliet might not have had any chance at all.
If this voting pattern continues, it's quite plausible that we will see an all-boy "Voice" finale in a couple weeks, between Jamar Rogers, Chris Mann, Jermaine Paul, and Tony Lucca. I'm not discounting any of those guys' talent--I'm a massive fan of Jamar and Chris in particular--but an all-girl Juliet/Lindsey/Erin/Katrina finale would honestly be a little more interesting to me, if I had to go with just one gender. In reality, I'd at least like to see a couple girls--especially Juliet or Lindsey, two of this season's most fascinating and fearless contestants--in the final mix.
We will see how it all pans out in next week's top eight showdown, but I'm starting to wonder if there's only room on this show for ONE female superstar...and her name is Christina Aguilera.
And Florence Welch, of course.
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