For the longest time, I've been planning on doing a comparison between X Factor and The Voice, outlining the reasons I like the latter more. The main reason is the judges. Talent comes and talent goes, but it's the way people are treated on these shows that's important.
In the past, I noticed that Adam Levine. Cee Lo Green, Blake Shelton and Christina Aguilera have consistently not only shown the contestants respect and affection but have given them constructive criticism unlike their counterparts on X Factor (with the exception of Britney Spears ). Reid, Cowell and Lovato have shown a gleeful cruelty towards many of the contestants (those NOT on their teams) throwing out comments ranging from the mild "boring" to "disastrous";having a go at each other when they're done annihilating the competitors.
Really? In what way are these comments even remotely constructive? Simple answer. They're not. It seems like these three use the contestants for their snark-filled amusement. Since snarky and cruel is the new witty, this might not bother many; but it pisses me off. In laymen's terms, they suck at judges.
However, the past couple of weeks while watching The Voice, I noticed that Christina Aguilera has jumped on the saccharine version of the Snark Train. For some reason, she has taken a dislike to Melanie Martinez, disrespecting the 17 year-old's performance by commenting first on the fact that Jerry Slaughter has been creating some pretty awesome sets for the young singer.
Slaughter has indeed been outdoing himself on Martinez' sets possibly because the quirky singer with the unique style has inspired him to accompany her performances with quirky sets. He is noticeably talented, but the show is called The Voice not The Set.
Following this, Aguilera then threw out some lukewarm commentary on the Melanie's performance, complete with a distasteful look on her face. She did that last week; and after doing so for the second time last night, Aguilera noted that Melanie wasn't even looking at her. Seriously? She asked why? I'll tell her why. Because Melanie was clearly upset and devastated at this aggressive disrespect. It takes a lot of courage to undertake such a huge stage and television show. No one wants to stand in front of millions to be told that the set design is kickass and she should "appreciate it".
Not only has Aguilera blatantly belittled Melanie specifically, but has shown a distinct and unprofessional favoritism for Shelton's Pope and McDermott because her team was (WHAT?!?) demolished by the voting public. The top 6 are all uniquely talented with their own marketable skills that they bring to the table. At this point, it's even hard to choose a front-runner because they're all that good. Why even weigh in? Why decide to offer Trevin a spot on her tour yet babble on about set design with Melanie. It's downright schizophrenic. Boo Christina!
So what's sparked Aguilera's dislike for Melanie? I couldn't even speculate; and I really don't care; but it's left a sour taste in my mouth for a show that I have loved above all singing competition shows. Maybe I should build a set and get over it.
