Assignment X

Column: The KIA RIO EX road trip to NBC’s THE VOICE

By A.C. FERRANTE 06/18/2013

KIA RIO EX | photo courtesy Midnight Productions Inc.

One of the great pleasures of reviewing for ASSIGNMENT X, is the various opportunities the KIA motor company has extended to the magazine to review their various vehicles. From the Sorento to the Soul, we’ve experienced the power and imagination of this company throughout it’s various vehicle experiences. That’s what made the latest event so intriguing. The chance to go on a KIA road trip to the taping of NBC’s musical competition series THE VOICE which KIA is an official automotive partner of. It being a very hot and sunny Southern California afternoon, I took my niece Rachel with me […]Read On »

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TV Review: THE VOICE – Season 3 premiere

By CARL CORTEZ 09/11/2012

Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green, Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton and Carson Daly in THE VOICE - Season 3 premiere - "Blind Auditions" | ©2012 NBC/Mark Seliger

Stars: Blake Shelton, Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green, Carson Daly Network: NBC, airs Mondays and Tuesdays Original Telecast: September 10, 2012 Has network TV finally reached the saturation point with all its musical competition series? First there was the juggernaut AMERICAN IDOL, then THE VOICE came in to steal some of its thunder and last year Fox spawned THE X FACTOR. With ratings declines for all these series, it’s clear there’s some fatigue. Now NBC is rolling out the second cycle of THE VOICE in the same year, which is not necessarily the best thing for any of […]Read On »

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TV Recap: THE VOICE – Season 2 – The Battles Begin”

By CARL CORTEZ 03/06/2012

Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton on THE VOICE - Season 2 - "Let The Battle Rounds Begin" | ©2012 NBC/Lewis Jacobs

Network: NBC, airs Monday nights Original Telecast: March 6, 2012 If you want to see why AMERICAN IDOL appears to be losing its mojo, you only have to tune into a few minutes of the battle rounds for THE VOICE in the appropriately titled “The Battles Begin.” Here, 48 contestants are paired up by each of the four coaches where they duke it out in a boxing ring-esque box on stage – dueling with their opponent to one-up the other person and also keep up with them during the harmonies of each particular song. The Battle Rounds look like they’ll […]Read On »

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THE VOICE Recap: The Season 1 winner is … (and it’s a sort of shocker)

By CARL CORTEZ 06/30/2011

Javier Colon, Dia Frampton and Carson Daly on THE VOICE - Season 1 - The Finals Results Show | ©2011 NBC/Lewis Jacobs

Network: NBC Original Telecast: June 29, 2011 A one hour results show for THE VOICE? Really? NBC didn’t feel the need to stretch it to two hours plus? What is wrong with these people! Well, all I can say is Thank you! Thank you NBC for the most painless results show in the history of these reality singing competitions After whittling the contestants down to four finalists (one from each of the Coaches Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and Christina Aguilera), it’s now time to crown a champion. First, every contestant got one more chance to sing – […]Read On »

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TV Review: THE VOICE – Season 1- “The Finals” (Recap & Photos too!)

By CARL CORTEZ 06/29/2011

Adam Levine, Javier Colon, Cee Lo Green, Vicci Martinez, Dia Frampton, Blake Shelton, Christina Aguilera, Beverly McClellan on THE VOICE - Season 1 - "The Finals" | ©2011 NBC/Lewis Jacobs

Network: NBC, airs Tuesday nights Original Telecast: June 28, 2011 Now here’s what an AMERICAN IDOL finale should look like – four worthy performers battling it out for the crown. Four quality singers. Four singers who would all make kick-ass albums. And four coaches who currently have pop cultural relevance and are powerhouses in their own right. Hail THE VOICE. The show kicked off with the four Coaches Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton tackling another Queen song – “Under Pressure” and doing it justice. It was much better than their Queen butchering a couple of […]Read On »

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THE VOICE recap, photos and reveal of the Final Four for Season 1

By CARL CORTEZ 06/22/2011

Blake Shelton, Dia Frampton on THE VOICE - Season 1 - Semi-Finals Results Show | ©2011 NBC/Lewis Jacobs

AMERICAN IDOL has perfected the art of procrastination when it comes to dragging out their results shows. It’s something that’s incredibly annoying and finely tuned week in and week out. Now, NBC’s THE VOICE gets to showcase their first official Results Show during the same week an episode has aired and damn did they get it right. It was mystery meat when it came to how the scores from the coaches and the audience was going to be added together, but the final reveal was actually quite clever. Essentially, the coaches had 100 points to divvy up between both of […]Read On »

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TV Review: THE VOICE – Season 1- “Semi-Finals”

By CARL CORTEZ

Frenchie Davis, Beverly McClellan, Nakia, Vicci Martinez, Dia Frampton, Xenia, Casey Weston, Javier Colon are the final 8 on THE VOICE - Season 1 - "Semi-Finals" | ©2011 NBC/Lewis Jacobs

Network: NBC, airs Tuesday nights Original Telecast: June 21, 2011 The final two weeks of THE VOICE are here and the contestants are dropping like flies as another four people (actually five if you count the Thompson Sisters) were given the boot and the remaining eight performed. First the results … Team Cee Lo had raspy powerhouse singer Vicci Martinez get the audience save, while Cee Lo went for his brother from another mother Nakia as his save. BAM! I was totally dead-on from last week’s predictions. Team Adam had Javier Colon saved by the audience, while Casey Weston was […]Read On »

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TV Review: THE VOICE – Season 1 – “Live Show, Quarter-Finals 2”

By CARL CORTEZ 06/15/2011

Tori and Taylor Thompson perform on THE VOICE - Season 1 - "Live Show, Quarter-Finals 2" | ©2011 NBC/Lewis Jacobs

Network: NBC, airs Tuesday nights Original Telecast: June 14, 2011 I have so many mixed feelings about THE VOICE, that I’m still unsure whether I like how they’re trying to shake up the traditional AMERICAN IDOL formula or if they’re doing a disservice to the singers for not letting the show play out a little longer so audiences can get used to the contestants more. Either way, “Live Show, Quarter-Finals 2” is here and we not only saw four singers go home (two from Team Blake Shelton, two from Team Christina Aguilera), but Team Adam Levine and Team Cee Lo […]Read On »

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TV Review: THE VOICE – Season 1 – “Live Show, Quarter-Finals 1”

By CARL CORTEZ 06/08/2011

Cee Lo Green, Blake Shelton, Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine perform on THE VOICE - Season 1 - "Live Show, Quarter-Finals 1" | ©2011 NBC/Lewis Jacobs

Network: NBC, airs Tuesday nights Original Telecast: June 7, 2011 There are two things I’m taking away from THE VOICE as it enters into its first live show of Season 1 and the first part of the Quarter-Finals. 1) All four coaches are afraid to give any kind of constructive criticism to the contestants, just like the current incarnation of AMERICAN IDOL. They’re all about praising the contestants and giving them encouragement, even when they royally screwed up. Granted, it’s not enjoyable to see someone who is being given an opportunity like this to be ripped a new one all […]Read On »