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Michael Buble To Serve As Adviser To Blake Shelton's Team On 'The Voice'

Posted 7/10/12 1:26 pm EST by in The Voice

Michael Buble

By Zachary Swickey

NBC’s hit “The Voice” is about to get a little more dapper with the announcement that lady killer (and one of our favorite Canadians) Michael Buble will be serving as an adviser to coach Blake Shelton’s team of contestants when the competitive singing show returns for its third season this September.

While Shelton is known for his country roots and Buble is best known as the closest thing his generation has to a Frank Sinatra, the crooner still describes himself as a “big Blake fan.” He began taping his appearances on the show just yesterday (July 9) in Los Angeles and is reportedly having a great time working with the aspiring singers.

We’ll have to wait for an announcement on who will be advising the other three coaches – Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green and Adam Levine – teams, but last year's roster included the impressive likes of Kelly Clarkson, Jewel and Babyface.

Moving from the spring to the fall, “The Voice” will now compete head-to-head with Simon Cowell’s “The X Factor” for viewers.

Cowell has famously bad-mouthed his competitor, telling Radio 4’s Today Show that he “didn’t understand it” and felt the program was better suited for radio than television.

"That show ['The Voice'] puzzles me because it starts off and 'it's all about the voice'," he explained. "So my first thought is, 'Why isn't this on radio?' because what's the point in looking at them. Then suddenly I'm watching it a week or two weeks ago and it's the same as 'The X Factor.' They've got dancers behind them, graphics, lights. Same show."

“I see a lot of shows trying to rip us off. If you try and rip somebody off it always looks like a bad copy,” he continued. Ouch.

But "the Voice" is the one laughing all the way to the bank – the show performed better in the ratings last season than Cowell's "Factor" … and even bested "American Idol" from time to time last spring.

Season three of “The Voice” kicks off September 10 on NBC.

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Adam Levine 'Wanted To Sleep With A Lot Of Women' Because He Just Loves Them So Much, OK?

Posted 5/29/12 4:33 pm EST by in maroon-5, The Voice

Maroon 5

No one is denying that Adam Levine is quite the ladies' man … especially not Adam Levine.

In a new interview with Details, the handsome "Voice" coach and Maroon 5 frontman, who is currently holding down the #3 spot on the Billboard singles chart with his band's "Payphone," gave his thought on why he is such a hit with the ladies – and rather than opt for the obvious "duh, look at me" he went into detail about why he understands women so well.

"One of my theories on why I'm so capable of understanding women is that after my parents split, my mom moved in with her brother's ex-wife - my aunt - who was also newly single," he told Details. "So I was living in a house with two jilted women, plus my cousin, who's more like my sister, and my brother, Michael, who we eventually find out is gay. Just the estrogen alone ... You know when you're 14 and terrified to talk to a girl? I didn't suffer much from that. It seemed very natural to me to talk to girls."

He also declared he is as far from a "misogynist" – an accusation that has been tossed around a bit concerning how he handled his dust-up with fellow "Voice" judge Christina Aguilera – as a man can get.

"There's two kinds of men. There are men who are f**king misogynist pigs, and then there are men who just really love women, who think they're the most amazing people in the world," Levine said. "And that's me. Maybe the reason I was promiscuous, and wanted to sleep with a lot of them, is that I love them so much."

Got that? He's just got a lot of love to give. And now that he's single again, we're sure he won't have any trouble finding a few ladies looking for a little innocent lovin.' Yeah, that's it. Lovin.' Read More...

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Simon Cowell Not A Fan Of 'The Voice,' Calls It An 'X Factor' Rip-off

Posted 5/17/12 12:41 pm EST by in The Voice, the x factor

The Voice

By Zachary Swickey

Surprise, surprise – it appears Simon Cowell is not a fan of the "The Voice" and claims the vocal competition show is a blatant rip-off of his own pet-project, “The X Factor” (more specifically, the British iteration, which pre-dates "The Voice," as the US "X Factor" premiered later).

Cowell was chatting it up with Radio 4’s Today Show when he made the bold suggestion that “The Voice” should be on radio instead of television – saying he “didn’t understand” it.

"That show ['The Voice'] puzzles me because it starts off and 'it's all about the voice'," he explained. "So my first thought is, 'Why isn't this on radio?' because what's the point in looking at them. Then suddenly I'm watching it a week or two weeks ago and it's the same as 'The X Factor.' They've got dancers behind them, graphics, lights. Same show."

Apparently, Cowell thinks he has a patent on singing, dancers, graphics and lights?

“I see a lot of shows trying to rip us off. If you try and rip somebody off it always looks like a bad copy,” he continued. Ouch.

Plenty would argue with his statement as “The Voice” has been a ratings behemoth and even helped recharge the celebrity of some its judges. You couldn’t go anywhere without hearing Adam Levine’s Maroon 5 troupe and their hit “Moves Like Jagger,” which featured fellow judge Christina Aguilera, last summer. “The X Factor,” however, has not been taking off the way Cowell expected.

Although, we’re pretty sure Cowell will see one heck of a ratings boost now that they have added Britney Spears and Demi Lovato to this year’s judging panel.

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Christina Aguilera Reportedly Avoids Adam Levine At 'The Voice' Upfront Presentation As Feud Intensifies

Posted 5/15/12 11:29 am EST by in Christina Aguilera, maroon-5, The Voice

Oh, drama. Or should we say – UGH, drama.

Anyone who watched "The Voice" this season could tell the tension between coaches Christina Aguilera and Adam Levine was palpable and not just for the cameras. Aguilera was easily the most outspoken judge on the panel and rarely sugar-coated her opinions, coming across as overly harsh at times. Levine opted to go in the exact opposite direction, playing the nice guy.

(Which, as MTV's resident "Voice" recapper, is not to say we think she was necessarily wrong most of the time. Indeed, it was strangely refreshing to watch a judge, you know, judge contestants, and Aguilera certainly knows a thing or two – perhaps more than any other judge on "The Voice" panel – about the technical side of singing. It was her directness and sometimes callous delivery that were controversial, not her actual opinions.)

Now, the conflict has reportedly reached a fever pitch, as Aguilera opted out of the red carpet at yesterday's NBC Upfronts, during which Levine tweeted, "I thrive on awkward moments." Aguilera did appear on stage with Levine and Cee Lo Green during the official presentation, though Levine stood far away from Aguilera on stage (above).

The pair started butting heads early in the season over contestant Tony Lucca. Lucca was a co-star of Aguilera's on "The Mickey Mouse Club" when they were tweens, though the "Beautiful" belter didn't seem to initially remember him during the blind auditions. Levine picked Lucca up for his team, and throughout the competition, Aguilera went after him hard. So hard in fact, it seemed that other motivations might have been in play.

The "feud" became a running theme of the season, so much so that by the finals, Levine, anticipating Aguilera's criticism of his contestant's final competitive performance, wore a glittering "Team Xtina" T-shirt under his flannel and revealed it when the pop star expectedly started laying into the singer-songwriter.

Reports that things were even more uncomfortable behind the scenes are rampant. Did Levine and Lucca pick Jay-Z's "99 Problems" for his final song as one last dig at Aguilera? Was she so hard on the contestant because of an unrequited teenage crush? Did Levine really call her that backstage after the show's final performance episode? Who knows, but there is a laundry list of rumors about the feud, and no one (especially Levine) comes across very well.

Read More...

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Was Christina Aguilera's Season-Long Feud With Tony Lucca Inspired By Unrequited Teenage Crush?

Posted 5/11/12 12:14 pm EST by in Christina Aguilera, Television, The Voice

Tony Lucca

By Zachary Swickey

If you kept up with the nail-biting second season of NBC’s “The Voice,” then you are already aware that Jermaine Paul was crowned this season’s winner. However, the real juicy backstory throughout the season has been the peculiar and seemingly bitter feud between Christina Aguilera and contestant Tony Lucca, who both appeared on “The Mickey Mouse Club” as kids.

It all started when Lucca first took the stage and Aguilera seemed to not recognize him.
But that was just the start. As the season continued, Aguilera became more and more critical of Lucca, specifically targeting him with particularly harsh (if not necessarily incorrect) criticism on multiple occasions. Of course, Lucca tried to be professional at first and ignore her unfavorable critiques; however, he did finally snap back, telling People, “I’m not going to let one person bring me down. Clearly that seems like part of her strategy.”

According to Dale Godboldo, a “Mickey Mouse Club” co-star from back in the day, Aguilera’s negative comments stem from the fact that she was actually taken with Lucca back in their Disney days and the feelings were not reciprocated.

“Christina was in love with him,” Godboldo revealed to TMZ. “But she wasn’t the only one. Britney was in love with him.”

"All of this ['The Voice'] madness was not brought on by Tony," he continued.

Feud or not, it seems like Aguilera is trying to bury the hatchet. During the show’s finale, Aguilera whispered something into Lucca’s ear. “She just wanted to clear the air a bit," Lucca said to Us Weekly.

"[She] apologize[d] that this became much more of a dramatic thing than she ever intended it. I said to her, 'I hope that we can be cool moving forward. I take pride in the fact that my whole career has been a career of integrity, and sound relationships,” he told the mag.

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Watch The Final Four 'Voice' Performances And Vote In Our Poll

Posted 5/8/12 12:24 pm EST by in Newsroom Poll, The Voice

Last night on "The Voice," the final four – Jermaine Paul, Juliet Simms, Chris Mann and Tony Lucca – took the stage for their final competitive performances, to duet with their respective coaches (Blake shelton, Cee Lo Green, Christina Aguilera and Adam Levine) and once more to perform a tribute/thank you song for their mentor.

>> Who Will Win 'The Voice'? (Poll)

Everyone was uniformly great, which begs the question, just who the heck is going to win this thing?

Watch all four of the competitive performances here and don't forget to vote in our poll for who you think will win the title of "The Voice" – in addition to a fancy recroding contract with Universal Republic Records.

And check back tomorrow to see if we got the winner right! Right now, the voting is split pretty evenly, so it's anyone's guess who is walking away with the big prize tonight (which makes it even more exciting, right?).

Check out Chris Mann and Jermaine Paul's performances below! Read More...

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Who Will Win 'The Voice'? (Poll)

Posted 5/7/12 4:59 pm EST by in Newsroom Poll, The Voice

Tony Lucca

The two-night finale of "The Voice" begins tonight (May 7) on NBC and we're pretty psyched! We've been recapping the show all season and can't wait to find out who America picks as their favorite.

>> Blake Shelton And Adam Levine: Breaking Down Their Love

Though, we have to admit, we're a little personally divided over who we think should be crowned "The Voice." The four contestants remaining are equally talented in different ways and each bring something different to the table.

>> 'The Voice' Closes In On 'American Idol'

Check out our breakdown of the remaining contestants and what we think their chances are below and vote after the jump for who you think will be win it all on tomorrow's finale.

>> 'The Voice' Clocks Biggest Non-Sporting Event Ratings In Six Years

Read on and vote below! Read More...

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Blake Shelton And Adam Levine: Breaking Down Their Love

Posted 3/21/12 9:24 am EST by in Television, The Voice, Video

The world seems to be obsessed with the bromance friendship (that’s the term they prefer, it seems) between "The Voice" judges Adam Levine and Blake Shelton. We here at MTV News have been aware of it for some time, which is why when we caught up with Shelton at a recent event we asked him all about it.

So, imagine our my surprise when I headed over to People.com on Wednesday morning and read that my question had left such a stamp on Shelton’s life that he was still talking about it in interviews weeks later.

Here’s the direct quote from Shelton in People, making reference to this article I wrote a couple weeks back where he jokes about wanting to kiss Adam: "A few weeks ago somebody asked me, 'What about you and Adam's bromance. Is there anything to it?' And I sputtered off, 'Yeah, I'm going to make out with him.' The next thing you read is, 'Blake wants to kiss Adam.' Man, I can't believe how ... How honest I was. But it's fun. It's just like we're sitting around the bar, making jabs at each other."

Now, I find it totally flattering that Mr. Shelton would remember my question and our encounter with such accuracy when asked about it. And, perhaps, in the end, the romance is not with him and Adam, but with him and, well, someone else…

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Kelly Clarkson To Judge On Newest Reality Singing Competition

Posted 3/9/12 11:47 am EST by in American Idol, kelly-clarkson, Television, The Voice

Kelly Clarkson

By Zachary Swickey

You can add ABC to the list of stations attempting a vocal competition show. The new program, “Duets,” will premiere this summer and boasts Kelly Clarkson, Robin Thicke, Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles and living legend Lionel Richie as its judging panel.

We know what you’re thinking… seriously? Another singing reality show? However, to set themselves apart from the bunch – which now includes “American Idol,” “The Voice,” “The X Factor” and The CW’s upcoming “Star Next Door,” which has Queen Latifah and Gloria Estefan as judges – “Duets” will have the judges choosing two singers to be their duet partners each night. They will perform in front of a live studio audience each week on the show.

Of course, eventually one duet contestant will remain and the top prize is a coveted contract with Hollywood Records.

Clarkson said in a statement, "The simple fact that I get to go out and find two people that I believe in, sing with them every week, and help them accomplish their dream is an amazing thing that I can't wait to be a part of!"

The ratings for “American Idol” have been suffering more than ever, “The X Factor” has received lukewarm attention and “The Voice” is becoming the new favorite, so who knows what ABC is thinking getting into the singing reality show game. “America’s Got Talent” will also be returning this summer, and while not a predominantly singing competition, the addition of Howard Stern as guest judges is bound to give ratings one heck of a boost.

Be on the lookout for “Duets” to premiere on ABC sometime this summer.

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'The Voice' Closes In On 'American Idol'

Posted 2/16/12 4:09 pm EST by in Television, The Voice

The Voice

We're a little biased here, but here goes: "American Idol" is dead and "The Voice" killed it! We're kidding! But NBC's reality singing competition is putting up quite a fight against "Idol," matching FOX's long-running hit in the key 18-49 demographic and coming within spitting distance of the once untouchable juggernaut in overall ratings.

Monday's episode of "The Voice" earned 16.3 million viewers and a 6.0 rating in the key demo, the same 18-49 rating earned last night by "Idol," which pulled in 18.6 million total viewers.

When it comes to the younger half of the key demo, "The Voice" is actually winning, according to USA Today.

While "Idol's" ratings have stabilized, it's been a brutal season for the once undisputed top show on TV. The season 11 debut in January attracted 21.6 million viewers, down 27 percent from last year in ratings and 18 percent in total viewership. It was the biggest year-to-year fall in the history of the franchise.

Meanwhile, guided by an expert promotional campaign and a key season two debut after the Super Bowl, "The Voice" has proven to be a bright spot on the otherwise bleak spring TV season. A minor hit when it debuted last year, "The Voice" broke some non-sporting event ratings records with its post-Super Bowl debut, attracting 37.6 million viewers for a 16.3 in the key demo. Even without its Super lead-in, the show has proven far stronger than many expected, settling in to a major season-over-season gain.

Are you watching "The Voice" – WE ARE – or are you a longtime "Idol" devotee? Let us know in the comments.

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