The Voice is Pretty Cool, Actually

Okay, I'll freely admit that I watched the premier of NBC's The Voice last night because Adam Levine is teh hawt, Cee Lo Green is teh cool, and I'm a shallow fangrrl. I had no particular expectations one way or the other, but thought it was an interesting premise.

The show started out with a slammin' cover of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy," that actually worked. (The kidlets, who adore both Maroon 5 and Cee Lo, were suitably impressed and spastically danced around to show their appreciation.)

The four coaches (Levine, Green, Xtina (as the kids say), and Blake Shelton) had great chemistry and were pretty damn funny. The talent, unlike some other reality contests (*cough*American Idol*cough*) was actually talented. And if the coaches were at all disappointed when they hit their buzzers and flipped around to see not-quite-the-package they were expecting, did a great job of not telegraphing it, and instead offered cogent praise.

I even (hard-hearted cynic that I am) got a little misty watching some of these singers perform while their families waited with Carson Daly. You see, being a writer, I understand that how fucking hard it is to put yourself out there, especially in front of talented stars who are actually relevant, and let people stomp all over your dreams.

I actually didn't do much fast-forwarding, which for someone who is so addicted to the DVR and has so little time, is high praise indeed. So and A+ for me. I found it thoroughly enjoyable and am looking forward to the rest of the series.

Also, too, more Adam Levine.