Saturday, April 27, 2013

‘The Voice’ Staying Strong


‘The Voice’ is my favorite singing competition show aired on NBC. For the first three seasons the line up of coaches were: Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton.  With Carson Daily as the host and Christina Millian as "backstage online and social media correspondent."  The line up changed for the forth season, Shakira and Usher replaced Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green so they could take time off to focus on their careers.
There are many reality singing shows out there right now such as; American Idol, The Next and X Factor. What sets ‘The Voice’ apart is how they choose the contestants solely on the sound of their voice.


Break Down of how the show works:

The “Blind Auditions” starts the season off with contestants singing to get a spot on a coaches team. Coaches sit in a big red chair facing the audience if they what they hear they turn their chair around. If one coach turns around then by default that is the coach they have for a mentor. If more than one coach turns around then the contestant has the choice of who they want to mentor them. In the forth season each coach has eight spots to fill with two steal positions open (later discussed).

After the eight spots are filled the coaches pair two contestants together on their individual teams to go head to head in the “Battle Rounds” signing a song the coach chooses. During the preparation for the “Battle Rounds” the coaches along with celebrity mentors, help prepare the contestants. During the “Battle Rounds” the coaches choose one of the two contestants to advance. During this round the other coaches have a chance to steal the contestant that the original coach did not chose. The “Knock Rounds” are a sudden death approach, where contestants are paired up again with another teammate, this time they have their chose of song. The coaches then chose one to advance to the live show.

The “Live Show” is the final live performance phase of the competition, contestants perform in weekly shows, where public voting narrows to a final group of contestants and eventually declares a winner. Each week the public gets to vote through; text, purchasing songs of their favorite contestant through iTunes, and calling in. The public has 50% and the coaches have the other 50% to save contestants. This process happens until the there are only three contestants left, and they perform in the finale where a winner is chosen. The winning contestant gets a $100,000 and a record deal with Universal Music Group.

Did NBC make the right chose filling in the coaches’ slots with Shakira and Usher?
According to TV by the Numbers, a network TV Press Release, for the week of April 23, 2013.

From 8-10:01 p.m. ET, "The Voice" (4.8 rating, 13 share in adults 18-49, 13.9 million viewers overall) delivered the #1 results of the night in 18-49 and total viewers.  "The Voice" finished within 8 percent of last week's 5.2, the show's highest rating in more than a year (since March 12, 2012), and was within 6 percent of last week's 5.1 in these prelim fast-affiliate ratings. In total viewers, "The Voice" is within 4 percent of last week's 14.4 million.

"The Voice" won last night's time period in every key ratings category among ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox and beat the combined result of ABC and Fox, who tied for #2 among those network in the slot (4.8 vs. a combined 4.2).  From its first half-hour to its fourth, "The Voice" grew by 1.0 rating points or 24 percent in 18-49 (to a 5.1 from a 4.1).

"The Voice" matched the 18-49 rating of the fifth Monday telecast of the prior cycle (4.8 on October 8, 2012) and was up 26 percent versus the same night last year (3.8 on April 23, 2012).  In total viewers, the increases are 8 percent versus the prior cycle (13.867 million vs. 12.888 million) and 34 percent versus the same night last year (13.867 million vs. 10.314 million).

I do believe that Shakira and Usher make great coaches and according to the numbers so do many viewers. I am excited to see how the rest of this season plays out.


Sunday, April 14, 2013

Making the Right Moves


I recently got accepted into an internship program through Day2Day Enterprise located in Jacksonville, Florida. Although I have not started my internship I wanted to get familiar with the company and share my findings.
Day2Day Enterprise is a Production/Entertainment company ran by young entrepreneur Derek “Jus Me” Augustine.  Day2Day Enterprise is located in Jacksonville, Florida not your typical city for young aspiring artists. Jus Me was raised in Massachusetts, now currently living Jacksonville and he is following his dreams of not only being a hip-hop artist but also helping other aspiring artist as well.
The Mission statement of Day2Day “is to encourage, empower, and entertain the world through music and with many other forms of Art and Entertainment. We are determined to provide superior customer service and high product/service quality at the most affordable rates.”
Derek along with Day2Day Enterprise offers many products and services; Event Planning, Music Production, Video Production, Photography, Graphic Design, Promotions/Marketing, and Management. Day2Day specializes in Music/Video Production, Talent Development & Management. Day2Day ensures equal access to resources and quality of service and that is what sets them apart from their competitors.
Day2Day Enterprise is in the middle of switching the brand logo and will be hiring on more staff to get the company heading in a different direction with a fresh perspective. 

As I spoke to Derek I was impressed with his knowledge and work ethic. He has been in the industry since he was a child; he has done everything from teaching various types of dance classes as well as modeling and being a hip-hop artist. I am excited to learn from him and get a chance to work in the music industry.
This company is involved in many of the same areas that I am planning on doing after achieving my degree. I also want to own an Artist Management company through my internship I hope to gain not only hands on experience but also the knowledge it will take to achieve my own goals.
I will continue to Blog about Day2Day once I start my internship this summer.