Don’t feed The Voice

Posted on 10 June, 2019

This week, a friend and former bandmate made tabloid headlines when she allegedly ‘stormed offstage’ after an unsuccessful blind audition on The Voice.

She claims to have been grossly misrepresented. The Daily Mail Australia managed to cover both sides of the story — though not in the same article, of course.

Fans and trolls alike took to social media to spin their own chairs. Was she an arrogant diva? Misunderstood? Just reality TV collateral damage?

As far as The Voice, or any other talent show is concerned, it doesn’t matter. They’re all stock characters to feed the ratings beast.

I don’t doubt this ‘moment’ was carefully crafted. But here’s a bigger sleight of hand we should be talking about. 

Like good magicians, talent show producers are telling us where to look — at individual contestants, preferably on a rollercoaster of messy feelings.

Leveraging those feelings isn’t the issue — human emotions are the foundation of artistic expression. It’s the isolation of those emotions from the good that they can do in society. 

The Voice and its ilk are obsessively individualistic. A proud family is wheeled out from time to time to pay lip service to the ‘village’ behind the vocalist.

Some footage of the performer’s community might even make the edit — a friend or relative near to their heart when they get up on stage. 

It’s tokenistic at best; the broader social good of music performance is on the cutting room floor. What will the winner do with that crown once they get it? What do they want to set right in the world?

How will they push the artistic boundaries of their craft? How will they collaborate, and find new ways of expression? What do they want to challenge? There’s already a chasm between ‘creatives’ and ‘everyone else’ in our culture, and this isn’t helping. 

These aren’t questions the producers are asking. 

I got around to a few local gigs in our nation’s capital last week — a city also known for spectacle, though the production value on the Hill isn’t quite so schmick.

I sat in a cafe with a bowl of chips, listening to experimental music I didn’t understand. A friend packed out Smith’s Alternative for his long-awaited debut EP launch, drawing not only the usual folkies but a crowd of foot-stomping, beer-waving lads from his soccer team. And Midnight Oil played a special performance for Reconciliation Day, the Uluru Statement from the Heart emblazoned across the stage.

I haven’t quit reality TV, but I have sworn off this sub-category.

The Voice has nothing on the underdog triumphs of local artists, knocking off nine-to-fives to bare their souls to strangers.

Music performance can challenge your taste, introduce you to new friends and challenge the things you feel comfortable with. Don’t buy the reduction of this powerful art form The Voice is selling.