MIKA as a judge at "THE VOICE" France 2014

[PenniFan]

But I don't understand a thing of the French Language.

[Elwendin]

I have never watched this show but I can almost guarantee that is not what it's about nor should it be.

I don't think he cares that much about what it should be

I suppose he doesn't care about winning it either. Just my opinion, of course, I don't already know him that much to have strong opinions about what he thinks.

[cathouzouf]

Surely the purpose of soliciting auditions from thousands and thousands of people for a show called The Voice is to find the one who can. The idea of choosing someone with vocal skills as mediocre as Madonna's seems ridiculous to me. Madonna's appeal was not singing in "a sublime way" but her original look, her attitude, her controversial subject matter, her celebrity, her ability to reinvent herself. She could have had any mediocre voice and been equally successful. I have never watched this show but I can almost guarantee that is not what it's about nor should it be.

 

Madonna is probably not the best example when talking about voices.

 

If I look at the last edition of "LaVoix", there were a few participants who made it very far, one was in the final and is now duetting with Garou, and they have very unique voices, very far from screamers like Whitney or Celine...

 

In fact, there are many French-speaking singers, especially women, who can fit in that category. Maybe the best contemporary example is Coeur de Pirate. She has a very limited vocal range, but she uses what she has at its best...

[Christine]

In fact, there are many French-speaking singers, especially women, who can fit in that category. Maybe the best contemporary example is Coeur de Pirate. She has a very limited vocal range, but she uses what she has at its best...

 

Of course there are many many singers with limited vocal range. But why would anyone create a talent show called The Voice and audition thousands and thousands of people to find another person with limited vocal range via blind auditions? They are not even looking for an "X factor" here, they are not looking for a look, they are not looking for a songwriter...they are looking for a voice. Let's be real...how extraordinary can a blind voice be if the singer has limited vocal abilities? Of course it would be a shame to exclude someone who happened to be really unique and interesting in this way, but the idea that this is the intent of the show seems a bit foolish. I think the results would be just as mediocre as the vocal skills of the contestants and the chances of you developing a star from this approach would be pretty slim.

 

I would be looking for someone like Kelly Clarkson whose vocals are strong enough and versatile enough that she can sing everything from country music to Whitney Houstonesque songs and be in the upper echelon of all singers in these genres. And if a show and the talent pool in a country are not good enough for this then why bother. You can just go down to a karoake bar and find anyone with medicore vocal skills and nothing else going for them.

[camille*]

I have to add the 2 winners out of the French Voice had amazing vocal abilities and are not successful here. On the contrary, some with a less impressive voice but more 'style' made it far in the game and some of them we still hear about from time to time.

 

Now to look for 'The Voice' and come up with people who have a voice and a style is a contradiction in the show I agree, but I think that's how they want to make it work and how it's going to be this year, in Team Mika anyway...

[Mousetrap]

Of course there are many many singers with limited vocal range. But why would anyone create a talent show called The Voice and audition thousands and thousands of people to find another person with limited vocal range via blind auditions? They are not even looking for an "X factor" here, they are not looking for a look, they are not looking for a songwriter...they are looking for a voice. Let's be real...how extraordinary can a blind voice be if the singer has limited vocal abilities? Of course it would be a shame to exclude someone who happened to be really unique and interesting in this way, but the idea that this is the intent of the show seems a bit foolish. I think the results would be just as mediocre as the vocal skills of the contestants and the chances of you developing a star from this approach would be pretty slim.

 

I would be looking for someone like Kelly Clarkson whose vocals are strong enough and versatile enough that she can sing everything from country music to Whitney Houstonesque songs and be in the upper echelon of all singers in these genres. And if a show and the talent pool in a country are not good enough for this then why bother. You can just go down to a karoake bar and find anyone with medicore vocal skills and nothing else going for them.

 

I wonder how far winners of the shows like this in other countries go with their careeres. The Voice in this case. I know Kelly Clarkson and Adam Lambert, but how big are they in both Americas? Especially in comparison with natural musicians. I agree with you, the voice itself is surely not enough for a real artist. It must be somethin else like look, personality etc. Because there are many really good voices but not every person with the voice can become a star.

[RAK1]

I wonder how far winners of the shows like this in other countries go with their careeres. The Voice in this case. I know Kelly Clarkson and Adam Lambert, but how big are they in both Americas? Especially in comparison with natural musicians. I agree with you, the voice itself is surely not enough for a real artist. It must be somethin else like look, personality etc. Because there are many really good voices but not every person with the voice can become a star.

 

In the UK neither of the winners have gone on to do anything memorable, that I'm aware of anyway.

I do remember in the first series in the first round a guy I thought was amazing didn't get through even though his voice was perfect, and in later rounds people with voices that were not a patch on his managed to, which I put down to the judges holding back and assuming the next big thing would appear, and it didn't.

I found it really sad and such a waste.

[Christine]

Now to look for 'The Voice' and come up with people who have a voice and a style is a contradiction in the show I agree, but I think that's how they want to make it work and how it's going to be this year, in Team Mika anyway...

 

I don't think it's a contradiction. I think it should be the goal and not...well everyone can't sing like Whitney Houston so I'm going to look for someone whose voice is unusual instead of powerful. They should be both unique and extraordinarily skilled. I mean there are 7 billion voices on this planet and millions of people watching these shows. If you are not looking for someone who could potentially be one of the greatest singers in the world who has it all then why bother with this expensive, laborious and lengthy process? What purpose does it serve other than providing mindless entertainment to a TV audience in order to sell adverts?

 

I wonder how far winners of the shows like this in other countries go with their careeres. The Voice in this case. I know Kelly Clarkson and Adam Lambert, but how big are they in both Americas? Especially in comparison with natural musicians. I agree with you, the voice itself is surely not enough for a real artist. It must be somethin else like look, personality etc. Because there are many really good voices but not every person with the voice can become a star.

 

Kelly Clarkson and Adam Lambert are as successful as other artists who did not come from TV and I believe Simon Cowell said a few years ago that Carrie Underwood is the most successful singer he's ever had. But she is a country artist so you're not going to hear much of her outside the US. But really the success rate of contestants on these shows is pretty abysmal considering how much exposure they get on TV for weeks. They are household names for weeks and within a year we've forgotten they ever existed. That's why I don't want to waste 13 weeks of my life watching one of these shows. If someone has any real ability to make it I will discover them when they make it to radio like Leona Lewis and Cher Lloyd.

 

I am going to try to watch this one but if the pool of talent is medicore as it was with X Factor I don't think I'll make it very far.

[DerMoment1608]

But why would anyone create a talent show called The Voice and audition thousands and thousands of people to find another person with limited vocal range via blind auditions?

 

Because the voice is so much more than the technical site, it is characterised by so many other things: timbre, uniqueness, ability to transfer emotions… It's a summation of all these things. And that these things are very important for him and that he doesn't want "only" a technical perfect voice is the focus of his statement to my mind. A singer can be much better and much more appealing to people because of all these things together than just a technical perfect voice with missing all the other characteristics.

Edited December 27, 2013 by DerMoment1608

[guylainem123]

The winner of "La Voix" in Quebec has a song that plays on the radio from time to time, but i'm not sure she's heard anywhere else. She does have a nice voice and a charismatic stage presence. Her exposure will be limited and chosen by her La Voix contract. If I remember, she's theirs for 4 or 5 years.

 

I sometimes wonder if the winner would still be the winner if coaches kept being blind til the end. What i mean is, sometimes people have a fantastic voice, but once they turn around, the participant's personality/looks/way on stage isn't something that would sell. I'm sure that also influences their decision, not just "the voice"

[Christine]

Because the voice is so much more than the technical site, it is characterised by so many other things: timbre, uniqueness, ability to transfer emotions…

 

Of course, that's why Whitney Houston and Adele and Amy Winehouse are different from one another. But you cannot put Madonna in their class even if you prefer Madonna for whatever reason.

 

Millions of people possess voices that are unique in timbre, etc. If you are not looking for one that has exceptional vocal ability on top of all these other qualities then why bother. The Madonnas of this world are only going to succeed because they are Madonna...and not the product of some mediocre talent competition.

[DerMoment1608]

I sometimes wonder if the winner would still be the winner if coaches kept being blind til the end. What i mean is, sometimes people have a fantastic voice, but once they turn around, the participant's personality/looks/way on stage isn't something that would sell. I'm sure that also influences their decision, not just "the voice"

 

No, I don't think they would be the same. Aside from the auditions the voice isn't any different to other Casting Shows in my opinion, you are judging the person as a whole, because you (as spectator and judge) are judging from the whole performance. If you would want a show really only focused on the voice you would need a Casting Show in radio But this is nothing bad imho, because you do it with every artist, judging the "whole" package.

[DerMoment1608]

Millions of people possess voices that are unique in timbre, etc. If you are not looking for one that has exceptional vocal ability on top of all these other qualities then why bother.

 

Because I think that you can have an exceptional singer even if the vocal abilities aren't perfect if all the other things are exceptional. And if you look for people who have these special other qualities in an exceptional way than there aren't millions existing any more.

 

Like a glass that can be filled with different drinks, representing the different qualities, and the full glass is an exceptional singer. And with technical singing abilities you can fill maximum 66% of the glass, as well as you can only fill the glass with other abilities to 66%. And if you have a perfect voice and you can fill the other 33% with other qualities, than you are an exceptional singer. If you don't have any other quality than you'll never be exceptional, because you only reach the 66%. But if you fill the glass only to 33% with your singing skills, but you are able to fill the last 66% with emotionality and timbre and uniqueness… than you are exceptional as well.

 

What I get from your posts is that you can only fill the glass to 100% with exceptional voice and exceptional other qualities, whereas I believe that you can fill it fully in different ways. And what I get from Mika is that he doesn't want a person with only exceptional singing skills, because you can fill the glass only to some extend with that, and he says you can get a much fuller glass with focusing on the other qualities.

 

I totally share this idea. Although I don't think Madonna is the best example, she is more an example of being unique as whole person than being exceptional as a whole voice…

Edited December 27, 2013 by DerMoment1608

[silver]

In the UK neither of the winners have gone on to do anything memorable, that I'm aware of anyway.

I do remember in the first series in the first round a guy I thought was amazing didn't get through even though his voice was perfect, and in later rounds people with voices that were not a patch on his managed to, which I put down to the judges holding back and assuming the next big thing would appear, and it didn't.

I found it really sad and such a waste.

 

I thought in the UK Voice the judges seemed to be looking out for people with "big" voices, rather than real singers who could actually hold a tune. There were contestants with very good voices but they lost out to the shouty singers. I think you can convey plenty of emotion in a song without resorting to dramatic over the top performances.

[A. Clay]

 

 

Edited December 27, 2013 by A. Clay

[Christine]

And what I get from Mika is that he doesn't want a person with only exceptional singing skills, because you can fill the glass only to some extend with that, and he says you can get a much fuller glass with focusing on the other qualities.

 

What I am getting from Mika is that he has no expectation that the singers in this competition could ever be close to Whitney Houston's calibre so he is going for something else rather than attempting to fit a square peg into a round hole. I don't know if that's the case because I am not sure what his exact words are or what he really thinks. But if you do approach a show like this in that way (not everyone can sing like Whitney) it begs the question of why you'd produce this show in the first place. If the talent pool is so shallow there is no hope of finding another Whitney Houston then this is just another gimmick to sell yet another talent show that the world of music doesn't need.

 

I understand your glass analogy but I don't think you can fill the remaining 66% of the glass with other vocal qualities. I think if you are not the powerhouse vocalist that Leona Lewis is then you need all kinds of other qualities besides qualities of voice in order to become a star. Everyone is saying that Madonna is a bad example but she's the example that Mika gave and actually she's fairly representative of the mediocre vocal talents of many pop stars (Britney Spears and Justin Bieber are not even as good as Madonna). They are successful in pop music for reasons that have very little to do with their voices.

 

Of course if Mika came across a Lily Allen, for example, in a talent competition I would hope he would choose her over someone like Jessica Simpson who tries to sing in diva style and can't quite cut it because she's not good enough. But is it likely that the Lily Allens of the world who are exceptional for their brilliant ideas and witty lyrics, etc. are going to enter competitions like this or make it through the auditions? How is anyone going to detect the potential of someone like that based on a 90 second blind vocal audition?

[RAK1]

I thought in the UK Voice the judges seemed to be looking out for people with "big" voices, rather than real singers who could actually hold a tune. There were contestants with very good voices but they lost out to the shouty singers. I think you can convey plenty of emotion in a song without resorting to dramatic over the top performances.

 

The chap I saw was on the same night as the singing teacher guy, who went through to the battle stages.

I liked the other guy because his voice wasn't shouty or big, but did convey pure emotion and captured me as soon as he opened his mouth.

[crazyaboutmika]

 

 

 

Thanks for sharing those

He looks like a mischevious kid there

I love them

[kreacher]

 

 

 

i can't see instagrams, can someone pleeeease post these pics here?

[Mikasister]

i can't see instagrams, can someone pleeeease post these pics here?

 

 

 

[A. Clay]

https://twitter.com/Irene88Ninni/status/416885177756160000/photo/1

 

https://twitter.com/Team_MikaTV/status/407220751079444480/photo/1

 

 

 

 

http://instagram.com/p/iee926oc2l/

Edited December 28, 2013 by A. Clay

[A. Clay]

[Alireine]

 

[Alireine]

https://twitter.com/Irene88Ninni/status/416885177756160000/photo/1

 

https://twitter.com/Team_MikaTV/status/407220751079444480/photo/1

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BiaIchihara]