It’s all about 'The Voice' in new reality singing show

Crazy. That’s what most people thought about Executive Producer Mark Burnett when he announced he’d launch another singing competition to take on the “American Idol.” juggernaut. Only fittingly was it then, when the coaches, not judges, of NBC’s “The Voice” — pop stars Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green and country star Blake Shelton — decided to open the premier show with a rendition of a song all in the same. The foursome performed “Crazy” by Gnarles Barkley — of which Cee Lo is one half — to show contestants “just how it’s done.” The performance also seemed somewhat symbolic, as if the coaches were saying “Hey, we can have a successful singing show too. We’re not crazy for trying.”

The premise and format of “The Voice” is different from “Idol.” There are three rounds: the Blind Auditions Round, the Battle Round and the Live Round. In the first round, which will air over the next month, the judges sit with their backs to the performers while the contestants perform behind them. If the judges like what they hear, they hit a button and spin around to view their potential teammate. If more than one judge turns around, it’s their job to sell the contestant on who would make a better coach for them, to fit their particular singing style.

There are some obvious pairings, such as folksy husband-wife duo Elenowen choosing Blake over Cee Lo; or Frenchie Davis (who was actually on “Idol” eight years ago, but was disqualified), the big girl with the pipes picking Christina over Adam. Then there are also some surprises, such as shy 16-year-old Xenia picking Blake over any of the pop stars for which her peers would go crazy; or the forty-something rock chic, Beverly, who chose Christina over Adam. So it will be interesting to see how the coaches and the contestants ultimately work together and collaborate their ideas.

Eventually, each coach carries a team of eight people into the battle round, where two people from the same team sing the same song and the coaches themselves have to decide who is eliminated from their own team.

Once each coach has only four players left, the viewers get to vote during the Live Round, where the 16 finalists compete against each other. Viewers will vote for one contestant from each team to be safe, leaving the coach to decide who they want to save from their team and who they will eliminate. In the end, the best contestant from each team — the final four — will compete against each other for a $100,000 recording contract.

Sounds intriguing, but what makes “The Voice” better than the competition? For one, the judges are relevant and still making hits. They’re fresher, hipper and funnier than the “Idol” panel. The banter between Queen Bee Christina and Salesman-like Adam is great — heck the banter between all four coaches is great, especially when they’re all vying for the same contestant. It shows that they can all get along, set ego aside and are really there to make someone into a great star.

What’s also great about the show is there is no age limit. On this week’s premier, a 56-year-old woman from New Jersey sang and I was outwardly surprised at her voice, which ties into the whole concept of simply hearing a voice just for the voice, and not judging someone for what they look like. That’s what I love about this show. We all know a lot of pop stars simply got their start because of their looks alone, but with the “The Voice” the focus is shifted to vocal ability alone. There’s no ‘Well, she’s pretty and can sing half-decently, so we’ll put her through.’ With “The Voice” it’s all about the talent, and that’s why contestants need to bring their ultimate A-game to the table.

Oh, and I can’t forget Carson Daly. He landed hosting duties, and I have to admit, I enjoy seeing him back doing what he does best. Daly knows his stuff, music-wise — after hosting MTV’s “TRL” for four years, and “Last Call with Carson Daly” for over nine years, Daly’s got the hosting gig down and comes across as a genuinely nice-guy when he’s interacting with the families of the contestants. His personality isn’t too overwhelming like a certain “Idol” host who seems to always turn the focus on himself rather than the contestants. Daly supports the contestants and wants to see them do well, and you can see that.

I have a gut feeling “The Voice” will slowly surpass “Idol” as the dominant singing show, despite the success that J-Lo and Steven Tyler are having with the revitalization of “Idol.” After all, Burnett has a track record penning such hits as “Survivor” and “The Apprentice.” So here’s hoping “The Voice” does well and, if so, the coaching panel sticks around for a few seasons.

They’d be crazy not to.

'Scream 4' keeps up with the original

“What’s your favorite scary movie?”

It’s been 15 years — and four “Scary Movie” spoofs later — since the first “Scream” installment posed the now-infamous question and redefined the slasher genre. It spawned two sequels, the last surfacing just 11 years ago. The year was 2000, and we were embedded in the new millennium. Technology was just coming to the forefront — cell phones were still in the hands of only a select few. Blogs and Webcasts were virtually unheard of. And Facebook and Twitter wouldn’t come about for at least another five years.

Unfortunately for all those involved with the newest installment — “Scream 4,” which came out last Friday — they’ll learn that a new decade and ever-changing world of technology mean new rules for horror films. And those rules mean that this time, all bets are off.

Especially for our protagonist, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), who has fought her way through three movies worth of Ghostfaces. Sidney is now a published author with a debut self-help book “Out of Darkness: A True Story of Survival.” She decides to return to Woodsboro — her hometown where the original “Scream” murders took place — to provide a fitting ending to her book tour. It is here that Ghostface decides to resurface for yet another slew of murders.

Joining her will be the other two parts to the movies’ survival trio, now-married Sheriff Dewey Riley (David Arquette) and retired anchor woman Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox). For the pair, it’s all about struggle this time around. Dewey struggles to keep his job and home lives separate, Gale struggles with writers block, and both struggle with their marriage (sounds like a bit of real-life foreshadowing, hmm). In the end, both must learn to put aside their differences and work together to survive and solve this round of Ghostface killings.

There are plenty of newbies to keep up with in “Scream 4.” Sidney’s return to Woodsboro has her staying at her aunt’s house with cousin, Jill (Emma Roberts), a high-schooler tagged for life with the fact that she is related to the one-and-only Sidney Prescott. Along with her BFFs, Kirby (Hayden Panettiere on her game) and Olivia (Marielle Jaffe), film club geeks Charlie (Rory Culkin) and Robbie (Erik Knudsen), and ex-boyfriend Trevor (Nico Tortorella), these kids provide a lot of the fresh meat for Ghostface.

For comic relief, there are also three new bumbling cops (Adam Brody, Marley Shelton and Anthony Anderson), a book publicist (Alison Brie), and Anna Paquin and Kristen Bell even make brief cameos. It seems everyone wanted a bit of the franchise.

So which of these fine folks is behind all the gruesome murders? And what is the reason behind the resurrection of Ghostface?

That I won’t spoil for you. I mean, that is what Director Wes Craven and Screenwriter Kevin Williamson are good at. Providing us with a didn’t-see-it-coming ending each and every time. And they managed to yet again provide us with a twist of an ending, despite how easily technology could have screwed that up for them. Both in the real world (Twitter provides instant spoiler alerts) and in the film (scary phone calls can now be easily tracked with Caller ID and GPS is imbedded in most cell phones). Which begs us to ask: Why is it so hard to catch this crazy stalker?

Well, technology also helps the killer, who can now broadcast his doings live on Webcasts for all the world to see. Or simply download an app to produce the infamous Ghostface voice. Thanks to technology, Ghostface could be anywhere at any time as anybody. Everything is way more elaborate and everyone is a suspect.

What also makes “Scream 4” work 15 years after the original is that it has no problem making fun of itself, while still being just as suspenseful and scary as the originals. Even the opening scene — typically a blood-bath of a murder to get the ball rolling — is a mockery of itself, but it still made me jump out of my seat.

Craven and Williamson are both aware that sequel after sequel after sequel could easily make for a laughing matter (ahem, SAW), which is why they waited as long as they did for the next installment, but they also know that if done well — and done right — a sequel could be more of a remake, if you will, and that’s exactly what they play off in “Scream 4.”

It’s all about doing it bigger and better than the original. And they sure did. Enough so that there is already talk about a “Scream 5” and “Scream 6.” As much I hate to see them overdo it, it’s always original, hip and provides for some good chuckles among all the gore, so I say keep ‘em comin’. After all, you gotta keep Neve Campbell employed somehow.

Comedy Awards: The new kids on the block

Just when you think awards season is about over — whether that be good or bad — a new award show crops up. Sunday night, Comedy Central presented the first-ever Comedy Awards to a house jam-packed with stars: Everyone from Will Ferrell and Ty Burrell to Alex Baldwin and Stephen Colbert were all there to commemorate the night’s festivities.

The awards were divvied out fairly evenly — among some of the more notable: “Modern Family” picked up Best Comedy Series; Kristin Wiig won Best Comedy Actress on TV for SNL; Best Stand-Up Special went to Louis C.K.; Best Comedy Film was for “The Other Guys” starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg; “South Park” won Best Animated Series; and Daniel Tosh won Best Breakthrough Performer.

Some speeches were funny: “It’s almost like being student of the month, and your mom’s the teacher,” said Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of Comedy Central’s “South Park,” when accepting their Best Animated Series award.

Others overdid it, such as when Will Ferrell and director Adam McKay of “The Other Guys” accepted their Best Comedic Film award, along with over 50 other writers, directors, etc, who “supposedly” worked on the film. A little over the top, and not at all amusing. Ferrell can do better than that.

There was no host for the show — which could have been for better or worse — yet Andy Richter held his own backstage as he announced the presenters throughout the night.

What worked best were the performances sandwiched in between the awards. Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone — members of the comedic group The Lonely Island — along with rapper Akon, filled the room with energy while performing their SNL digital short “I Just Had Sex” live onstage. The Lonely Island is a group known for their ridiculous songs/videos that go viral online in a matter of minutes — such as the Grammy-nominated “I’m on a Boat,” and “Lazy Sunday,” among other somewhat foul-mouthed- but-all-in-good-fun songs that get stuck in your head, no matter how hard you try.

Stephen Colbert took over the stage for a bit when Jon Stewart won the award for Best Late-Night Comedy Series. Colbert pretty much tossed Stewart offstage, stole his award and announced he was accepting the award in honor of “every person whose soul has been crushed by Jon Stewart over the past eight years” — this comment in reference to Stewart’s eight consecutive Emmy wins.

Jon Cryer worked out his “Two and Half Men” stress in a subtle jab at Charlie Sheen by showcasing how he now uses all of his free time — by practicing to be a rapper. His crew came on stage and performed his new single “Jon Cryer Will [explicet] You Up.”

All kidding aside, two major awards were given out during the night. One to Eddie Murphy, who received the Legendary Comedian Award, and another to David Letterman, who received the Johnny Carson Award for Comedic Excellence.

Murphy, not exactly overly-enthused with the award, it seemed, made a short and sweet speech after a montage of his most memorable work was shown. He thanked his inspirations — Richard Pryor, Charlie Chaplin, Bill Cosby and George Carlin — and also revealed that he was about to turn 50 and has been trying to make people laugh for 35 years. Rightfully so, but the last 10 years or so have only been filled with “Shrek” laughs, or “Nutty Professor” reincarnations — so I’m not sure if this was the right time for him to be receiving this award.

Lettermen, more lively than Murphy, accepted his award from the one-and-only Bill Murray, who as Lettermen said himself, deserved the award more than the guy who actually got it. I agree. Lettermen has done a fine job with his “Late Night” show, delving into politics and issues more so than other late night hosts — but I must say, Murray is a lot funnier, no matter how you put it.

Comedy only gets better with time, and let’s hope for the sake of laughter, that the Comedy Awards return for another year.

'The Killing' pulls you right in

Right from the outset, AMC’s newest drama, “The Killing,” draws you in. We watch as a young girl is being chased down in the woods during the middle of the night. The last we see, her assailant catches up with her, shines a flashlight on her face and the girl seems left with no escape. Throughout the first half of Sunday night’s two-hour premiere, we were left to wonder whether this girl, Rosie Larson, got away.

In comes homicide detective Sarah Linden (Mireille Enos), a woman on the last day of her job — in the process of relocating her son and herself from a dreary Seattle setting to sunny California to be with her fiance. As a detective, Linden is a quiet force, always methodically thinking over every angle, never jumping to conclusions.

Taking over for Linden is Detective Stephen Holder (Joel Kinnaman), transferring from the narcotics unit. Holder is the complete opposite of Linden in terms of subtlety — he’s a bit rough around the edges, yet he’s a hard worker and eager to learn the ropes of a new field. He’ll work well with Linden, who as you may have guessed, gets rapped up in the case and never makes it to California.

So what makes this detective show different than any other? First off, it focuses on the people surrounding the case, not just in piecing the puzzle together each and every week. In “The Killing,” we get a core group of three people to whom the disappearance of Rosie Larson matters.
First, there’s Detective Linden. Working in the homicide unit, she sees the worst of the worst, day in and day out. Yet for some reason, Rosie’s case seems to hit her harder than usual.

Second, are Rosie’s parents (Michelle Forbes and Brent Sexton) and two younger brothers. Rosie is known to be an all-around good girl to most and her parents are dumfounded as to how she could have gone missing. After all, she was at her best friend’s house all weekend, right? In the premiere, bit by bit, we find out Rosie may not have been the good girl her parents knew and loved.

Third — and this is the most random connection — you have City Councilor Darren Richmond (Billy Campbell). He’s in the middle of a campaign for mayor, but Rosie’s connection to the councilor could disrupt the foundation on which his mayoral bid rests.

By dividing the script among these three sets of people, it offsets the slow pacing of the show in the same way that the producers of “24” did. In “The Killing” we are conveniently given one day of the case per episode, making for 12 consecutive days to match with 12 weekly episodes. There is no passage of time; therefore, we see just what the characters see. There’s always something new being disclosed about one of them, and it brings to light connections that make everyone a suspect. The writers of the show are very good at planting ideas in the viewers’ head with subtle looks or motions made by every character. The question is, do we, the viewers, catch all the subtle clues?

“The Killing” is a guessing game for sure, but it’s also a beautifully-crafted drama. The scenery alone adds much to the feel of the show. The plain, drab, literally chilling setting creates a tension that builds and builds, adding to the suspense. And the actors, none of whom are widely known, bring their A-game to the screen with a sense of passion and angst all wrapped up in one. Hopefully “The Killing” can continue at a pace where it leaves us wanting more, without feeling too unfulfilled and answerless as to “What happened to Rosie Larson?” Only time will tell.

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“The Killing” airs Sunday’s at 10 p.m. on AMC.