Oh dear, another singing show

The Voice Australia wants to be "like no other" music show. Pattie Pegler isn't convinced.

The latest series of American Idol finished recently after running for what felt like a thousand aeons. But no sooner had it finished than up popped another talent show.

The Voice Australia (Fridays, 8.30pm, TV2) kicked off last week and is apparently "a singing competition like no other".

There are aspiring singers and four judges – songstress Delta Goodrem; country singer Keith Urban; lead singer of Good Charlotte, Joel Madden; and singer-songwriter Seal. But they're called coaches not judges, which admittedly is a tiny bit different.

There are bright lights, a studio audience and some tearful back stories. There's a series of auditions during which the coaches choose singers for their team. There's endless repetition of footage we've just seen after each commercial break, as if we all have the memories of amnesiac goldfish. All this seemed rather less different.

But the really unique selling point is that the coaches sit facing away from the stage. So they couldn't see the contestants during Friday's auditions. They could only choose on the voice. If they wanted someone on their team they pushed a big, red button and then their chair spun round to face the stage. So basically it's a singing competition but with swivel chairs.

Which doesn't really seem like enough of a game changer to warrant the "like no other" claim.

But The Voice Australia differs in other ways. For a start the coaches are all nice. Sure they hammed it up a bit in those swivel chairs with their hands hovering over the red buttons, but they never said anything unpleasant.

Contestants that didn't make it through were let down in the nicest way possible and sent off with encouraging words.

The contestants also broke the mould as they were actually able to sing. Clearly there's some pre-screening gone on here, because public auditions on other shows seem to turn up a plethora of the mad, the narcissistic and the downright deluded.

But there were none of those early stagers, clutching their plastic carrier bags and wearing home-knitted trousers, caterwauling their way through Somewhere Over The Rainbow.

There was a heart-warming moment when 19-year old Karise took to the stage with her troubled past and low self-esteem issues. She thrashed out It's a Man's, Man's World and jaws dropped. The coaches all spun round and her foster parents jumped for joy backstage.

So it's all lovely. There's no meanness and mockery and snide comments from the likes of bottle-brush haired Simon Cowell. And that should be a good thing. Unfortunately, it makes rather dull television, especially over one hour and 40 minutes.

But perhaps the truth is we've just been so bombarded with these contests that they all seem tedious and hackneyed. American Idol has just finished its 11th season. The X-Factor now has versions in nearly 40 countries. Later this year we're getting our own New Zealand's Got Talent.

The names are different but the basic idea is the same. And all the swivel furniture in the world won't change that.

The Voice Australia: Fridays, 8.30pm, TV2.

- © Fairfax NZ News