The Voice..

Like a majority of Australia, I have been taken with the Australian version of The Voice.  The blind auditions were initially what really grabbed me. The singer would walk up onto stage, the music would play, they would start singing. Then the judges would turn around (or not), and the contestants would be faced with a choice of whose team they would be on.  There was something in the fact the the singer would solely be judged on their voice (and I guess whether they connected with the audience).

I suspect they also try and listen for a voice which they can work with. Would also be interesting to look at the number of male/female voices in the two teams, and the number of singers in different genres who get through

It then started to intrigue me; if you were to look through your music collection, and put you favorite bands singers into the context of the game show. Who would make the judges spin around. Putting it another way, when you listen to your i-Pod on random, what artists and songs make you stop what your are doing and pay attention.  

When I was listening to a CD this morning, the voice which made me stop was Andrew Bird (and the song Lusitania), you can watch him sing here.

On another note with i-tunes and i-pods it seems that the days of albums are numbered. Yet, Leonard, the Lonely Astronaut, is a classic concept album and tells a wonderful story through really great songs.  Read an interview with Andrew Osenga on the Rabbit Room Website.

A review of the album is here. Unfortunately, you now have to wait until our Spring to buy it.