I Can See Your Voice: can I see a future for the show?
Last night, we were treated to an all new entertainment show on BBC One with a strong focus on the ability to sing well.
I Can See Your Voice, the new addition to Saturday night TV, seems to promote the issue of how good we think someone’s singing abilities will be purely from their looks and characteristics.
Sounds familiar?
Since 2012, popular singing contest The Voice UK has been trying to eradicate this stereotypical form of judging, with the aim of giving talented people a chance no matter what they look like.
However, BBC One’s new show seems to reverse this notable step forward for the music industry.
The judging panel consists of Amanda Holden, Jimmy Carr and Alison Hammond, along with presenter Paddy McGuinness. Also joining this star-studded lineup each week is a special musical guest, last night being Danny Jones from McFly.
When watching I Can See Your Voice, viewers are shown 6 different singers, all with various qualities and looks. Half of them are professional singers and half are not.
From a short video telling us a bit about each of them in turn, the judges have to then pick one of the six who they think can’t sing.
Automatically, this raises the issue of ‘judging a book by its cover’ and is reminiscent of the toxicity that was famously accumulated by shows such as The X Factor.
More can be done to prevent this negative judging style, especially in this day and age.
After the chosen person reveals their true talent (or not) through a solo performance, the show continues with a series of different rounds. These all have the purpose of trying to eliminate who can’t sing, along with finding out who can.
The final stage, probably the only one actually needed to make the viewing worthwhile, is where the final singer has to do a duet with the special musical guest that week. If they can sing, the people playing win prize money - if not, they walk away with nothing.
As far as entertainment shows go, the first episode in my opinion wasn’t horrendous. However, with people on Twitter branding it as ‘truly awful’ and ‘rubbish’, there doesn’t seem to be much hope for a second series.
As for me, it will be background TV at a push.
