When Adam Levine muttered “I hate this country” on The Voice last night, I paused momentarily, wondering if I had heard correctly.
Then I quickly dismissed the comment, recognizing it as no more than a coach on a reality TV show venting his frustration over how the voting had gone.
Adam Levine wasn’t smiling after Tuesday’s results on The Voice. (NBC Photo)
After all, his team of three talented female singers had been invincible until this week, advancing to the Top 8 while voters whittled away at Team Usher and Team Shakira.
But that was about to change.
He was confronted with a final three that included Sarah Simmons and Judith Hill.
At least one of his singers was going home. As it turned out, both did.
Before he got that last bit of news, Adam was heard to utter those four words.
And quickly drew the ire of some viewers for doing so.
Enough ire, that he was prompted to issue this statement through NBC this afternoon:
“I obviously love my country very much and my comments last night were made purely out of frustration. Being a part of The Voice, I am passionately invested in my team and want to see my artists succeed. Last night’s elimination of Judith and Sarah was confusing and downright emotional for me and my comments were made based on my personal dissatisfaction with the results. I am very connected to my artists and know they have long careers ahead, regardless of their outcome on the show.”
The scene the prompted Adam Levine’s ire, Holly Tucker, Judith Hill and Sarah Simmons on The Voice stage with just one save remaining. (NBC Photo)
In Adam’s defense, it was a rather confounding night.
Sarah had turned four chairs in the blind audition. Every one of her performances had done well on iTunes. She was gone.
Most confounding of all was the fate of Judith. Back in late March, her blind audition was the show-closer on the premiere episode of Season 4, highlighting her connection to Michael Jackson, featuring her amazing version of “What a Girl Wants.” And, presto, she was the favorite to win The Voice.
Instead, she couldn’t make it into the Top 6 on a show that has trouble making stars out of its winners, let alone its seventh- or eight-place finishers.
What happened? Did fans balk at her extensive pre-Voice resume?
That theory would make a heck of a lot more sense if the likes of Tony Lucca (seven pre-show albums), Juliet Simms (previously under contract with Sony Music) and Cassadee Pope (with a larger pre-show fan base) hadn’t done so well on The Voice.
An early favorite, Judith Hill failed to make the Top 6 on The Voice. (NBC Photo)
More likely, it boiled down to Judith’s failure to connect with the viewers who were doing the voting. And her failure to live up to the early buzz she created each and every week the way she did when she sat behind the piano and delivered a wonderful rendition of “You’ve Got a Friend.”
That performance was well received. It was also the only time one of her songs landed even in the top half of the performances from The Voice on iTunes. “Feeling Good” ranked fifth out of eight live playoff performances. “The Way You Make Me Feel” was sixth after Top 10 night. This week’s #thatPower was seventh out of eight.
As for the viewers who misunderstood the comment Adam made last night … well, I hope they haven’t been watching singing shows for long. If so, they have a much bigger problem with comprehensive than Judith does with connection.
I mean, seriously, how many times have we heard reference to “America got it wrong” when referring to singers who landed at the bottom of the voting on American Idol? “America” meaning the show’s voters, not the country, for crying out loud.
But, hey, it could have been worse. Adam’s comment could have come a day earlier, on Memorial Day. Just imagine the firestorm then.
All that said, Adam’s only remaining singer, Amber Carrington, will probably get to sing twice next Monday night.
Dusting off a patriotic tune like Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” might not be a bad idea.
