Live Blogging The Voice Results Show

After three months of blind auditions, battle rounds and Grammy production style live shows, the very first winner of The Voice will be crowned tonight winning them a record contract and some driving around money. No word on what the winning coach will receive aside from bragging rights. Before we get to tonight, check out of my live blog of yesterday’s The Voice Finale.

7:59 – I wonder if Vegas is taking bets on Javier Colon winning only to get bum-rushed by Kanye West who grabs the mic screaming, “Yo Javier, I’m really happy for you. I’mma let you finish, but Dia Frampton gave the greatest rendition of a song of all time. OF ALL TIME!!!!” I have money to burn.

8:01 – Well Dia Fampton already wins the award for largest applause. Higher than the judges and guests (how did Ryan Tedder get such a large one though, he is the worst of the bunch). Did she cut her hair even shorter?

8:05 – A Jay Leno recap? Ugg, they are really going to stretch this show out like turkey meat.

8:07 – When the announced the guest performances I went 0-3 guessing which finalist they would sing with. It was like they pulled names out of a hat to see who would perform. It should be interesting to see which will turn out to be the biggest train wreck (my money is on Beverly / Tedder).

8:12 – I love Drops of Jupiter and all, but is Pat Monahan really anyone’s favorite artist? I guess that is a better introduction that “Singing with an artist she sort of likes, but was the only one we could get to say yes.”

8:15 – Mark it: the first gratuitous NBC employee crowd shot.

8:16 - Bring back the V Room!!! Wow, someone actually asked Allison Haislip a question.

8:27 – Javier should sing with artists that wrote that song more often because he actually kept to the melody and did not ruin the song. And amazingly Javier went through the whole competition without singing one song that had higher than 25 beats per minute.

8:27 – Wow, Christina Aguilera just groped herself on live television for no apparent reason. I bet that GIF hits the web in 3, 2…

8:37 – So they paired one of the bolded voices on the show with a dude who makes the most boring music on the planet. Alrighty. At least Beverly weirdness made the performance almost watchable. But to think this could (should) have been Xenia dueting with Norah Jones. Sigh.

8:44 - Ha, they skipped over Dia's Battle Round in the montage, the lowpoint of the series this season.

8:47 – Ugg, the one song I was hoping Dia and Miranda Lambert were not going to sing. Yawn. Why couldn’t they have done one of her ish kicking song?

8:54 - Beverly and Vicci clearly know its not them.

8:58 – Wow, Javier Colon is The Voice.

9:00 – The Voice has a serious credibility problem right off the bat. Every week, Dia topped Javier on the iTunes charts, even reaching number one today, and she did not win. There really needs to be a recount, seriously, it was like Katherine Harris was involved in tabulating the votes or something. If someone like Dia dominates the iTunes charts where people spend their hard earned money and not just set up phony e-mail accounts to vote en mass, there is something wrong with your voting system. Mark Burnett really needs to explain this result because The Voice is now officially a fraud.


(Scooter's Note: I wrote this portion before the live show started) And here is a look at how the all The Voice performances stacked up on iTunes (click to download) just minutes before the show started, I vaguely remember Carson mentioning that only the original songs count as votes so I have bolded those. But keep in mind those bolded count as votes so the list may be a little spoilery (and let’s face it, if the most downloaded contestant does not win, The Voice will have a credibility problem right off the bat).

1. Inventing Shadows - Dia Frampton

2. Stitch By Stitch - Javier Colon

6. Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera

7. Man In the Mirror (The Voice Performance) - Man In the Mirror - Javier Colon and Adam Lavine

12. I Won't Back Down - Dia Frampton

15. Afraid to Sleep - Vicci Martinez

16. Beautiful - Beverly McClellan and Christina Aguilera

34. Lovesick - Beverly McClellan

35. Love Is a Battlefield - Vicci Martinez and Cee-Lo Green

41. Losing My Religion - Dia Frampton

48. Heartless - Dia Frampton

55. Fix You - Javier Colon

83. Time After Time - Javier Colon

84. Dog Days Are Over (The Voice Performance) - Dog Days Are Over - Vicci Martinez

105. Angel - Javier Colon

139. Jolene - Vicci Martinez

148. Price Tag - Xenia

167. The Man Who Can’t Be Moved - Xenia

179. Bubbly - Dia Frampton

Live Blogging The Voice Finale

I scoffed at The Voice when it was first announced and here I am live blogging the finale just month’s later. Sure for me the last performance show is just a formality because Dia Frampton locked this with her rendition of Heartless which is now the gold standard for singing competitions. So unless she runs offstage crying during one of her performances, she should take home the trophy (or whatever the winner gets).

8:45 - Currently watching The Voice pre-show, aka Pretty Little Liars. It is weird that everyone killed The Killing for not revealing who killed Rosie Larson yet no one made a peep when Pretty Little Liars ended its first season without giving a definitive answer as to who killed even if the heavily hinted that it was Ian. Not only do we not know who the killer is, the show adds more questions without answering them at a Lostian pace.

9:00 – We start off with the coaches doing Vanilla Ice!!!! Wait, never mind. I thought the Queen medley was a couple weeks ago.

9:07 – One second of it and I already hate Vicci’s song. She is really at her worst

9:10 - Holy TRL reference!!! Carson totally has PTDS.

9:12: I miss the V room. The Social media room just does not have the awesomely cheeky vibe to it.

9:16: It is not a good sign that Up all Night does not premiere for three months and I am already tired of it.

9:21: R&B has been slowly dying for the past decade and though Stitch by Stitch does not hit the highs of the 90’s R&B, it is still decent by today’s standard. Bonus points for wrangling in the vocal gymnastics at the right time, something Javier Colon has struggled with his previous performances. Grade: B- Download Stitch By Stitch on iTunes.

9:30 – It’s the Blues Brothers!!!

9:32 – Dia has hit the right emotional buttons during her solo performances, but goes more for the fun root when singing with Blake, and we have Blues Brothers costumes (though Dia ditched the sunglasses early) and ZZ Top style synchronizing moves. Grade: B Download I Won't Back Down on iTunes.



9:42 – Every Vicci Martinez performance has been the same, take a great song and pale in comparison to the orginal singing in a karaoke style, then start screaming for no apparently reason, and even though there was no orginal artist to underperform, she still follow the same pattern. Grade: D+ Download Afraid to Sleep on iTunes.

9:50 – Pitbull on The Voice. Huh? Everyone that got booted in the battle rounds have better voices than him. And did he just name drop Seacrest? Wrong show buddy.

9:59 - Crap, I meant to put in a bet in Vegas that Christina Aguilera would make Beverly McClellan duet Beautiful with her. That would have been easy money. I actually like Beverly better in this performance. Grade: B- Download Beautiful on iTunes.

10:04 - Katherine McPhee acting again? Did no one see The House Bunny? No? Nevermind then.

10:13 – I am a little disappointed that Dia was not allowed to write a song herself. If you are going to label her a singer-songwriter, how about let her write her own song? The song she did probably went too far into Vanessa Carlton territory than it shoud. Oddly her orginal song was the one song that she did that did not sound like she put her own personal touch on. Grade: B- Download Inventing Shadows on iTunes.



10:21 - Fun fact: Man In the Mirror was the very first song I ever performed in public.

10:25 – I was getting a little worried, how do you perform Man in the Mirror without a choir, but they finally showed up, but it was still too small of a choir. Fill the stage up with a choir during that song. I wonder if they scaled it down this time around because the Team Adam performance was drowned out a couple weeks ago. Grade: B Download Man In the Mirror on iTunes.

10:31 – I am not sure if I am disappointed or relieved that Brad Paisley’s Don’t Drink the Water is not a Dave Matthews Band cover.

10:44 - Beverly may not have deserved to be in the final four when the spot could have gone to Xenia or Nakia, but she may be the most entertaining performer from the top eight. Her original song was a little bland. But then again all the original songs were a little bland (grant none were as horrible as all of the American Kareoke winning songs not named Inside Your Heaven). Grade: C Download Lovesick on iTunes.

10:55 - Cee-Lo singing Pat Benatar in a Legion of Doom costume. No seriously. Can I buy a song with just him performing the song? Vicci may have the coolest looking performances, but the weakest voice in the finals. Grade: B+ Download Love Is a Battlefield on iTunes.

11:00 It’s all over but the voting. So vote early, vote often, vote Dia Frampton. 1-855-VOICE-03. I’ll leave you with the best Dia quote I have read about her: “She's adorable, and looks either like Lyla Garrity or Jessica Alba, depending on the kind of adorable face she's making.” – Rolling Stone.

Check out my Live Blog of The Voice Results Show.

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 6/25/11

Quote of the Week: You got all of that from a crate of oranges? (President Levi, Friday Night Lights)

Song of the Week: Our Hearts Are Wrong – Jessica Lea Mayfield (Pretty Little Liars)

Big News of the Week: A Melancholy Happy Trails to Clarence Clemons: The music community lost a great one this week when Clarence Clemons passed away earlier this week due to complications from a stroke earlier this month. Clemons was most famous as the saxophonist for the E Street Band that backed Bruce Springsteen for three decades. But he truly shined at live shows where he was always a crowd favorite whenever he stepped to the mic. He also added his talents to artists as wide ranging from The Temptations to Gloria Estefan to Twisted Sister and most recently appeared on the latest Lady Gaga album and even popped up in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. He will be missed.


The Killing: The show got killed this week (bad pun intended) for its cliffhanger ending and rightfully so. The producers say that no one with the show ever said that the first season would be self contained, but my big problem was that everyone assumed it was because it was based on a Danish show that did wrap up the murder mystery in a single season then moved onto a new case in the second. Obviously they knew at the beginning at the season it would end the way it would so all they had to do when people talked about how they assumed that we would learn Rosie’s killer by the end of the season all you had to do is tease that that may not necessarily be the case and that would have temped the firestorm they ended up having with the ending. Then the show had its second presidential moment of the season with Belko about to go Jack Ruby on the councilman after his earlier Monica Lewinski moment with Rosie Larsen. But I am not sure if I will be around next season when Holder stands in front of a Mission Accomplished sign. You can download The Killing on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: That slow motion musical montage of Aria searching for Mr. Fitz may be the creepiest thing I have ever seen on television. Am I the only one bothered that the show is turning statutory rape into some grand love story? You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Friday Night Lights: Another classic Buddy Garrity episode, so great as he hounded the principle and Coach about the potential of him leaving for Florida adding great comic relief, then turning on a dime and giving a heartfelt plea at Tim’s parole hearing. But it was painful to watch Tim this week; dude has a lot of pain in his heart from his time in prison. Hopefully everything works out in the end.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.




Free Download of the Week: DMB Caravan Sampler (iTunes): The first of Dave Matthews Band’s four festivals they are having this summer got under way this weekend in Atlantic City and for those that could not make it, head over to DMBCaravan.com where you can get an iTunes code for a seven song sampler including a track from Dave and the boys.

New Album Release of the Week: When The Sun Goes Down - Selena Gomez and the Scene

New DVD Release of the Week: The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy (Extended Edition + Digital Copy)

Video of the Week: Remember that story everyone joked about years ago when a woman sued McDonalds for millions of dollars because she spilled their hot coffee on her laugh? Well that is actually the jump off point for the latest HBO documentary in their Summer Series. Hot Coffee premieres Monday at 9:00 and takes a look at “frivolous” lawsuits and looks at the effectiveness of a civil justice system heavily influenced by bottom-line corporate interests. Here is a trailer:



Next Week Pick of the Week: The Voice, Tuesday at 9:00 and Wednesday at 8:00 on NBC: Had you told me three months ago I would be anticipating the outcome of the first season of The Voice I would have laughed in your face and that I would be “Team Blake” I would have been insulted. Sure the idea of the Blind Audition was an interesting concept, but I figure it would in end be the same as American Karaoke: mediocre singers singing crappy song. But there is one reason for my change in heart: Dia Frampton. After the novelty of the Blind Auditions and Battle Rounds came to a close, Frampton put up not just the greatest performance on any singing competition, her rendition of Kanye West’s Heartless was a Grammy worthy performance (for more on Heartless see: You a New Friend I Got Homies). Unfortunately my two other early favorites, one named wonders Xenia and Nakia, exited this week. But after seeing what do was able to do with Heartless and R.E.M.’s Losing My Religion (see: That's Me in the Corner, That's Me in the Spotlight), I cannot wait to see what she has in store for the finale where she will perform an original song (hopefully she gets to write the song herself and is not forced to sing song sappy crap that usually comes from the American Karaoke winners) and a duet with coach Blake Shelton (when I heard this I was sending mental notes to the two suggesting they do a song by The Civil Wars which would fit both of their styles and they can knock it out of the park). It has also been announced that she will also duet with Shelton’s wife Miranda Lambert for the result show on Wednesday. No word who (or if) the other finalist Beverly McClellan, Javier Colon or Vicci Martinez will perform with. I guess Blake was able to get a answer quicker than whatever name Cee Lo pulled out of his extensive rolodex of artists he likes to name drop.

That's Me in the Corner, That's Me in the Spotlight

There were no truer words spoken on The Voice when Blake Shelton said about Dia Frampton, “This girl isn’t just someone who can sing, this girl is someone who has a vision.” Where everyone in the competition is still content with singing straight karaoke versions of their songs, Dia is clearly spending her rehearsal time tweaking her performance all week, not settling on a strong vocal performance, she seems to be the only one on the show who is working to make a great song. Those hand claps at the chorus were so simple, but yet so brilliant and really to her dreamy version of Losing My Religion and turned it into a great performance. If Dia Frampton wins The Voice, she will give instant credibility to the show that the other finalist would not.

Semi-finals: Dia Frampton Sings "Losing My Religion"


Compare that to arguably the best overall performance of the week by Vicci Martinez (faux-hawks aside) ; seriously, it is hard to beat a drum line, but there is no way I would ever buy her version. I already have the Florence + the Machine version on my iPod, why would I want an inferior version in every way, from vocals to music, it is just a bland version compared to the original. Sure Dia cannot compete vocally with Michael Stipe either (of course he does have one of the great voices in rock and roll history) but she changed it up enough to make it a worth wild version on its own merits where you do not naturally compare their vocals.

Semi-finals: Vicci Martinez Sings "Dog Days Are Over"


When they announced that each team’s America’s Vote would go against the Coach’s Save I had to think of Mark Burnett’s other show Survivor and its recent Redemption Island twist. Sure the idea of Redemption Island was cool, but I figured they would immediately vote out whoever got back in the game and that happened. And on The Voice having an America’s Vote and a Coach’s Save is good theater, I thought to myself, America is just going to vote for the same person unless that person runs off the stage crying during their performance. But I also assumed that all the coaches would not give anyone over fifty-five points and Adam shocked me when he put almost all his eggs in Javier Colon’s basket.

But that wasn’t the shocking moment of the week from Adam Levine who admitted he changed his mind from Jeff Jenkins to Casey Weston at the last minute. I wonder what change his mind. I thought Jeff should have been kicked off the show right after his “legal Thomson sister” comment. Though it may have more to do with Casey outselling Jeff on iTunes last week. But I wonder since Adam and Cee Lo had the advantage of seeing their singers practice for a week had any influence on their picks. And considering Jeff was set to perform I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing, one of the worst power ballads ever in the history of the world, I would not be surprised if that played a part. I actually knew a couple who chose that song as their first dance at their wedding and I took the under on the length of their marriage. Needless to say I may a pretty penny off that wager. And Curtis Grimes fans rejoice, you can actually buy the songs by the rejects on iTunes where you can purchase his version of Colder Weather. Also available are the Thompson Sisters Cowboy Take Me Away (um nevermind, it was on iTunes yesterday, but seems to have disappeared), and Devon Barley giving Animal by Neon Trees a spin.

But Adam did not have the most shocking moment of the week. That went to Nakia who turns out to have a boyfriend. In the immortal words of Hurley, “Didn’t see that one coming.” So next week on The Voice the final four will be performing a duet with their coaches (I wonder if Vegas is taking bets on who will over-sing more Christina/Beverly or Adam/Javier) and an original song. I wonder if Carson misspoke on the original song, but I hope they do do something original and are allowed to write their own songs if they want because I would much rather hear a song that Dia and Javier wrote themselves than some crappy American-Karaoke style championship song. Then again there will be a short voting window with the results show airing again on Wednesday.

Semi-final Results: George Michael Medley

You Got a New Friend, I Got Homies

I have never actually tuned into The Voice because, even with the weirdly awesome selection processes, it still seemed to fall into the same dilemma that faces American Karaoke: mediocre singers singing crappy songs. But since NBC sends me e-mails ad-nauseam about the show I cherry pick some performances that catch my eye and there were really only three singers that caught my ear in the blind: Nakia, Xenia, and Dia Frampton (for those keeping track at home, that is one singer more in one season of The Voice than American Karaoke has produced in its ten seasons worth listening to).

But back to things that caught my eye in the e-mails, nothing piqued my interest like seeing that a chick was singing a Kanye West song. Dia had this breezy feel with unique phrasing during the blind auditions and battle round (well before her partner came in and made it a trainwreck) but I was not prepared when I clicked on the link to see her first live performance. Where all of the singers on the show are doing bland karaoke covers, Dia went all Jimi Hendrix on the Kanye track and took a decent song and perfected it (yes better than The Fray’s version and vastly superior than the unlistenable version that was on American Karaoke a couple seasons ago that I could only make it thirty second in befor sutting it off).

A big assist to Blake Shelton (who would have guessed before the show he would end up with the best team?) who suggested that Dia take a seat at the piano. I am sure her standing in front of a mic would have been good and all, but the piano took it to iconic status from the shoulder shimmy at the :30 mark to when she released of that channeled nervous energy from 1:22 to 1:45 when she takes her fingers off the keys. In two minutes she went from the shy one on the show to the gold standard for any singing competition.

The only complaint I can make is how do you cover Heartless and cut out the Dr. Evil verse? That would be singing Panama but skipping the park when you reach down in-between your legs… and pulling the seat back. Luckily it was returned for the studio version, but the studio version is not nearly as great as the live one. I am excited to see what she does next (assuming she makes it to the next round, but considering she was one of only two singers this week to crack the Top 200 iTunes music charts this week, she should be safe, although the other singer to chart was teammate Xenia; they should just ex Christina’s entire team to make sure Dia and Xenia advance). I may have to start to tune in live if only for the drinking game of taking a shot whenever a coach speaking in hyperbole which could get drunker than my Deadwood drinking game of taking a shot whenever Al Swearegen’s favorite word is spoken.

Week Seven: Dia Frampton Sings “Heartless”


As much that has been made about her Heartless performance, and truly deserved praise, Dia’s contribution during the Team Blake ode to Adam Lavine has gotten lost in the clamor. It was actually the first time on the show where she actually looked like she was having fun and even managed an applause when she walked on stage that rivaled her coach Blake Shelton when he descended down the steps. Even Xenia looked more comfortable than during her solo performance (which points to a poor song selection in Jesse J). Though I found it interested that MTV heavily censored This Love, but NBC let all the not so subtle innuendo flow during the song (and after, how cute was that Xenia clearly had no clue what “That’s what she said” means).

Week Seven: Team Blake Sings "This Love"


While much better than American Karaoke, drinking games aside I am still not sold in actually watching The Voice live, but here are some suggestions that could get me to tune in later.

1. More Professionals: There have been a lot of complaining how many of the contestants on The Voice have already had record contract; seven of the remaining singers by my count seven, almost half of the finale sixteen, have released albums. I say to those who make that complaint: screw you hippies. One of my many reasons why I have never watched American Karaoke is that I believe if you have talent, you would not need a reality show to score a record contract, and considering American Karaoke and its strict no professionals rule is currently batting two for nine, I seem to be right. And though talent may land you a record deal, it does not always equate into stardom, you still need the right marketing. So having a show with season veterans like Dia or Javier Colon who never manage to get that breakout hit, The Voice can be that great marketing tool to get their music to the masses and makes for a better show.

2. Rotate the Coaches: I know the second season has already announced and all for coaches will be back and sure Blake is surprisingly funny and Cee-Lo is unsurprisingly creepy, but it would keep the show fresher if you bring in newer coaches for a new perspective and other musical styles. That is not to say retire the coaches entirely, the show can bring them back periodically, just not back to back seasons. I really hate to think that a Gnarls Barkley would be pushed back because Cee-Lo is too busy with The Voice.

3. Longer Songs – Like mentioned above, how can you sing Heartless without including the Dr. Evil verse? It got cut because all the performances have to come in the two minute range. I understand keeping songs short during the blind audition, if you cannot wow a coach in two minutes, you probably never will, but they kept it to two minutes for the Battle Rounds (for non math majors that is just one minute per singer). Certainly they could trim from the human interest segment before the performance or the coach’s comments, speaking of which:

4. Stop it With Hyperbole: Cee-Lo called Dia’s performance, “probably the greatest rendition of a song I ever heard.” It was a great performance but seriously Cee-Lo, better than Jimi Hendrix’s version of Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower or Johnny Cash’s take on Nine Inch Nails’ Hurt? The hyperbole has gotten so out of control, I want to institute Blake’s buzzer for Xenia for whenever the coaches go over the top. And how about being critical when it is warranted? I do not want anyone to turn into Simon Cowell, who has no credentials to judge a singing competitions, the guy is just an insult comic to the point that dude might as well have Robert Smigel’s hand up his butt, but if you do not give the artists constructive criticism, they are not going to improve. And this is a competition, I want more bad blood between the coaches, right now it is just Christina vs. the boys, I want some teeth to come out even if it is just good natured.

5. Better Backing Band: At times the band house band sounds like they are recording Muzak (or dare I say the music for karaoke bars). I am not sure if it is the same musicians for every singer and that is wearing them thin, but the house band is not doing the singers much favors. Maybe more musicians to ease the burden, or maybe since many of the contestants are already in bands, let them play with them. And I know this probably would not come to fruition, but how about bringing in Cee-Lo’s buddy Danger Mouse in as musical director.

Parts of this article first published as The Voice Finds its Voice on Blogcritics.

I Want My Music Television - 6/13/11

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


Fast Lane - Bad Meets Evil



After his triumphant triumph of Recovery, Eminem has been quick for a follow up with Bad Meets Evil with his buddy, but I have to say if this were a rap battle I may have to give it to Royce the 5’9’’. But I got a little depressed at the chorus because it is hard not to wonder how better it would have been if Nate Dogg was still around to sing it.


Radio Message – R Kelly



It is a shame that the latest R. Kelly album is not getting as much love as it should be because it is easily his best non-Trapped in the Closet work in over a decade. Speaking of Trapped in the Closet, when are we going to get new chapters Kells, it has been over three years since the last one. I need to know what the package is.


Smarter - Eisley



There is no shortage of women done wrong songs in recent years, but this one from Eisley may be the most spiteful with each lyric more biting than the previous one. And the song gets better with every listen because of it.


My Ugly Mouth – Meg and Dia



I remember getting press releases from NBC about The Voice and checking song of the songs I liked being performed, one being Bubbly by Colbie Caillat. When I click on the link to see Dia Frampton I said to myself, “wait a second I know that girl, she’s from Meg and Dia.” I cannot say I was a big fan of the group’s emo rock chick music that ended up being popularized by Paramore. After Dia’s killer performance of Heartless last week I decide to reexamine the group and found this gem that they released earlier this year which is the catchiest pop song I have heard in a while with its Beatle-esque chorus and killer piano breakdown before the bridge which sees the sisters playfully sing against each other and I love the line “I am proud of my temper” which is ironic now that she has been dubbed The Quiet One on The Voice.

I also had a very lengthy post that I was going to post yesterday about The Voice, but I granted the first run somewhere else and they have taken long than I thought to publish it, so I have to wait until they post it first, hopefully I can repost it later today for a rare double post, but here is a little preview that I did not put in the post for the other site regarding Dia’s previous record deal and being on The Voice:

There have been a lot of complaining how many of the contestants on The Voice have already had record contract; seven of the remaining singers by my count seven, almost half of the finale sixteen, have released albums. I say to those who make that complaint: screw you hippies. One of my many reasons why I have never watched American Karaoke is that I believe if you have talent, you would not need a reality show to score a record contract, and considering American Karaoke and its strict no professionals rule is currently batting two for nine, I seem to be right. And though talent may land you a record deal, it does not always equate into stardom, you still need the right marketing. So having a show with season veterans like Dia or Javier Colon who never manage to get that breakout hit, The Voice can be that great marketing tool to get their music to the masses and makes for a better show.

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57 Channels and Only This Is On - 6/11/11

Quote of the Week: We are the cops (expletive deleted)-wipe. (Holder, The Killing)

Song of the Week: Heartless – Dia Frampton (The Voice, more on this tomorrow)

Big News of the Week: Anthony Weiner’s Umm…: No comment.


The Killing: Did they really spend a whole episode, the third to last at that, searching for Linden’s missing son, who just turned out to be with his father? Really!?! You can download The Killing on iTunes.

Switched at Birth: I basically tuned in because I wanted to see how two families explained how they could go sixteen years without realized they were raising a child of a different ethnicity and the closest thing to an excuse was that Lea Thompson’s mother is Italian. Alrighty. I had to laugh when they mentioned the guest house early in the episode because I thought to myself, there is no way they are actually going to have the poor family move it, that would be too sitcomy (note to self, pitch My Two Moms to a studio). But of course they did by the end of the episode. And here is a fun fact, the deaf girl’s very first acting gig: the episode of Veronica Mars where Mac learned she was switched at birth with Madison Sinclair. You can stream the show on Hulu. You can also download Switched At Birth on iTunes.

Covert Affairs: I think maybe this show was better than it was actually was because I was quite bored for most of the show. You can stream the show on Hulu. You can also download Covert Affairs on iTunes.

Franklin and Bash: I would just like to state on record that Natalie Zea can kill me with sex anytime. You can stream the show over at tnt.com. You can also download Franklin and Bash on iTunes.

Men of a Certain Age: This episode hit home with me because in my only organize softball appearance I turned a female catcher into my own personal Buster Posey for the game winner and promptly retired on top (well the guy I was playing for showed up for the second half of a double header which ended my softball career). You can stream the show over at tnt.tv. You can also download Men of a Certain Age on iTunes.


Free Download of the Week: Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair – Arctic Monkeys (iTunes)

Deal of the Week: Up to 58% Off Father's Day Gifts on DVD and Blu-ray (The Walking Dead, Saving Private Ryan, Drive Angry)

New Album Release of the Week: Marc Broussard - Marc Broussard

New DVD Release of the Week: Red Riding Hood

Video of the Week: HBO’s Summer Series will continue Monday at 9:00 with A Matter of Taste: Serving up Paul Liebrandt. The documentary will follow the cutting-edge chef over the course of nine and a half years. Check out a promo below:



Next Week Pick of the Week: The Nine Lives of Chloe King, Tuesday at 9:00 on ABC Family: Last summer ABC Family launched the guiltiest of guilty pleasures with Pretty Little Liars and now it is pairing it another new show which could claim that crown.