It’s crazy that we’re in 2018 and the broadcast networks are still throwing singing competitions our way.
What stings with singing competitions is the sheer fact that much of the winners are never heard again, so it’s increasingly difficult to sit through them.
Fox’s latest effort comes in the form of The Four: Battle for Stardom and the network seems to think it’s going to be the show that will successfully change the genre up.
When the series kicked off Thursday night, the four finalists had already been chosen by the judging panel that consisted of Meghan Trainor, DJ Khaled, Charlie Walk and Sean “Diddy” Coombs.
The four best singers in all of the land were apparently Lex Lu, Blair Perkins, Elanese Lansen and Ash Minor. It definitely felt anti-climactic to go into the episode without witnessing the journey of these four.
But, whenever a challenger appears, they have the power to take one of the seats and send the person who is in the final four home, or something.
The first challenger was Tyler Griffin, and he appeared on the scene to film a Jason Derulo song. It was a decent enough rendition of the song, but Charlie Walk tried to be the Simon Cowell of the group and basically said it was crap.
The other three seemed mad because they actually liked the performance. The big flaw with the format is that ALL the judges need to give the go-ahead for the person to advance in the competition.
It’s going to be rare to find an act that all the judges agree on, and it takes away much of the suspense. That meant Tyler’s big challenge was all for nothing and he was sent home.
Zhavia, a 16-year-old girl, appeared as the next challenger and wasted no time in belting her heart out to Khalid’s “Location.”
Zhavia was voted through, and that meant she got to battle one of the Four for their place in the competition. Her battle was with Elanese, and it was clear Zhavia performed better.
The audience allowed Zhavia to stay and Elanese was sent packing, so there’s that. It didn’t help matters that Fergie was muttering as she walked around the stage.
The next challenger was a singer-songwriter named Anthony Hall, but the judges were not feeling it and cut him off pretty much off the bat. What happened to giving everyone a chance, you guys?
Illakriss was the next person, and he was voted through to battle it out with Lex Lu, but Lex ran circles around him in the performance, and Illakriss was sent home.
Saeed Renaud was the final competitor on the night, and we quickly learned he had already won a Grammy as a songwriter, so he had more experience than half of the judging panel.
But Renaud’s rendition of “Run To You” by Whitney Houston was hands down the best performance of the night. The shock was off the charts. It’s no Susan Boyle moment, but it’s up there.
Saeed got to battle it out with Blair and won the battle.
That concluded an awkward 120 minutes long episode. There are hints of a good show, but the judges need to dial back the enthusiasm and critique the singers.
What did you think of it?
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