Backs Turned, Ears Open: How Bias on NBC’s The Voice Fails the Black Vocalist

This paper was originally written as a final paper for my junior tutorial in History & Literature (Ethnic Studies) at Harvard College entitled “Blackness, Queerness, and Visuality,” a course built by myself and two other students in the major. If you’ve ever been curious about The Voice’s format and its relationship to its contestants’ success both on and off the show, specifically Black contestants, then keep reading.

NBC’s The Voice seems to have all but one key accolade — a superstar. The Voice premiered in 2011 to strong audience views, its impressive debut solidifying the series as a new staying power in the once bizarre-turned-overdone brand of reality television which attracts aspiring musicians and vocalists to battle for stardom, a record deal, and a large sum of money. The onset of the 21st century brought with it a myriad of music competition shows, starting with American Idol in 2002 and continuing with The Voice, The Four, The Sing-Off, X-Factor, and America’s Got Talent. Fox’s American Idol, one of the most successful television shows in U.S. history, characterized as “the longest running of the recent shows…[with] the highest ratings [and] audience numbers [that] are certainly nothing to balk at,”[1] established a dangerously unobtainable precedent for music competition shows, leading the charge with gargantuan audience numbers, unbeatable ratings, maudlin success stories, and unbelievable audience buy-in. By nature of following the trend that Idol incited, The Voice, among the other aforementioned shows, evidently aspires to reach the heights that Fox’s American Idol once did as “there is a reason [Idol] is the most successful of the bunch.”[2]However, as The Voice, along with its peers, mimics Idol’s competition vision while innovating their logistical nuances, it fails to mimic Idol’s impact and results despite “becoming one of the biggest rivals for Idol”[3] programming and ratings wise. It would become apparent that replicating American Idol’s hit-making factory was more difficult than expected.

‘Pull-Yourself-Up-By-Your-Vocal-Chords’

The Voice has indeed been one of the more successful attempts at this replication, receiving critical acclaim over its fifteen seasons, supplemented by numerous Emmy awards. What distinguishes The Voice is that “the program’s always bring[ing] something new to the table and constantly chang[ing] their tune. Performances, judges, and voting styles — it’s always changing.”[4] The Voice has mastered the maintenance of a creative and distinguishing format. Despite demonstrating that the show’s unique structure and format can pull-in a solid viewership comparable to Idol, the show has failed to generate household names. Idol’s success relied on the fact that the promise of stardom to their group of hopefuls is verified through their laundry list of accolades, including 345 Billboard chart toppers and many household names including Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson and Carrie Underwood.[5] The Voice is effectively an anomaly in this sense and a viable potential case study; without a superstar, the show still manages to sustain itself for fifteen seasons over seven years, attract high-profile celebrity guests and draw talented aspiring singers. Furthermore, the show’s lack of tangible historical examples of success necessitates that each and every hopeful auditionee who aspires to become ‘The Voice’ believes they will be the first to generate this history — that they will be the precedent setter and the trendshifter. Each contestant who steps into The Voice audition room believes that they can change a dozen seasons of history and emerge as the show’s first star. This hinges on folks believing that the show’s promise of stardom is compelling and convincing to propel them to stardom if they themselves are dedicated enough.

The season 15 coaches are tangible evidence of this ‘pull-yourselves-up-by-your-vocal chords’-esque narrative, namely Kelly Clarkson, the winner of American Idol’s inaugural season, and Jennifer Hudson, a rare success story whose seventh place finish on season 3 of American Idol eventually guided her to both Grammy and Oscar acceptance speeches. However, zero comparable examples of success are present in the lineup of past winners and finalists of The Voice. Compared to Idol’s 54 grammy nominations and fourteen wins, The Voice alum only enjoy a total of two grammy nominations and zero wins[6]. None of its fourteen winners, nor its 42 other finalists have achieved a top 40 single. The biographies of some of the voice’s most famous Voice alum, including Cassadee Pope and Jordan Smith, seem to end with their season on The Voice. Meanwhile, artists such as Tori Kelly, Todrick Hall and Daughtry, who are comparatively less successful than that of Idol’s most illustrious alum, are often not remembered as Idol alum due to their wide success relative to their low placement in the competition (Top 24, Top 24, and Top 7 respectively.)[7] As scholar Stephanie Martinez attests, “there is no demand to find the next superstar from a TV show, but sometimes it’s just fun to watch. The shows will continue their search and people will still be watching.”[8] The goal of a rigorous comparison between American Idol and The Voice is not to conduct an exhaustive comparative measurement that reinforces The Voice’s failure to replicate Idol’s unprecedented success, but rather to interrogate The Voice’s purpose as a television program. It becomes increasingly apparent that The Voice’s innovative format and platforms are the key to their audience draw and longevity to which Martinez makes a reference — the Blind Audition.

The Voice’s most marketable concept, the Blind Audition, is rooted in the belief that contestants “should be judged on vocal ability,” yet the Blind Audition’s goal is precarious.[9] Framing the format as something that makes the judging more impartial is deeply in tension with the fact that the Blind Audition format centers around the coaches and is thus responsible for the show’s ultimate fixation on its coaches and their chances of ‘winning’ the season. Thus, The Voice’s prioritization of its celebrity artists and structure over their supposed dedication to creating stars “doesn’t necessarily translate into a source of good advice, but does have some weight behind it”[10] — the weight is that this prioritization fails their contestants. However, when analyzing the coded racialized language that coaches utilize to discuss black contestants and the strategic racial patterns of coaches’ teams, one begins to understand that there is even more at stake when considering the black contestants and how they are uniquely failed. The ‘blind’ audition cannot stop the human ear from being attuned to racial bias. The Blind Audition format assumes bias only manifests in a visual sense, ignoring predispositions to bias that constantly govern people’s decisions, especially when they are faced with a situation where they have access to less information than usual. Even with covered eyes and backs turned, folks will find ways to incorporate their bias when engineering their visual interpretation, evident in the treatment of auditionees armed with vocal qualities that may allude to certain racial identity factors. The general failure of the ‘Blind Audition’ coalesces with the inevitable racial bias of America and its competition shows, failing black artists even more acutely. Studies show that “black contestants are disproportionately more likely to be voted off,”[11] and a New York Times study showed that watching The Voice had clear correlation with supporting Donald Trump[12]. A particularly unfair elimination in American Idol’s third season prompted even the illustrious Elton John to express that “the three young people I was really impressed with — and they just happened to be black, young female singers — all seem to be landing in the bottom three… I find it incredibly racist.”[13] In short, racial bias will inevitably generate discrimination in the context of a U.S. competition show. However, the perpetuation of these racial politics by coaches who are constructing teams based on what will maximize their success on the show rather than the contestants themselves allows the Blind Audition, despite its efforts to subvert superficialities and bias, to become a tool weaponized against black contestants.

The Voice’s unique structure generates a doubly insidious fate for its contestants — its neglect for career building and focus on its format, coupled with inevitable discrimination, specifically fuels the coaches’ racial bias and ultimately is responsible for the disenfranchisement of its black contestants. In exploring the question of how the black contestant is specifically failed by The Voice’s prioritization of its coaches over its dedication to its burgeoning artists, this paper, through the lens of the most recent fifteenth season, will consider first how The Voice’s format disenfranchises its contestants in general before specifically expanding upon how white and black coaches advocate for their team in the face of a black contestant who they have deemed worthy of attainment, render their own brand accessible to the contestant, and utilize coded language to discuss race both covertly and overtly. Within these themes, the work will explore how white contestants who ‘sound black’ are affected, as well as how the success of both the black coach and black contestant is compromised as a result of all of the aforementioned politics.

‘It’s Your Moment’

What distinguishes The Voice and helps maintain its audience is its unique judging and audition format. The Voice is unique in that it has one of more elaborate platforms of the competition shows, including a high-profile celebrity coaching panel, celebrity coach teams, a plethora of celebrity guest performers, and the coveted, ostentatious red button, emblematic of the Blind Audition. Rather than walking onto stage and performing for the coaches to watch, the coaches’ chairs face the audience as the auditionee passionately wails with the eventual goal of convincing the coaches to turn around via their red ‘I Want You’ button. If multiple coaches turn, they battle it out for ten to fifteen minutes before the contestant receives the opportunity to choose which team they will join. The show’s commitment to conceptualizing creative platforms through which audiences are captivated, although entertaining, does not prioritize its contestants. The very existence of a coaching format is evidence of this lack of prioritization, creating an insular competition between coaches that ultimately garners more attention than the contestants themselves, demonstrated by the attention given to coaches’ testimonies and anecdotes about times when they “won” the voice, i.e a member of their team was crowned the winner at the conclusion of the season. When a contestant wins the voice, some headlines go as far as naming the coach who won first rather than the contestant themselves[14]. When one considers the lack of tangible successful music careers that Voice alum have garnered, one wonders — who is truly crowned the ‘winner’ of The Voice at the conclusion of each season?

‘You Are Too Good to Box Yourself In’

One may rebut that the The Voice’s particular transfixion with its celebrity coaches reveals that perhaps The Voice never intended to create stars but rather give aspiring artists a platform to improve as vocalists and receive access to an all-star judging panel. However, as Coach JHUD says to season 15 contestant SandyRedd after her blind audition garnered the coveted ‘four turns’ — — “It is your moment!”[15] Jennifer Hudson is correct in that the moment should belong to SandyRedd, but this sense of agency projected onto the artist is proven fragile and hyper-complicated when one considers the politics of the shows format. The understanding that a coach wins the show as much as, if not more than, the contestant does provide context as to why coaches must be hypervigilant when strategizing for their team. The strategy for choosing the best team is not only related to the coach the contestant aligns most with or who gave the best elevator pitch, but often is rooted in choosing the team on which you may ‘stand out most’ in the subsequent battle rounds, which eventually dwindles teams down from thirteen to three. On behalf of coaches, strategies such as only turning for contestants you see yourself ‘helping,’ or ones you feel a ‘personal connection with,’ amongst other nebulous metrics of compatibility, are littered with opportunities for racial bias to skew decisions. This phenomenon of ‘standing-out’ amongst your team or being ‘musically divergent’ from your coach is also situated at nexus of a host of racial politics when dictating how coaches’ teams are assembled. Black contestants on the show, in their desire to stand-out and attempt to attain the vague prize of stardom that the show promises, are forced to make decisions about maximizing their success with their race constantly in mind, navigating complex racial dynamics that most white contestants are not faced with.

The Voice has featured thirteen different coaches over the past fifteen seasons, and has strategically placed one black coach on the judging panel every single season to date[16]. Currently, Jennifer Hudson, who replaced Alicia Keys, holds her seat as the one black coach on the show. Based on precedent, it should come as no surprise that black R&B singer John Legend will replace Jennifer Hudson as she is set depart at the end of season 15. Bolstered by the immediate assumption on behalf of the white coaches that any black contestant will choose a black coach, the existence of one black coach immediately generates selective pressure for black contestants to choose the black coach. This results in black artists being funneled to the black coach, despite their awareness that the black coach’s team may not be best for them due to the shows cutthroat, comparison-like structure. Black artists are set-up for failure from the moment they walk onto the signature effulgent Voice stage. This burden on the black artist is reflected heavily in the blind audition format, most evident when coaches fail to turn for a black artist who they assume will fit better with a black coach based on their genre or background rather than focusing solely on their objective talent. Utilizing season 15 as a case study, the compositions of the coaches’ teams and the language surrounding their deliberations highlight the commodification, disenfranchisement, and manipulation of the black artist. The risk any contestant makes when going on The Voice, a show with no stars in its historical archives, is shocking, and the risk black contestants make when going onto the show is even more shocking considering the frivolous politics that manipulate their fate.

‘You Deserve That’

As coaches assume that black singers should and will choose the black coach, disproportionately higher standards for turning for a black contestant emerge. Thus, other coaches only turn for black artists when they feel they have no other choice because they are “so good”[1] meaning that a black artist who may be great in a vacuum is suddenly judged to a higher standard because coaches do not see viability in turning for a black artist. What is crucial to this analysis is the understanding of how racial bias manifests when coaches listen to the contestants — raspy tones, riff-abundant auditions, and classic black standards by artists such as Whitney Houston all prompt coaches to assume the race of the contestant, ultimately informing their decision and negating the intended goal of the ‘Blind Audition.’ This trend is especially indicative of how The Voice’s format, focusing on coaches and the ‘blind audition factor’, creates strategies to maximize coach success rather than artist success and especially disadvantages black contestants. The presence of one black coach generates multiples types of selective pressure, one of which is that the black judge is almost always prompted to turn around when hearing a black singer and consequently the black contestant is expected to pick them. This is evident of the fact that Jennifer’s season 15 team is 70% black, significantly higher than the 25% black teams of Kelly and Adam, and Blake’s team, which features one black contestant.[2] Also, for 50% of Jennifer’s team, she was the only coach who pressed her button, while another two members on her team only received a second turn in addition to Jennifer in the last five and seven seconds of their auditions respectively. These numbers are drastically different than that of other coaches, who were the sole pressers of the red buttons for just 25% or less of their team members[3]. However, despite electing to remain facing the audience, the other coaches react audibly to the black artists’ performances that Jennifer turns for, instantiating their vocal ability as objectively competent and excellent, regardless of personal preference. Patrique Fortson for example, for whom only Jennifer and Adam turned, is eliminated in the Playoffs round despite distinguished performance up to this point (based on high ratings on iTunes and positive performance reviews.[4] solely because Jennifer’s team is ‘more stacked’ than that of other teams according to critics and YouTube commenters. If Coach Kelly Clarkson, who declared that Patrique Fortson has “such a beautiful gift” that is a “blessing to hear,” had turned for him, perhaps his expanded options would have altered his fate on the show.

Tyshawn Colquitt and Patrique, the two singers who receive a last-second turn in addition to Jennifer exemplify the thought process employed by white coaches who do eventually elect to turn at the last moment for black contestants, their decision being depicted as a gesture of idyllic buoyancy. Adam ironically waves cheerfully at Jennifer as he turns for Patrique during the final seven seconds of his blind audition, emphasizing the shock that his decision prompted. His first words to Patrique are “I don’t know how I fare on this one,”[5] immediately demonstrating that Patrique somehow belongs to Jennifer, despite the fact that his supported, soaring tenor tone and fluttery falsetto are much more reflective of Adam Levine’s vocal style than Jennifer’s. During Tyshawn Colquitt’s audition, the other coaches turn to Jennifer to express what they like about his voice, both Blake and Kelly expressing how “good” he is. After an impressive chromatic riff, the coaches raise their hands and eyebrows, and express shock in their faces, directing all of their reactions towards Jennifer, effectively pressuring her to turn for Tyshawn — which she does. In the final moments of his audition, Blake presses his button and expresses to Tyshawn that he is “in over [his] head but [he] mean[s] it”[6], employing the same brand of rhetoric as Adam during Patrique’s audition. Furthermore, there is an especially patronizing tone in a white coach declaring a black contestant impressive enough to garner their turn. This indicates that just being a great enough singer to make it on The Voice and garner a visceral positive reaction from both the audience and every single coach is not enough to garner a turn from a white judge. A similar interaction during SandyRedd’s audition features Coach Blake Shelton, who turns last for SandyRedd. He explains to SandyRedd that “I hit my button knowing it was a long shot, but I think you you deserve it.”[7] His assessment that SandyRedd “deserves it” is colored with black exceptionalism, dictating that it takes being one of the biggest initial stand-outs of the season to garner a turn as a black contestant. The threat that selective pressure places on black artists to avoid ending up on the black coach’s team and not ‘standing out’ is exacerbated when their agency to give into such fear is erased. There is also a responsibility and burden placed upon the one black judge to turn for all of the black contestants, leading to a cyclical, unsatisfying loop in which black contestants are set up for failure — funneled into the team they have the least chance of succeeding on, yet unable to have agency to make their own choices in general regarding their team.

‘I Get The Chicago Thing’

Season 15 auditionee Kymberli Joye receives turns from Kelly, Jennifer, and Blake, only to learn Kelly used her one ‘block’ of the season on Jennifer, thus barring Kymberli from choosing Jennifer as her coach. Kelly explains to Jennifer and the audience, “I’m so sorry — I had to block you. I heard Whitney and I went nope…I am sorry I took the option out…but I have heard her sing Whitney Houston and I knew what I was up against.”[8] Kelly’s language is a strong example of how coded racialized language permeates The Voice’s coaching panel. Her understanding that she “heard Whitney and…went nope” demonstrates her own recognition of Kymberli as a larger black woman with a big voice, one that would evidently pick Jennifer. Her own immediate recognition of Kymberli as black and thus her recognition of Jennifer as a threat to her is aided by the tropes of the competition itself, which seasonally presents the coaches panel with similar caricatures of voices — the young and palatable white girl country singer, the mezzo-soprano heavy-set black woman, the guitar playing soulful white boy, and more. Regardless of the origins, Kelly’s own immediate recognition of Jennifer as a threat displays her ingrained racial bias as a coach.

Furthermore, the introduction of the block button in season 14 further demonstrates that The Voice cares little for what the contestant is seeking and is a blatant endorsement of the coach’s agenda over that of the contestant — is this still Kymberli’s moment if her agency of choice is stripped away? Coded language continues, as Blake, whose last second turn is further indicative of his understanding of Kymberli as a ‘risk’ turn, pleads to Kymberli that he has “brought people to the finale….from every possible genre that you can imagine.”[9] Blake continues pleading, stating that “it’s not always about what you do as an artist or what I do as an artist but the connection we share as people.”[10] Blake, who typically moves with haste when referencing his six wins on the Voice, more than any other coach both former and current, strategically amends his statement to reference bringing artists to the finale. His statement directly — and strategically — references season 14, when Team Blake’s Kyla Jade placed 3rd in the finale after a plethora of stunning performances. Uncoincidentally, Kyla Jade is a heavy-set, mezzo-soprano black woman with a rare projectable voice, natural hair, darker complexion, and distinct growl and vibrato, quite similar to Kymberli Joye on the surface. With such context, both Blake’s use of the word ‘genre’ and Kelly’s use of ‘Whitney’ as her rationale could almost instantaneously be replaced with language that directly dealt with blackness and the meaning of their testimonies would be almost be identical.

Coded language is even more striking in the audition of SandyRedd in season 15. After SandyRedd receives four turns for her impassioned, and flawlessly over-performed rendition of Bishop Briggs’ “River”, the panel erupts in chaos, immediately marking Jennifer as the primary target. As SandyRedd introduces herself as a “Chicagoan,” Jennifer confidently responds “that is what us Chicagoans do.”[11] As Adam realizes the connection between Jennifer and SandyRedd [read: blackness], he returns to the stage to retrieve the shoe he had thrown at SandyRedd in an effort to “stop wasting [his] time.”[12] Blake attests that he “hit his button knowing it was a longshot,” and Kelly boldly attests that she “get[s] the Chicago thing, but [she] felt more energy from [SandyRedd] than just one genre of music, like you had rock n’ roll. You had soul. You had almost a little — I’m sorry to say — country. You are too good to box yourself in.” While Adam and Blake’s language indicate that they assume SandyRedd’s ‘similarities’ to Jennifer Hudson warrant their attempts futile, Kelly’s language above is especially of interest here. Her willingness to equate “the Chicago thing” with “one genre of music” is a projected bias, and one could similarly interchange ‘Chicago’ for “black” and more clearly understand the undertones of Kelly’s statement. In short, Kelly attempts to sway SandyRedd specifically away from Jennifer by declaring that her voice is not just “Chicago” but also “country” and “rock n roll,” historically black genres of music that have been appropriated and misunderstood as ‘white’ music. Kelly’s auditory racial bias leads her to plead to SandyRedd that she need not “box herself in” by choosing Jennifer, an almost infuriating statement which indicates not only that she will inevitably pick the black coach, but that that choice would be limiting for her. Jennifer appears aware of the origins of these attacks against her and refutes them by reifying that their similarities can actually help SandyRedd. Jennifer pleads, “you can make it. If I did it, you can do it too,”[13] a very obvious allusion to their similar backgrounds as disadvantaged black women from Chicago. Addressing her as “girl,” and even physically (and covertly) pointing to the similarities of their hair color and texture while Kelly speaks[14], Jennifer is desperately addressing SandyRedd black woman-to-black woman. Ultimately, SandyRedd chooses Kelly, which shocks the entire panel despite SandyRedd never at any point making any allusion to choosing any specific coach. Ironically, she is let go of by Kelly in the next round and Jennifer Hudson elects for the ‘steal,’ adding SandyRedd to her team. The coded manipulation of both SandyRedd and Jennifer Hudson’s racial identity as the coaches push and pull SandyRedd in different directions is a clear manifestation of the fact that perhaps, despite what Jennifer tells her, this is not her moment.

When The Bias Ear Fails

Season 15 auditionee MaKenzie Thomas’ blind audition presents an especially interesting moment of incongruous bias, demonstrating the fragility of the bias ear. She has been penned as the balladeer of this season, singing songs by Jennifer Hudson, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston and Destiny’s Child throughout the season. As she begins her blind audition with Jessie J’s “Big White Room,” her tone is notably rich, warm, soulful, and sounds like that of a gospel singer. She receives one rather predictable turn — Jennifer Hudson. What the four judges whose backs are to MaKenzie do not know is that MaKenzie Thomas is blonde and white, despite the fact that her tone may suggest that she is a black singer based on the stereotypes coaches utilized in past auditions to distinguish between a singer who should perhaps go with Jennifer or not. Her audition does not seem spectacular enough to wow any coaches to take a risk on her, but there is a clear reaction to her appearance from Jennifer as she turns around. She drops her jaw and holds her hand on her chest for several moments, before briefly side-glaring at Kelly in an almost playful “I know something you don’t” esque fashion.[15] Even The Voice’s host Andy Carson cheers “Come on Kelly, come on Kelly!”[16] backstage with MaKenzie’s family as she auditions. When the coaches’ chairs are turned following her performance, Kelly immediately reacts audibly to seeing MaKenzie, standing up, screaming and pointing. Although her reaction is explained by her recognizing MaKenzie from last season (she failed to garner a turn in season 14), the viewer senses tinges of regret in Kelly’s tone as the conversation continues. When Jennifer asks MaKenzie to sing another excerpt from one of her artistic inspirations, she elects to sing a song by acclaimed gospel singer Le’Andria Johnson, prompting Kelly to be “so excited.” Upon hearing MaKenzie sing again, Kelly, with both shock and lamentation, exclaims “Damn!”[17] and for the duration of her performance Kelly blankly stares at her lower left corner and robotically claps, slowly saying “beautiful” almost to herself. Kelly’s blank stare connotes obvious regret for not pressing her red button, substantiated by her continued unwavering support for MaKenzie throughout the season, the producers going as far as to name one of MaKenzie’s performances on The Voice’s YouTube page “Kelly Bugs Out for MaKenzie Thomas’ performance.”[18] MaKenzie Thomas’ blind audition depicts not only the pervasion of racial bias, but the slightly humorous yet dark moments when the ear fails to conceive the bias properly. Ultimately, things worked out for MaKenzie and Jennifer-she is now one of Jennifer’s two team members left in the show from her original roster of 13, one episode away from the semifinals. However, MaKenzie’s performance on the show, despite her immense talent, feels equally as symptomatic of racism as it feels demonstrative of justice. As the first member of Jennifer’s team to be put through to the live shows, the palatability of MaKenzie’s soulful tone is not granted to the other soulful black artists who end up on Team Jennifer.

MaKenzie’s performance is contextualized by the larger of phenomenon of ‘black voice’ in the U.S., a sibling of black face, which prioritizes white acts who can vocally resemble famous black artists, i.e Adele, Sam Smith, Justin Timberlake, Ariana Grande, Robin Thicke, YEBBA, Iggy Azalea, Macklemore, Eminem and the list goes on. ‘Black voice’ ends up being slightly different than black face, as the folks aforementioned who benefit from their soulful, R&B-influenced voices, save Iggy Azalea, genuinely sound this way and are less directly implicated in the tangible disenfranchisement that black voice generates for black artists. These artists, MaKenzie included, are in no way absolved of culpability but rather the critiques typically lie less with the artist at hand and more with the folks who dictate their consumption vis-a-vis bias, i.e the music industry at large. The humor that lies in Kelly’s regret towards her failed biased ear is overshadowed by the ominous realization that the coaches do not feel a responsibility to judge the black contestants (or who they perceive as the black contestants) equally as the white contestants — and they only express regret for doing so when their biased ear fails them.

So Whose Moment Is It? What is clear is that the blind audition coaching format, the format that The Voice capitalizes upon to engage its audience and feign a commitment to its artists, ultimately fails the contestant. The producers of The Voice, who place artists in front of (or behind for that matter) the coaches for consideration understand what tropes are palatable in the industry. The manipulation of The Voice by its producers is a rather underexplored topic in this piece, and considering it is crucial in establishing a holistic understanding of the racial politics underlying this show, it should be acknowledged. The understanding that the producers edit down fifteen to twenty minutes of deliberations amongst coaches to just three to five minutes complicates the analysis of the analyzed dialogue[19]. Perhaps what is left out by producers would provide clarity as to why such racial biases are so prevalent, or contrarily what is left out would exacerbate the racial bias already present. If The Voice producers placed more than the perfect amount of black artists to fill Jennifer Hudson’s team, where would those extra black contestants end up? Perhaps one of them could have their moment. Until then, Jennifer Hudson’s words to SandyRedd before she makes her choice ring in my head.

It’s your moment.

As SandyRedd is badgered with racially coded language by the coaches, telling her what she should and should not do and where she can and cannot fit, I cannot help but feel that the moment is just simply theirs.

Works Cited

1. Martinez, Stefanie Marie. “The Changing Tune of Singing Competitions.” ProQuest Dissertation. January 01, 1970. Accessed December 06, 2018. https://core.ac.uk/display/69722055.
2. “Billboard Charts Archive.” Billboard. Accessed December 06, 2018. https://www.billboard.com/archive/charts.
3. Lee, Jungmin. “American Idol: Evidence on Same-Race Preferences.” The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy9, no. 1 (2009). doi:10.2202/1935–1682.2134.
4. Katz, Josh. “‘Duck Dynasty’ vs. ‘Modern Family’: 50 Maps of the U.S. Cultural Divide.” The New York Times. December 27, 2016. Accessed December 06, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/26/upshot/duck-dynasty-vs-modern-family-television-maps.html#the_voice.
5. “Elton John Says ‘Idol’ Vote Is ‘racist’.” TODAY.com. April 28, 2004. Accessed December 06, 2018. http://www.today.com/id/4845778/ns/today-today_entertainment/t/elton-john-says-idol-vote-racist/#.XAiuphNKjOQ.
6. Wendyhermanson. “First-Time Coach Kelly Clarkson Wins ‘Voice’ With Brynn Cartelli.” Taste of Country. May 22, 2018. Accessed December 06, 2018. http://tasteofcountry.com/brynn-cartelli-wins-the-voice/.
7. Voice, The. “SandyRedd Gets Four Turns with Bishop Briggs’ “River” — The Voice 2018 Blind Auditions.” YouTube. October 02, 2018. Accessed December 06, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7IEm-Gf0Lo.
8. “The Voice (U.S. TV Series).” Wikipedia. December 06, 2018. Accessed December 06, 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Voice_(U.S._TV_series).
9. Voice, The. “MaKenzie Thomas Impresses with Jessie J’s “Big White Room” — The Voice 2018 Blind Auditions.” YouTube. October 02, 2018. Accessed December 06, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jwO-_vcSD8.
10. Voice, The. “Tyshawn Colquitt STUNS with Sam Smith’s “Like I Can” — The Voice 2018 Blind Auditions.” YouTube. September 24, 2018. Accessed December 06, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_hpeUBlPA8.
11. Voice, The. “Patrique Fortson SHINES with Oleta Adams’ “Get Here” — The Voice 2018 Blind Auditions.” YouTube. September 24, 2018. Accessed December 06, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj7-NR_Kg9g.
12. Voice, The. “Kymberli Joye Embodies Whitney Houston with “Run to You” — The Voice 2018 Blind Auditions.” YouTube. October 01, 2018. Accessed December 06, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AC1XtLYNxc.
13. Mason, Charlie. “The Voice Recap: Which Singer Was the First Casualty of the Battle Rounds?” TVLine. October 16, 2018. Accessed December 06, 2018. https://tvline.com/2018/10/15/the-voice-recap-patrique-fortson-sandyredd-battles/.
14. NBCTheVoice. “The Voice.” YouTube. Accessed December 06, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/user/NBCTheVoice.
15. “‘The Voice’ Contestants Don’t Really Get To Choose Their Own Songs During Auditions And Here’s Why.” Entertainment | Rojak Daily. Accessed December 06, 2018. http://www.rojakdaily.com/entertainment/article/3509/the-voice-contestants-don-t-really-get-to-choose-their-own-songs-during-auditions-and-here-s-why.
16. “The Voice Cast.” NBC. Accessed December 06, 2018. https://www.nbc.com/the-voice/credits/artists/season-15.