'The Voice' winner: Are the judges the real stars of the show?
The NBC singing competition 鈥淭he Voice鈥� declared another winner Tuesday.
won the latest season of the reality show, while Meghan Linsey came in second place, Joshua Davis took third, and Koryn Hawthorne landed at fourth.
鈥淗appy鈥� singer Pharrell Williams won his first victory as coach for assisting听Fredericks, according to .
鈥淚 kind of want to get back to the farm, just to get a little break from all this," Fredericks said in an interview with听. 鈥淪o I'm excited to get back home.鈥�
So the question now is, where will Fredericks go from here?
Compared to contestants at rival reality singing competition 鈥淎merican Idol,鈥� which brought the world such successful singers as Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, and Phillip Phillips, 鈥淰oice鈥� winners have struggled. Season-five winner Tessanne Chin had the lowest album sales debut for a "Voice" winner ever, in 2014, according to the , debuting at number 41 on the Billboard 200. Winner Cassadee Pope's album "Frame By Frame" made it to number one on the chart, but she hasn't become a household name like "Idol's" Clarkson or Underwood.
Not all "American Idol" champions break through either, but writer Samantha Highfill was asking as recently as this past January, 鈥淲ill 'The Voice' ever find a Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood? ...听considering 'The Voice'鈥檚 season 2 winner, Jermaine Paul, hasn鈥檛 even released a debut album, maybe there is something missing from 'The Voice' formula. Why can鈥檛 singers successfully transition from selling cover songs to selling albums of original music?鈥澨�
Are 鈥淰oice鈥� viewers simply tuning in to see the judges rather than the contestants? writer Paul Brownfield certainly came to that conclusion, writing in 2014: "'The Voice' hasn't created an actual star 鈥� but is making bigger stars of its judges 鈥� the show, three years in, has never launched an actual star along the lines of 'American Idol' alums听Kelly Clarkson听or听Carrie Underwood 鈥� [the show takes] established artists and [makes] them bigger 鈥� much bigger 鈥� while showcasing a celebrity chemistry using high-caliber names that usually don鈥檛 tread in prime-time reality.鈥澨�
This season, the judges were Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine and singers Pharrell听Williams, Blake Shelton, and Christina Aguilera. Levine鈥檚 band currently has a song, 鈥淪ugar,鈥� at number six on the for the week of May 23, while Shelton鈥檚 song 鈥淪angria鈥� is at number five on the list for the same week. Williams鈥� song 鈥淗appy鈥� became the top Hot 100 song for the year of 2014, according to , and Aguilera, who has multiple albums under her belt, recently won a Grammy at the 2015 ceremony for her song 鈥淪ay Something鈥� with the band A Great Big World.听
Now 鈥淭he Voice鈥� just needs one of its winners to have the same success as its judges.
