Curse of The Voice: Diana Rouvas is just another victim

Where once music shows were about discovering talent, they’ve since become more about the celebrity judges. Sadly, that’s turned shows like The Voice into little more than trumped-up karaoke, writes Cameron Adams.

Over one million Australians tuned into the bitter end of The Voice to watch Diana Rouvas take out the winner’s title this year.

Channel 9 claimed that at-home voter figures that helped Rouvas take home the prize were in the six figure range (which takes into account that one person could vote at least six times).

So why then did Rouvas’ single, Wait For No One, sell less than 788 copies in its first week and miss the ARIA Top 500 entirely? Some industry pundits predict the figure could be as low as 300 sales.

This dismal translation from television engagement into real sales illustrates, more strikingly than ever, the disconnect between watching a music-based reality TV show and actually caring about the artist pumped out the other end.

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Paul Cashmere of website Noise 11 says it demonstrates how disposable reality TV has made music.

“It’s entertainment while it’s on the screen and it’s forgotten the second it’s off the screen,” Cashmere told Rendezview.

“A reality music show is a TV show, it’s the TV industry, not the music industry. That’s why the songs don’t chart, because it’s not about music, it’s about TV.”

The Voice 2019’s winner Diana Rouvas with her coach, Boy George. Picture: Channel 9

Rouvas was the popular choice to win. She had a killer backstory that included originally appearing on the show back in 2012, signing to Universal and seeing her career not pan out as she hoped. Eventually, she left her record deal and this year returned to The Voice as part of its redemption push — and, let’s face it, attention.

She also has a brilliant voice, even if the energetic Wait For No One didn’t scan with the ballads she’d been singing on The Voice.

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Which raises another issue with the reality music TV format. Many of them are basically well produced karaoke, in which wannabes sing familiar classic hits known to all of us. From there, it’s tough to launch a career with an original song nobody knows.

But even in today’s oversaturated reality climate, it’s still astounding that it’s not a killer launch pad the way The X Factor, Australian Idol and Popstars were back in the day.

Music shows have become less about discovering new talent and more about the celebrity judges that host them. Picture: Channel 9

Rouvas won a record deal with EMI (a credible label with a reputation for fostering talent) and a $100,000 cash prize as part of her Voice victory.

But it’s time to face facts. The Voice has a global curse — it’s never created a superstar.

Channel 9 has already greenlit another series for 2020. So there’ll be more artists ready for a shot, even though they’ve seen that it’s in no way a guarantee of success.

At best you can launch a live career afterwards and release songs independently — which will probably be more lucrative than signing a record deal.

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And given only 7000 people streamed Rouvas’ song on Spotify last week, the cash prize will be highly valuable for any musician in an industry where nobody pays for music anymore.

A lot has been written (even by this columnist) about how these music reality TV shows are now more based on celebrity judges than the actual musical talent.

The next logical extension of that is The Masked Singer, a show in which famous judges try to guess famous people singing in ridiculous disguises. An Australian version (with Lindsay Lohan and Dannii Minogue as judges) launches here later this year.

Watching Lohan have no idea who many of the local celebrities singing in animal suits are will be fascinating. No doubt plenty of the audience will be scratching their chins too. But how long before a Voice winner ends up in a furry onesie?

Cameron Adams is a national music writer for News Corp.