[VIDEO] C. MILIAN INTERVIEWS CHRISTINA AGUILERA ABOUT HER PLANS FOR 'THE VOICE' FINALE

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[VIDEO] CHRIS MANN TALKS DUET WITH CHRISTINA AGUILERA IN THE FINALE AND LINDSEY PAVAO

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[TWEET] @LINDSEYPAVAO: 'THANK YOU @THEREALXTINA FOR ALL THE ENCOURAGEMENT...'

Thank you @TheRealXtina for all the encouragement. You have changed my life forever.<3

— Lindsey Pavao (@LindseyPavao) May 2, 2012

[PHOTOS] CHRISTINA AGUILERA AT 'THE VOICE' SEMI-FINAL RESULTS SHOW

[TWEET] @THEREALXTINA: 'WOW! THAT WAS CLOSE AMERICA. @LINDSEYPAVAO - YOU ARE...'

Wow! That was close America. @LindseyPavao - you are blessed with an amazing gift. This is only the beginning of your journey. XoXtina

— Christina Aguilera (@TheRealXtina) May 2, 2012

[TWEET] @THEREALXTINA: 'HERE WE GO! @NBCTHEVOICE #TEAMXTINA'

Here we go! @NBCTheVoice #TeamXtina

— Christina Aguilera (@TheRealXtina) May 2, 2012

[NEWS] 'THE VOICE' RECAP: KILLING US SOFTLY

Final eight murder some songs, and Xtina steals some thunder

"Everyone's just so different," Adam Levine says at one point on last night's episode of The Voice. "I love the fact that everybody on this show right now is so unique. Any one of you guys, if given the right thing, can reign victorious." Okay, "reign victorious" is perhaps an overly biblical way of putting it, but dude has a point. There's not much stylistic overlap between the final eight, and it's just about anybody's game.

Before we get into the competition, however, I think it's time we play a little game called Oh My God, Why Are You Wearing That?™ Christina Aguilera is rocking a black tiara tonight like a Disney movie villain, and eye shadow as thick as football intimidation facepaint. Oh my God, why are you wearing that? Cee Lo's shirt has a picture of Purrfect the Cat in the shape of a heart. Can this be life? When he's training his contestants, Adam is wearing a hooded poncho made from the skin of a thousand hemp hacky sacks captured at Burning Man. What is even happening?

Onto the game itself. Tony Lucca is on deck first with the soul revival number "How You Like Me Now?" by the Heavy. Before the song, Adam boasts about last week's Britney Spears cover as though it were The White Album. If you ask me, though, Tony's performance this week is ten times better. You don't need any backstory to appreciate the way he throws himself into this tune. "I don't know that song, but I'm glad I don't, because yours is probably the version I'd prefer," Blake says. Christina mentions that she does know the song because she optioned it for one of her contestants, which makes her sound like the kid in kindergarten who pouts, "I was gonna say that!" after another kid gives the correct answer first.

When you think of stirring tributes and torch songs, you probably think of David Guetta and Usher, right? Okay, the good news is that Erin Willet somehow turned that unlikely pair's slinky club tune "Without You" into a heartfelt tribute to her deceased father, and she had the grace not to mention so herself. The song was a risk, but it left her sounding as raw, emotional and strong as ever. Xtina and Cee Lo are both fans, and Blake goes even further, saying, "I'd give anything to have one-tenth of the talent you have."

The last time Chris Mann performed, America may have chosen to save him afterward, but several of the judges wished to hear the opera singer sing opera again. So back by popular demand, here's Chris this week, vibrato-ing some "Ave Maria" for the true believers. It sounds very, um, operatic, and also beautiful. Look, it's obvious the guy is super talented, but at this point we're looking for who is going to win the whole thing. Bottom line: It will not be an opera singer.

"Jamar had a few suggestions that seemed peculiar," Cee Lo says, pre-performance, about Mr. Rogers' take on "If You Don't Know Me By Now." The contestant says he wants to do a 2012 version of the song, with elements of electronica, which is probably what made Cee Lo squirm. The coach ends up impressed with the results, though, as are the other judges, even if the performance is a bit of a comedown after last week's fiery Bon Jovi rager. "That is the most laid-back I've seen you up there," Blake says, and although he means it as a compliment, the statement serves as a justified indictment of Cee Lo's song choice. Xtina says she liked the song so much it made her want to get up on stage and sing too, which is her version of a compliment. Do Xtina and Blake need to go back and retake their classes at Compliments Academy?

In addition to the contestants' official songs tonight, there are two team cross-pollinations. First, Teams Adam and Cee Lo combine to sing "All These Things That I've Done." It's no surprise that Juliet Simms sounds awesome on this Killers song, but I don't think anyone would have expected how out of place Katrina Parker sounds here. Later, Teams Xtina and Blake join forces on a disco-lite "Edge of Glory," while a seizure-strobe supernova explodes in the background. Erin Willett and Jermaine Paul sound impressive.

Speaking of Jermaine Paul, his wife confesses that when she first heard his voice, he was trying to put the moves on her. Considering the number of children the two have together (four), it's safe to say those moves worked. Tonight Blake bequeaths Jermaine the Journey jam "Open Arms," and it sounds completely remade. The former background singer for Alicia Keys holds each note a long time, wringing them dry, and the crowd goes nuts for him. "You murdered that song," Xtina says afterward. "You put the Jermaine on it." She even throws in a "Team Blake" briefly, but realizes that's a step too far, and sharply back-pedals. Adam simply congratulates Jermaine on no longer being a background singer.

As if to make up for her lackluster vocals on the group song, Katrina Parker kills the Fugees' "Killing Me Softly." The crowd loses its mind at the very first line of the song, and then thankfully tapers off a little so we can hear better. It's amazing how she doesn't really do anything different tonight, yet her voice is able to encompass both Adele and Lauren Hill. "I've honestly, truly, fallen in love with you," Xtina says. She also can't resist urging Adam and America to consider Katrina over Tony Lucca. She really doesn't care for Tony Lucca.

"I signed up to be Xtina's last person standing, and that's what I'm here to do," Lindsey Pavao says before her performance. Hopefully her lovely version of Bon Iver's "Skinny Love" won't leave her as Xtina's penultimate person standing. This is Lindsey's first chance to play an instrument on stage. She gently strums her guitar before a half-circle of people gathered around her like a campfire jamboree, which Xtina later refers to as a "coffee shop setting" for some reason. "I don't really know about skinny love, I'm more into big love," Cee Lo says, because of course he does. Xtina tells Lindsey how much she loves her and goes up on stage to give her a goofy-sweet hug.

Juliet Simms closes out the show again, probably because nobody should have to go on after her. Her song this week is an inspired choice: "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" by James Brown. "My battle in rock music is that it's saturated with men," Juliet says before the performance. If you ask me, Juliet could stand shoulder to shoulder vocally with any man in rock, even without the giant pointy shoulder pads she stole from Lady Gaga's wardrobe tonight. She sings her heart out like she always does here, this time backed by an entire string section. The applause goes on for a full minute at least. "You killed that song. You murdered it!" Cee Lo says, clearly awed. Leave it to Xtina to bring the conversation back to herself, however. "You took me back to the Grammys when I sang that song," she says. The moral of tonight's episode: if you have thunder, Christina Aguilera will steal it.

Tonight: The judges will be grading their contestants, combined with the audience votes somehow, to determine who will be going on. Only four will make it. But who? (Besides Juliet, duh.)

Source: Rolling Stone

[NEWS] 'THE VOICE' SEMI-FINALS: 9 THINGS YOU DIDN'T SEE ON TELEVISION

On Monday, all eight of the remaining contestants of The Voice performed. The stakes have never been higher; After Tuesday, only four contestants will move on to next week’s finale.

For the first time this season, contestants from all four teams performed on the same show. With all the weaker links weeded out in past weeks, only the strong remain, giving viewers one great performance after another.

On TV, you saw Chris Mann return to opera, Lindsey Pavao present a soft and sweet sound, and Juliet Simms rock the house with her out-of-this-world performance of “It’s A Man’s World.” But what didn’t make it onto the cameras?

The Hollywood Reporter attended the live show to bring you the behind-the-scenes details that the home audience didn’t get to see.

Here are 9 things that went down when the cameras weren’t rolling:

1. “Over” take two. Blake Shelton performed his newest single, "Over," for the first time on TV. The performance was pre-taped before the live show. On his first attempt, Shelton’s mic wasn’t working, so they had to restart. Shelton performed the full song twice.

2. The audience was put to work. You may think sitting in the audience is all fun and games, but on Monday night, those lucky people standing in the pits around the stage were put to work. Glow rings were handed out before Erin Willett’s performance of “Without You,” and electric candles were handed out before Mann sang “Ave Maria.” The pit people were instructed to wave these items around only during the contestant’s performance. However, of course, there was no way to control that many random people, so some people were waving around the candles during Carson Daly’s introductions. Tsk, tsk.

3. A gentleman and a fanny. Christina Aguilera, wearing a pair of killer knee-high boots and a little leotard dress item, went on stage after both of her teammembers’ performances. Each time, she was helped back down the stairs by fellow coach Shelton. The second time, she waved her butt in the air for an extra second in a little joke to Shelton.

4. School friends. During a commercial break, the warmup guy talks to a trio of eight year olds. Who are they fans of? Adam Levine. Why? It turns out they go to the same elementary school that he did. The Center for Early Education is based in West Hollywood, and Levine was a student there (along with Jake Gyllenhaal). Levine gave the girls a friendly wave from his coaches’ chair.

5. Fancy pants. The most elaborate stage setup award went to Mann. It took more than two dozen crew members to set up the candle display that went along with his “Ave Maria” performance.

6. Photo bomb. Viewers may have noticed Willett and Mann in the background of Christina Millian’s interviews. The duo planned a subtle and funny photo bomb during one of her interviews after first doing it in rehearsals. After the show, Willett told THR that she was “in a funk” after she got off stage from her performance because she had gotten so emotional. “I looked at Chris, and he was like, ‘Ok, we’re doing what we did in rehearsal and we’re going to have fun.’ He kind of brought me out of my funk a little bit,” Willett said.

7. Boots not made for walking. Aguilera’s boots got plenty of time in the limelight. When the camera wasn’t on her, she’d rest her feet up on her desk, with her knee-high boots displayed proudly for everyone to see.

8. Not so hot. THR has already described the excruciating heat that seems to be a permanent resident in the studio where the show is shot. But, by some miracle, the stands were not unbearably hot on Monday.

9. Daly’s daily motions. Before the cameras start rolling on the host, he’s got a few different motions he’ll go through. There was a lot of foot tapping to the music, a little air guitar, and – at one point – the robot.

Source: THR

[TWEET] @THEREALXTINA: 'THE SINGERS BROUGHT IT TONIGHT. AMERICA - YOUR TURN! VOTE AND...'

The singers brought it tonight. America - your turn! Vote and download the performances @iTunesMusic: bit.ly/wXkVWM #TeamXtina

— Christina Aguilera (@TheRealXtina) May 1, 2012

[VIDEO] 'THE VOICE': THE ELITE EIGHT

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[NEWS] 'THE VOICE': BEHOLD SEASON 2's SEMI-FINALIST (EXCLUSIVE PHOTO)

After surviving blind auditions, several heart-wrenching eliminations and overcoming their nerves while winning America over, NBC’s The Voice is now down to its top eight performers. And The Hollywood Reporter has the first look at the season two semifinalists' class photo.

Pictured above from left, Team Cee Lo Green’s inspiring and energetic Jamar Rogers and powerhouse vocalist Juliet Sims; Team Christina Aguilera’s edgy Lindsey Pavao and the classically trained Chris Mann; Team Adam Levine’s soulful Katrina Parker and veteran musician and former Mouseketeer Tony Lucca; and Team Blake Shelton’s timeless Erin Willett and the velvety smooth former Alicia Keys backup singer Jermaine Paul.

Aren't they an attractive and talented bunch?

Next Monday, the semifinalists will perform once again for America’s votes and only four of them will move on to the finale episode on May 8 at 9 p.m. on NBC.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

[VIDEO] CHRISTINA AGUILERA AND #TEAMXTINA AT REHEARSALS

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[NEWS] X FACTOR FORCAST: WILL BRITNEY SPEARS CAUSE CONTROVERSY LIKE CHRISTINA AGUILERA?

Remember the days of Christina Aguilera's "Genie In a Bottle" versus Britney Spears' "Hit Me Baby One More Time"?

Oh, the memories…And now, 13 years later, two of pop's biggest sensations (and former Mouseketeers) are going up against each other again. But this time it's not for placement on the Billboard charts—it's a full-on ratings war!

In case you haven't heard, Brit's thisclose to signing a $15 million contract to become a judge on The X Factor, so she'll be up against The Voice judge on the boob tube. But will Brit-Brit be able to deliver in the same sassy styling as Ms. Aguilera?!

"Let's face it, I'm no stranger to controversy and I'm OK with that," Christina said on last night's episode of The Voice.

And it's that kind of 'tude Xtina's been sporting all season that has made her such a fab judge. If Adam Levine weren't so damn hot, we'd probably pick her as a coach—ya know, if any of Team Truth could carry a tune.

Case in point? On Monday, gal shocked audiences when she cut one of her team's frontrunners (Jesse Campbell); then on Tuesday, once again made a controversial pick, choosing Lindsey Pavao (aka the Kristen Stewart of The Voice, don't you think?) over her competition.

Not to mention sending the blogosphere into a tizzy by supposedly giving Justin Bieber a be-yotchy look.

But that's what we think makes the curvy blonde bombshell so valuable—she isn't afraid to totally piss people off. "I'm fearless in the face of what I believe and I will defend every action that I take," Christina said during the show Tuesday night.

And she's not afraid to critique either. Heck, her go-to motto is basically "It was kinda pitchy, I'm not gonna lie." And that prissy purse of her lips tells you exactly how Xtina feels about any particular performance. Love.

As for Brit? It's no secret we're obsessed with the reigning princess of pop, and we were overjoyed when we heard the Femme Fatale is so close to becoming a judge. (B.S. on our TV every week?! Hallelujah!)

But we think Brit's going to have a far less lethal approach to judging than Christina—think the Paula Abdul or Jennifer Lopez type—sweet, innocent and totally complimentary. We have a feeling Britters won't be making those controversial calls that will leave America up in arms.

Just look at reports that Brit reportedly put a "no bullying" clause in her contract, insisting she wants to be the judge who will nurture new talent and she'll leave the harsh words to Simon Cowell. Bummer, we'd have loved to see Britney unleashed.

For now, we have a feeling we'll be bigger fans of Christina's tough-love 'tude. But we adore Ms. Spears and will definitely reassess once she hits the small screen. Because, either way, we're sure Britney will find some way to keep people talkin'.

Source: E! Online (UK)

[TWEET] @THEREALXTINA: 'THE JOURNEY CONTINUES @LINDSEYPAVAO @IAMCHRISMANN...'

The journey continues @LindseyPavao @IamChrisMann -keep letting your individualism shine. So proud of my #TeamXtina!
— Christina Aguilera (@TheRealXtina) April 18, 2012

[AUDIO] CHRISTINA AGUILERA TALKS ABOUT THE ELIMINATIONS AND HER SONG WITH CEE LO GREEN

Original Video- More videos at TinyPic

[NEWS] 'THE VOICE'S' CHRISTINA AGUILERA ON HER QUARTER FINAL CUT: 'I'M VERY EMOTIONALLY DRIVEN'

The pop star explains her reasoning for this week’s eliminations on the NBC competition.

Christina Aguilera faced her second tough decision this week on Tuesday’s The Voice results show.

'The Voice' Quarterfinals: Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton Drop Two Strong Singers

The pop singer chose to save Lindsey Pavao over Ashley De La Rosa. Her fellow coaches didn’t seem to agree with that decision nor the one she made on Monday when she eliminated the very strong Jesse Campbell.

“Nobody knows our team more than us coaches ourselves and there's definitely rhyme and reason behind every single decision I make,” Christina defended herself after Tuesday’s show. “I'm very emotionally driven and I think that's what The Voice should be about.”

On Tuesday’s results show, Lindsey delivered a poignant performance of Mike Posner’s “Please Don’t Go” and then broke into tears at the end of the song. And that clearly moved her coach.

“Tonight, Lindsey brought me to tears,” Christina says. “And there was just no two ways around it. What was felt was felt. And it was real and it was honest and that's the best that I can do and what I always bring to the table as a coach. Love me, hate me, as a coach I think it's the only fair thing to these guys to be honest in the moment.”

When The Hollywood Reporter caught up with eliminated Ashley after the show, she was in good spirits and says she understands why her coach chose Lindsey over her.

“Emotion does go a long way,” Ashley tells THR. “Christina looks for that. I do think Lindsey’s emotion was really genuine and it wasn’t something that looked fake or anything. She really looked like she was having a hard time up there and she was getting really choked up. That made me sad, because Lindsey is my friend and I love her and I’m so happy she’s moving on in the competition. And I’m sure she would be happy if I would’ve moved on.”

Did you agree with Christina’s decision to cut Ashley? Tell us in the comments section below.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

[TWEET] @THEREALXTINA: 'DON'T FORGET TO SUPPORT AND VOTE FOR #TEAMXTINA...'

Don't forget to support and vote for #TeamXtina!!! Their songs from tonight atitunes.com/thevoice

— Christina Aguilera (@TheRealXtina) April 17, 2012

[PHOTOS] CHRISTINA AGUILERA AND #TEAMXTINA AT CRENSHAW HIGHSCHOOL

[NEWS] CHRISTINA AGUILERA DELIVERS SEXY 'FIGHTER' PERFORMANCE ON 'THE VOICE'

The pop star shows some body confidence and a sense of humor while performing her hit single on Monday’s quarterfinals with her team.

Christina Aguilera joined her team on-stage to perform her 2003 single, “Fighter,” on Monday’s episode of NBC’s The Voice.

It brought some levity to the night as she and coach Blake Shelton would have to make the difficult decision of cutting one their singers at the end of the quarterfinals performance episode.

First, there was the outfit. Aguilera proved that not only do real women have curves, but she’s obviously very proud of hers. She sported a bedazzled bustier with hot pants. She also sent her male dancers over to Blake to give him a little something to get his mind off the heavy decision they’d have to make later and she "made it rain" on him.

Team members Chris Mann, Ashley De La Rosa, Jesse Campbell and Lindsey Pavao joined their coach and the Crenshaw High School choir on stage to complete the song performance.

Watch the performance below:


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Source: Hollywood Reporter

[NEWS] 'THE VOICE' RECAP: A SONG OF NICE AND DIRE

Week 1 of The Voice‘s Season 2 Quarterfinals closely paralleled a pivotal scene in Game of Thrones‘ inaugural season: What appeared to be a character central to the action had his head unceremoniously detached and placed on a spike as the crowd — or at least the three people in my living room — roared approval. The only thing missing was Christina Aguilera emerging naked from the funeral pyre of her Bionic album, its jewel case having hatched into a tiny, fire-breathing dragon.

Of course, there were a few moments where the episode began to resemble the kind of deranged hootenanny described during Saturday Night Live‘s “Stefon” segments: “New York’s hottest club is The Voice: The secret password is ‘rhayyy-LEEEEUHHHNNN!’ It’s got teenage Lolitas, Sears family portraits, washed-up R&B singers Christina Millian, a charity-minded Starbucks, Xtina’s anthropomorphic bosoms, flaming air, and human microphones!”

And while, from a musical perspective, the episode was an unmitigated disappointment, we still have to get on with the business of discussing the evening’s eight solo performances — from the four members of Team Xtina and four from Team Blake. (The less said about the caterwauling group performances the better, no?) Each coach ended the episode by instantly eliminating one singer: On Tuesday’s results show, America’s votes will save one member of each judge’s team, and then Blake and Xtina will respectively send a second contestant to safety, while sentencing the third to the guillotine.

Best Performance: Ashley de la Rosa (Team Xtina) | I’ll admit I disagreed with Xtina’s decision to save Ashley last week, but all I can say now is the “Beautiful” singer has a better ear than me. Ashley’s rock-inflected cover of Jewel’s “Foolish Games” was deeply moving and thrillingly original — veering from a gentle whisper on the verses to a gut-busting glory note that matched anything we’ve seen on The Voice this season. By the time Ashley played with the melody and went into the stratosphere on her final refrain of “you were always crazy like that,” I was firing up iTunes to purchase her rendition of the song.

Most Disappointing Vocal: Lindsey Pavao (Team Xtina) | In theory, I understand why Xtina wanted to push Lindsey to use her voice “in a bigger way,” but in practice, you can’t ask Joni Mitchell to be Celine Dion, or Beck to be Josh Grobin. In other words, maybe Lindsey giving us a stripped-down acoustic Rihanna medley might’ve been more pleasing to the ear than her straight-up-the-middle “Part of Me,” which spun out in the intersection of strained and pitchy every time she went for a big, belt-y note. (Why Adam had to couch his critique by stammering he was stupid for pointing out pitch problems makes me wonder if he should think about sitting quietly with his hands folded in his lap after performances.) Even worse, Lindsey seemed to lose any sense of originality this week: “Part of Me” felt like a WWKPD? (what would Katy Perry do?) cover, right down to the tight white pants, flared bedazzled jacket, futuristic braid, and “human microphone.” Where’s that chick who two weeks ago rocked Gotye better than Glee or Idol or even Gotye himself on SNL?

“What the Hell?” Prize: Chris Mann (Team Xtina) | I wish I could just insert a photo collage of a washing machine, a giant floor fan, Chris Martin, and Ben Stiller in Zoolander to depict my feelings about Mr. Mann’s almost comical cover of “Viva la Vida.” Dude adds vibrato to his music the way Ina Garten adds butter to her recipes, and the layers and layers of vocal affectations overpower the meaning and the message of the music. I agreed with Adam’s not-quite-articulate critique — there was something simply odd about Chris’ performances — and I suspect that Xtina and her main man may be overestimating his chances to go all the way to the finale. Or Lord, I hope so anyway.

Most Overrated: Jesse Campbell (Team Xtina) | Cee Lo, Adam, and Blake heaped praise on Jesse’s performance — although Xtina slyly didn’t mention anything about the actual vocal — which made it a pleasant shock when his coach gave him the boot at episode’s end. Honestly, I’m not sure there was a single note in tune during the last two-thirds of Jesse’s cover of “Halo,” and to make matters worse, the dude’s attempts to make Beyoncé’s track his own steadily devolved into a bizarre stream of wild, screaming hysteria. By the time Jesse started hollering ad-libs like “People of the world! You’ve got a halo!” (no, sir, I do not) it all veered a little uncomfortably into “crazy guy shouting on the subway platform” territory. Yeah, two weeks ago Jesse was the guy touted by the coaches as having a huge shot at the Season 2 crown, but (bringing back our Game of Thrones comparison) Xtina made the right choice in sending this major character to the executioner.

Source: TV Line