[NEWS] ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: TEN MOST SUCCESSFUL MOUSEKETEERS

Christina Aguilera

Early Star Quality: That unbelievable voice! Xtina was born sounding like a full-grown soul singer.

Where Are They Now? After the third season of The Voice wraps, judge/mentor Aguilera will take a break from the reality show to tour and promote her new album, Lotus.

Check out the remaining top 9 most successful Mouseketeers at the source.

Source: EW

[NEWS] 'THE VOICE' OF MISOGYNY

After last nights events I found myself drained of energy and a little distraught.

I never thought that someone Christina had collaborated with would turn around and pretty much use their finalist final performance to indirectly call her a bitch on national television.

Read this amazing and thought out article that pretty much breaks down last nights horrendous and juvenile attack on a woman on national television.

During its first season, I was a huge fan of The Voice, a singing competition on NBC currently in season two. The talent level on the show last year was just ridiculous and introduced me to one of my favorite artists, Dia Frampton. This year, the competition has been a bit on the underwhelming side, but I continued to watch in hopes that someone would begin to stand out, and thankfully that happened—Juliet Simms, the only woman among the four finalists, is a true star. She's an electric performer with a voice that can tell a story all by itself.

The fact that she's the only woman in the finals on a show where Christina Aguilera is the only woman on the judges' panel is particularly worth noting after a disgusting exchange on Monday night's episode when the finalists performed one more time in an attempt to win the competition.

(For those who don't watch the show, each of the four celebrity judges picks a team of singers which is slowly whittled down to one. The four finalists then compete in a grand finale to see which of the contestants—and judges—wins.)

Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine's finalist, Tony Lucca, who has to date made his way through the competition by way of a shortcut through Gimmick Avenue (and an assist from his coach, who gave him a higher rating than his semi-final female opponent Katrina Parker, because he enjoyed the "bromance" they had, allowing Tony to advance despite the fact that America voted 52-48 for Katrina), performed his last song, and the choice was a country-tinged cover of Jay-Z's "99 Problems," a song in which the hook is the line "If you're havin' girl problems, I feel bad for you son / I got 99 problems but a bitch ain't one."

After Tony performed "99 Problems" on last night's episode, the judges were asked for their responses. Christina, who has in the past criticized Tony for being one-dimensional (and also knows him personally, as they were on The Mickey Mouse Club together), told him he had a great voice and then added, "Your beautiful wife and your daughter, and family are here tonight, and I just thought, you know, the lyrical connotation was a little derogatory towards women...but all in all it was good fun."

Let's pause here: Note how restrained that statement is. The song relies heavily on misogynist language, but Christina didn't even spend her entire critique talking about that—she complimented Tony on the performance and gave a barely passing mention of the fact that the lyrics are problematic, yet it still earned her the misogynist wrath of Tony's coach, Adam.

When it came time for his critique, Adam responded with, "First of all, just to clarify so you all know, the intent behind this song, we talked about this for hours, Tony and I, and you know, the ___ ain't one is life getting' at you, things bringing you down, you know, we're not referring to women, we're referring to everything."

Christina said, "It says 'if you're having girl problems,' so it IS a girl."

Adam responded by talking over her and saying in an extremely condescending tone, "It's called a metaphor," a line that was met with nauseating, wild applause from the studio audience, at which point Adam took off his flannel shirt to reveal a "Team Xtina" t-shirt underneath—thus obliging Christina to applaud after he'd insulted her, or risk losing as though she doesn't support her remaining team member, who, of course, is Tony's competitor and had yet to perform his solo number.

There is so much vile shit to unpack in this that it's tough to even know where to start.

First, Christina is the only woman on this four-judge panel, and she was the only one to even make the most passing mention of the problematic and misogynist lyrics—and when she did so, it was in the least aggressive way she possibly could have, yet her comments were still met with MORE misogyny. She was shouted down, talked to like she was clueless and hysterically overreacting, and met with derisive and dismissive words simply for pointing out the misogynist lyrics. Basically, she got treated like shit for ruining the fun misogyny party for all the men! It's so much more fun when there aren't women around to complain, amirite?! (Or men, but men who complain about that kind of shit are either totally gay or basically women anyway, for sure).

Adam, meanwhile, came prepared. Several websites have reported that an even more severe argument broke out between Adam and Christina during rehearsals for Monday night's show, with multiple but unconfirmed reports that Adam called her a "cunt," in the process. I'm somehow inclined to think there's probably quite a bit of truth to that after seeing last night's show—especially since he had that "Team Xtina" tee at the ready, if she challenged him on-air.

Adam's claim that the line "99 problems but a bitch ain't one" is about "life getting at you," is a total non-starter, metaphor or not (spoiler alert: not!). Let's say it really is just a metaphor—which is an awfully generous interpretation—it is still a problem. If you're applauding a song that uses misogynist language to talk about life being tough, using the word "bitch" as a placeholder for various woes is STILL misogynist! "Life's a bitch" still relies on anti-woman sentiment.

(See also: Using the feminine as a symbol for "mayhem.")

And rather than perhaps admit that Christina might have had a point worth hearing, Adam responded aggressively with more misogyny toward her, as misogynists are apt to do when challenged—so challenged by even the slightest, most non-aggressive hint that they might be contributing to a serious problem.

He was ready for this exact confrontation (again: "Team Xtina" shirt at the ready), and was prepared to ensure that, in a space where defending a misogynist song would receive huge applause, he would also be able to deflect any meaningful criticism. Christina found herself in that spot that has been oft discussed here—she could continue to defend acknowledging the problematic aspects of the song and reject Adam's dismissive response to her and get accused of being a "bitch" and ruining the show (and even without continuing on, she was still accused of those things in recaps this morning), or she could let it go, stay silent on it for the remainder of the night, and allow the show to continue as if nothing had happened. That's the untenable position she found herself in—the terrible bargain.

This exchange on the show last night is a perfect example of the problems with a culture so steeped in misogyny—the purveyors of it are the ones who receive applause. Those who challenge it are shouted down with more misogyny as though their concerns are the result of hypersensitivity, as though there can be no meaningful discussion to be seriously had about how misogynist language is harmful to both women AND men, because they can't even be bothered to recognize that there is any kind of problem inherent in that language to begin with.

I appreciate what Christina Aguilera does on this show every night, because this is really just the obvious, out-in-the-open breaking point of a season full of more underhanded, insidious misogyny that has been directed at her. It was especially nice to see her with her finalist, opera singer Chris Mann, onstage after his "thank you" performance to her. She got up out of her chair, embraced him, joined him on stage and told the audience, "This is a real man. A real man respects women."

While noting the problem with "real" language, it was a nice, and honestly touching, moment, to see her there after having been the target of such an ugly display so soon before, standing alongside a man whom she truly seems to like, respect, and care for, and to see him return that tenfold as he stood alongside a woman he genuinely respects, and likes, and cares for.

The whole thing—the audience's reaction not only to the performance itself, but to Adam's attacks on Christina afterward, reminded me so hard that if there is one thing America seems to love so dearly, it's men who openly hate women.

I'll say this—I've got plenty of problems in my life. Maybe 99. Maybe more. Maybe fewer. But I do know that if Tony Lucca and Adam Levine win tonight—finding time to watch The Voice next season sure as fuck isn't going to be one of them anymore.

[Notes: If there is any further incident on tonight's finale, I will post a follow-up tomorrow. Also, my thanks to Liss for helping me tease out some of the ideas in this post.]

Source: Shakesville

I just want to thank whoever took the time to write this amazing article about the more than obvious misogyny that 'The Voice' feeds off of.

I really hope that Christina thinks twice about signing on for a 3rd Season of 'The Voice'. She doesn't deserve all the disrespect that she's been getting from a douche bag that's career pretty much got it's second chance because of 'The Voice'.

No woman should ever be targeted or disrespected on national television, especially by two grown ass "men".

I want to congratulate and give Miss Christina Aguilera a round of applause for standing her ground in an arena full of people (teenage girls) rooting for Adam Levine. You truly are a classy woman with morals and standards.

People will try and try again to bring her down, but what they tend to forget is that Christina CAN'T be brought down, she CAN'T be fazed by the childish acts that come from follow peers and onlookers, she CAN'T be anyone else but herself, and she is HERE TO STAY.

You aren't alone momma, we're here for you. Fighters for life.

What did you guys think about the performance and about the article?

[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] CARSON TALKS TONY LUCCA, CHRISTINA'S NEW LOOK, AND BRITNEY ON X-FACTOR

Adam Levine’s team member, Tony Lucca, gave a surprise performance on Monday in response to coach Christina Aguilera’s comments that he seemed one-dimensional and was possibly benefiting from his connection to former Mickey Mouse Club co-star Justin Timberlake.

On Monday, Lucca performed a rocking version of Britney Spears' “Baby One More Time,” a move that Daly -- who is also a producer on The Voice -- called “ballsy.”

“From where I’m sitting and I know Tony well, Peter Gabriel didn’t quite work out for him,” he added. “I think he needed to come back last night with a home run or he faced instant elimination so it was really, really gutsy to do that Britney Spears cover.”

He added that when they watched Lucca perform the song in rehearsal, he thought, “this is either gonna kill or this is gonna bomb and Christina’s going to rip him the new one.”

Lucca’s performance on Monday was a major hit, and he was saved by America on Tuesday. “It paid off,” Daly said. “It’s the music business. It was a gamble and it worked.”

Speaking of Aguilera, the coach has had a noticeable make-under lately, showing off a more classy and polished look. Daly told reporters that while he thought “she looked fine before,” he has definitely noticed the change as well.

“She looks great,” he said. “You see it in her coaching. We all know, when you feel better about yourself, we all do better at your jobs. When she enters now, she’s got a little strut.”

Spears, Aguilera’s other former Mickey Mouse Club mouseketeer, may be on her way to another judges’ chair. As The Hollywood Reporter first reported, Spears is circling a chair on The X Factor. Daly said he would definitely be tuning in to see Spears on the Fox show.

“I’m as interested as anybody else,” he said. “I feel like I haven’t seen her communicate in mass media. Even for my radio show, to help her promote her records and get her for interviews, there’s been the conservatorship and things that have made that hard.”

Daly added that he’s known the pop princess “forever” and that he thinks highly of her. “I’m rooting for her,” he said.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

[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

[NEWS] JC CHASEZ DEFENDS CHRISTINA AGUILERA AND PRAISES TONY LUCCA

Christina Aguilera took some heat for her pointed criticism of fellow former “Mickey Mouse Club” star Tony Lucca on “The Voice” last week, but JC Chasez (also a former Mouseketeer) says she was simply doing her job.

“I love her. She’s absolutely supposed to do her job and express her opinion, and that is definitely her opinion,” the former *NSYNC-er told Billy Bush and Kit Hoover on Wednesday’s Access Hollywood Live, when asked if Christina “broke the code” by being harsh on a former co-star. “I think Tony has represented himself magnificently on the show because I don’t really just look at Tony as a singer, and [Christina] is thinking in terms of maybe singing, how he sang the song.

“I’m looking at him as a performer,” he continued. “And I know the show is called, ‘The Voice,’ but I’m looking for the best performance and I think that he represented himself magnificently on the show so far.”

Like Christina, JC is also flexing his reality TV muscles as a judge on “Randy Jackson Presents: America’s Best Dance Crew,” and the 35-year-old star was quick to deliver a verdict on which of *NSYNC’s five members had the best moves.

“I think Justin [Timberlake] and I were probably the best two dancers,” he told Billy and Kit. “The fun part about me was I was also acrobatic, so I could do backflips across the stage and things like that – that was one of kind of my things that I brought to the table.”

Source: Access Hollywood (Live)

[NEWS] TONY LUCCA MAKES AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT REGARDING CHRISTINA'S CRITICISMS

On last week's performance episode of "The Voice," there was some major tension between contestant Tony Lucca and his former "Mickey Mouse Club" co-star, Christina Aguilera. She wasn't particularly pleased that Lucca's famous friends like Justin Timberlake were tweeting their support for him, because she felt that there were stronger voices in the competition. It was an awkward moment, to say the least.

Zap2it had the chance to chat with Lucca last week, so we had to ask him about Aguilera's criticism, which some fans found harsh.

Lucca admits that having people like Timberlake in his corner did put him at an advantage -- but that doesn't necessarily mean the advantage is unfair.

"These are my friends, and certainly it's just them trying to support their friend," he says. "Yeah, the repercussions are sizeable."

He accepts her constructive criticism gracefully.

"I think she's really well-spoken on the show, and quite honestly, probably one of the most intelligent on the subject of vocals and singing and stage production and stuff. I take it all in stride and I value her opinion tremendously."

As for any perceived trouble in M-I-C-K-E-Y-because-we-like-you paradise, Lucca shrugs it off.

"A lot of people have kind of questioned [Christina's] tone, and maybe that's where the awkwardness came in, but I'm inspired by it, it's fine," he laughs. "I mean, obviously there's some social media fall-out and everybody kind of wants to talk about this rivalry that continues, but it's not my place to speculate. It happened and we're moving on."

To read more, click the source.

Source: Zap2It

[VIDEO] ADAM LEVINE: WAS CHRISTINA AGUILERA TOO HARSH ON TONY LUCCA?

Adam Levine talks with AccessHollywood.com’s Laura Saltman about why eliminatin contestants on “The Voice” isn’t upsetting. Also, he tells The Dish how the NBC reality series has changed his life and has got him some extra attention from the ladies

Source: Access Hollywood

[NEWS] TONY LUCCA RESPONDS TO CHRISTINA AGUILERA'S 'ONE DIMENSIONAL' SLAM ON 'THE VOICE'

There was no love between former Mouseketeers on Monday’s “The Voice.”

Contestant Tony Lucca, who appeared with coach Christina Aguilera, as well as Britney Spears, Ryan Gosling, Justin Timberlake and Keri Russell, on the “Mickey Mouse Club” in the early ‘90s, received a tough critique from his childhood co-star.

“I thought that was a – you know – good performance, but I just find you to be very one dimensional,”

Christina told Tony after he performed Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes.”

“I think there are just better voices on the show than a celebrity-sway kind of
thing,”

Christina continued, referring to fellow former “MMC” star Justin Timberlake’s Twitter support for Tony.

Coach Adam Levine quickly responded to the critique, snapping “That was honest” to Christina, and adding that he was “proud”of Tony, who is on his team.

Access caught up with Tony backstage following his performance, where he weighed in on Christina’s comments.

“It seems like there are maybe some ulterior motives,” he told Access.

“At least it’s hard for me to not read into that as some sort of strategy for her, but at the same time it’s an opinion... I can’t let her ruffle my feathers.”

Of course, this wasn’t the first awkward moment between Tony and Christina on this season of “The Voice.” Following the singer’s blind audition, Christina did not recognize her former co-star after spinning her chair around.

Source: Access Hollywood

Editors Note:

“You aren't going to let her ruffle your feathers? Yet right after your ONE DIMENSIONAL ass got off the stage you took to twitter and tweeted "#1Dimensional" in hopes that it would probably catch on and trend Worldwide but that didn't happen. The truth hurts doesn't it.

[NEWS] ROLLINGSTONE RECAPS 'THE VOICE' EPISODE 12: LIVE SHOW WAR & AGREES WITH XTINA

Something is in the air on The Voice. The initial live episodes last week saw coaches Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton locked in amiable competition, like old Southern gentlemen having a polite disagreement. This week, however, it's Team Adam against Team Cee Lo, and these two bros seem headed for a 12-pace musket duel. The fighting words aren't just between those two, either. Xtina is more antagonistic than ever, and all the judges dole out more harsh truths to the contestants than ever before.

Let's look at Team Adam first. Leading the pack is Katrina Parker, who forces an Adele comparison when she sings, even wearing her hair like the superstar for this performance. It's a soaring, anthemic version of Smashing Pumpkins' "Tonight, Tonight," which reconfigures the DNA of the original song and feeds it Incredible Hulk serum. In response, Xtina lodges the night's first nonsense complaint: "I wanted you to rock out a bit more, and your dress restricted that." I don't understand women nearly well enough to decode what that means, but it doesn't sound good. Cee Lo says Katrina performed it in too theatrical a way that lacked the tortured vocal gravitas of alien-person Billy Corgan. Adam defends Katrina, though, insisting she made it bigger than a rock song.

Xtina's former Mouseketeer buddy Tony Lucca turned four chairs with his heartfelt blind audition performance, and with his obvious talent and can't-miss back story, he seemed poised to go far. Could that have only been a couple of months ago? Tonight, it seems impossibly far away. Adam looks put off during rehearsals when Tony sings Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes." Then we see why: his actual performance is rather unremarkable, aside from the giant floating pupils in the background that make for way too literal (and creepy!) an interpretation. "I just find you very one-dimensional," Xtina tells Tony afterward, dismissing anything else he's done up to this point. "That was honest!" Adam says, before telling the dejected singer how proud he made him.

[NEWS] ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: 'CHRISTINA AGUILERA TELLS IT LIKE IT IS'

TONY LUCCA

Good thing The Voice has a boxing ring on set, because Christina's about to punch out Justin Timberlake. Turns out that JT has stayed in touch with Tony Lucca ever since their Mickey Mouse Club days, and he tweeted his support for Lucca and Team Adam on Monday.

"Tony Lucca @luccadoes performs LIVE tonight on #TheVoice," he posted. Tune in and vote for my boy!!! #realtalent."

At which point, Xtina gets like, Uh-oh, it's on!

Now, before we get to that heated exchange, let's get through a few tense words of our own. I know there's a ton of Tony Lucca fans who read these recaps. And I love his awesome cover of Daniel Johnston's "Devil Town" as much as anyone, especially when it was used so well on Friday Night Lights. But I just don't think his version of Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" is anything special. When he drops the falsetto parts down to a lower key, he can sing everything more easily, but he destroys all the vulnerability in those high notes, when Gabriel's voice almost cracks. And what the heck is Lucca doing slapping those fans' hands so excitedly? We're supposed to hear his heart breaking! This song's dedicated to the guy who gave some lady his heart, and she left it at the Gas N Sip, remember?

Christina is obviously peeved. "Hi Tony," she says, sighing. "Obviously we go back." (Imagine Lil Xtina and Kiddie Tony fighting over Mickey Mouse ears. So cute!) "I thought that was a good performance, I just find it to be very one-dimensional." Then she continues: "Obviously, you have me and your old Mouseketeer buddies behind you, and Justin in particular, but I hope this is about the voice, rather than a celebrity sway."

You can say what you will about Christina, but even when she's not nice, she always tells it like it is. Even Adam has to respect that. "That was honest," he admits. "Honest is good."

Besides, celebrity endorsements feel kinda tacky on a show that's supposedly searching for raw talent alone. And that should make me want to DITCH HIM. But he's been better in previous weeks, so I'll give him another chance. Let's KEEP HIM TIL TOMORROW, and hope that Timberlake backs off.

To read more, click the source.

Source: EW

[NEWS] 'THE VOICE' LIVE SHOWS: 12 THINGS YOU DIDN'T SEE ON TV

Cee Lo Green and Adam Levine’s teams threw a pretty rock and roll heavy live show on NBC's The Voice on Monday. The Hollywood Reporter was there feeling the heat -- both literally and figuratively -- all to bring you the behind-the-scenes details that the home audience didn’t get to see.

6. Christina makes time for a little fan. The warm-up guy set up a quick dance contest over a commercial break. He asked one bubbly eight-year-old girl who her favorite coach is and she answered Christina. So, that earned her a big hug from the pop star -- a pretty good consolation gift for placing second in the contest later.

9. Dissension in the ranks? Christina was pretty hard on her former co-Mouseketeer Tony Lucca after his performance calling it "one-dimensional" and wondering if the support of their former Mickey Mouse Club stars -- specifically one very supportive Justin Timberlake -- would make the show a popularity contest. And perhaps, there was much more to say about it than what was said during the televised critiques. During the next commercial break, Blake, Cee Lo and Adam had a spirited huddle.

To see the other 10 things you didn't see on TV, click the source.

Source: THR

[VIDEO] 'ACCESS HOLLYWOOD LIVE' INTERVIEW WITH CHRISTINA AGUILERA (MQ)

[SMART-PHONE FRIENDLY]

A piece of the interview got cut from the video (above) but here it is:

[SMART-PHONE FRIENDLY]

[VIDEO] TONY LUCCA WANTS TO DUET WITH FORMER MOUSKETEER, CHRISTINA AGUILERA

He may be on Adam Levine's team, but The Voice contender Tony Lucca hopes to one day perform a duet with his former Mickey Mouse Club costar Christina Aguilera.

"It's one thing to rub elbows and be cheeky on TV together, but to actually put some time in rehearsal and share the stage once again would be really cool," Lucca, 36, said during a recent visit to Us Weekly's New York City offices.

"I think the world of her as a talent," he raved of Aguilera, 31. "I think she's phenomenal, and it would certainly elevate my game a bit."

To find out more from Lucca -- including how he really felt when Aguilera didn't recognize him, why he decided to audition for The Voice, and more -- watch the video above now.

The Voice airs Mondays at 8 p.m. EST on NBC.

Source: US

[VIDEO] TONY LUCCA TALKS ABOUT WHAT DIDN'T MAKE THE CUT WHEN CHRISTINA CAME AFTER HIM

[NEWS] 'THE VOICE': TONY LUCCA TALKS 'BIZARRE' REUNION WITH CHRISTINA AGUILERA

The Voice ended its second season premiere episode on Sunday with a performer it had to know would get some traction among the media and the show’s fans. Tony Lucca had starred on Disney Channel’s The Mickey Mouse Club in the early-90s along with coach Christina Aguilera. And, he had a lot of time to worry about how the reunion would all play out.

“The reunion was bizarre in a lot of ways,” Tony tells reporters during a press call on Monday. “Obviously, the producers and I agreed that was an interesting piece of the story, so we covered a lot of ground in that leading up to the audition. I certainly pulled my hair… What would be the best approach?”

The married father of one son admits he was always gunning for Adam Levine as his coach, but fretted whether Christina would feel snubbed when he went with the Maroon 5 frontman. Or if he did join his old cast mate’s team, would it be strange or inappropriate down the line when she had to pick between him and another performer?

“The fact that it didn't dawn on her who I was until after the blind audition certainly made that a little easier,” the 35-year-old singer-songwriter says. The cameras captured Christina’s jaw drop as her chair turned away from the stage and she recognized Tony. She then got up quickly to find him backstage.

“The way she came in and went down memory lane that was extremely flattering, to say the least,” he says. “It was really cool, because it certainly wasn't solicited or prodded out of her. Her sentiments were very genuine and honest and it was legitimately cool to reconnect. Everything's going to be a little bizarre in front of a camera, but I couldn't have been happier with the way it went down and I'm just really grateful for her to have been so gracious and flattering.”

There’s a four-year age difference between the singer and the 31-year-old coach, which may not mean a lot now, but Tony says that Christina, Britney Spears, and Justin Timberlake were part of the younger members of the series’ cast and often played the “little siblings.” Tony further addressed the age gap when reporters asked about Christina’s admission that Britney had a crush on him back in the day.

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“They kind of looked up to us and found out where we did all our shopping,” Tony recalls. “They'd go out and buy some of our clothes… I was dating Keri Russell at the time and I know that Britney and Christina just thought the world of her and looked up to her. Maybe, in that light it would be apparent that there was a crush or something. But no, not like something that was ever acted upon or initiated or anything like that at all. It was much more like a little sister-type thing. My wife got the biggest kick out of that.”

After Disney Channel canceled The Mickey Mouse Club in 1994, Tony moved to Los Angeles to act. He later became a fulltime musician releasing more than seven studio albums and five EPs, as well as working as a touring musician for several acts including fellow mouseketeers JC Chasez and Justin's group, 'N Sync.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

[VIDEO] TONY LUCCA REUNITES WITH FORMER MOUSKETEER-CHRISTINA AGUILERA-ON 'THE VOICE'

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[TWEET] @NBCTHEVOICE: 'OH HEYYYY CHECK OUT @LUCCADOES & @THEREALXTINA IN A BLAST...'