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Writer's pictureKris Avalon

Fans Accuse The Voice of Racism Following Semi-Final Results




Viewers are calling out The Voice for being racist after the results of this week's semi-finals were revealed.


via Decider:


It was revealed that Blake Shelton‘s three contestants — Bryce Leatherwood, bodie and Brayden Lape — plus Camila Cabello‘s contestant Morgan Myles were marked “safe” by viewers, per USA Today, leaving John Legend’s three performers — Kim Cruse, Parijita Bastola and Omar Jose Cardona — and Gwen Stefani‘s Justin Aaron in the bottom four.


While competing for the fifth spot of the finals, Cardona advanced with his cover of Lady Gaga’s “You and I.”


These results angered the online community as the top four performers who received the most votes were white, while all the acts left in the bottom four were all people of color. Many deemed that the public votes did not represent the contestants’ talent and, instead, were acts of racism.


One tweeted, “The demographic who watches The Voice is definitely racist and favors the young, white, country male singers. They’re not even the most talented. Let a POC get the spotlight they deserve.”


Another wrote, “This show is racist . The producers should be embarrassed. The best voices are left standing.”


Me and my gf love watching #TheVoice but this is ridiculous. Typical America being racist in two photos.. 4 white people voted to the finals and the the 4 POC (best singers imo) in the bottom. @johnlegend got robbed and he knew it.. pic.twitter.com/BPmC9cukHT

— Kyle (Sparky) ⚡️ (@SparkySenpai) December 7, 2022







The competition series has run for 22 seasons since its 2011 premiere and has never shied from featuring a diverse selection of contestants, with past winners including Javier Colon, Jermaine Paul, and Cam Anthony; however, historically, a majority of the advancing contestants are predominantly white.


The show has also cycled through a variety of coaches, but seems to favor optics over anything else, avoiding overlap. When it comes to Black coaches, Cee Lo Green held the role in Seasons 1-3 and 5, and was replaced by Usher in Seasons 4 and 6. Upon Usher’s departure in Season 7, Alicia Keys was brought in for Seasons 11-12 and 14, replaced by Jennifer Hudson for Seasons 13 and 15, and the pattern continues.


Comparatively, Blake Shelton and Adam Levine have coached, side by side, along with Kelly Clarkson and Gwen Stefani (also with Shelton).

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