The Voice Effs Over Kristen Merlin... Again (Sabotage?)

I first noticed Kristen Merlin during the "blind" auditions of the Voice. I don't even follow country music (or the Voice) but I thought she nailed it. I put "blind" in quotes because my skeptical nature does not allow me to entertain that Blake Shelton was oblivious to Kristen's appearance when he chose not to swivel his chair.

Kristen already had an uphill battle in this competition, the winner of which is ultimately determined by viewer votes. No matter how talented she is, I can't see a butch lesbian winning a popularity contest in America. Well, The Voice producers seem committed to giving gravity an assist by greasing the hill and dropping anvils on our girl.

After the blind auditions, contestants are further weeded out in not one, but two, Battle Rounds, and not once, but twice, Kristen's battles were not featured on television along with her other competitors. Instead, "blink and you won't hear them" recaps established that Kristen had made it to the Playoffs round, in which the coaches made their final team cuts before the live show featuring the 12 finalists. No other finalist's Battle Rounds were recapped twice (or at all, save one other finalist, Christina Grimmie). In a show, where fan following and viewer votes determine the winner, I can't imagine that the show's producers don't realize the deficit this wreaks on a competitor. Now, to dig that hole twice as deep for the same (and only) person is either inexcusably careless or effing calculated. So fine, life, and apparently The Voice, isn't fair.

However, tonight, I witnessed an event that I don't believe has ever happened to a finalist on any (including the live airings) of the now absurd number of singing competitions on television. Tonight, in the first live show of the competition, Kristen Merlin's microphone went dead in the middle of her performance, rendering the climax of her song inaudible to anyone. 

Here's video - her performance was stunning despite her being silenced for the 21 seconds (1:24 to 1:45) immediately preceding the last word of the song.


For those who would argue that those last 20 seconds or so are neglible, I draw your attention to the final seconds of these performances:
1) 2:48 t0 3:12 in this clip of Whitney Houston's performance of the National Anthem at the 1991 Super Bowl:


2) 1:40 to 2:02 of Paul Potts' star-making performance on Britain's Got Talent:


3) Would it not diminish her Grammy-winning performance if 20 seconds were botched off of any part of Jennifer Hudson's climax here in Dreamgirls?


The judges attempted to smooth over the debacle with trite remarks, such as commenting that Kristen handled the situation so gracefully that it seemed like nothing had happened. However, shit did happen! This "mishap" eviscerates the purported integrity of this sham of a competition! Now, The Voice is proceeding along through the rest of the live show like nothing went awry, as if they didn't just majorly screw over a finalist in a voting-based round determining eliminations.

A solitary mic-failing incident would be bad enough, but a series of unfortunate "coincidences" reeks to me and you know that saying (that I just improvised) - if it looks and smells like horse shit, then you don't need to effing eat it to know what The Voice is serving, with an anvil on top.

@NBCTheVoice Wow, it's effing shady how you screwed over @KristenMerlin AGAIN! http://t.co/GZsqduej1o #VoiceTop12 #shady #Homophobia
— What The Eff? (@effwalkingdead) April 22, 2014

SUPPORTING FACTS?
http://jezebel.com/producers-may-be-manipulating-who-wins-on-the-voice-1548169134