Platinum Hit

The whole enterprise is less goosed and glitzy than NBC's successful show, "The Voice." But it's easier to concentrate that way, on the experts who know what they want and talk to the contestants with a brutal honesty that's still softer than the real world.

If nothing here screams New Dylan or Next Gaga, or bids in any way to rival the best of "Runway" or "Chef," the craft-under-pressure and problem-solving elements work as before. It's amazing what people can do in a day.

Jewel is a bit of a host-and-judge-bot, delivering her lines with a steely stiffness, but DioGuardi is usually worth listening to....Platinum Hit has a few flaws. The casting is far too predictable. All the songwriters are pretty and, with one or two notable exceptions, pushy.

Despite all its shortcomings, Platinum Hit succeeds in holding your interest. First off, save for Jewel, the personalities here are quirky enough that you can't predict how they're going to interact with one another. Second, and more importantly, you find yourself wanting to hear what kind of songs they're going to write, however arbitrary the constraints that have been laid out.

The musicians are the usual callow reality-show egomaniacs, as contrasted with the more demure self-regard of judge Kara DioGuardi. Host Jewel, unaccountably more helium voiced than ever, is blissfully genial. [3/10 Jun 2011, p.104]

There may or may not be a better way to do this show. Unfortunately, this one just isn't all that exciting.

Alas, [the guest judges are] the only fresh ingredient in the series, from the format to the cast, with a dozen participants--all in their 20s and 30s--who arrive spouting the usual "I'm here to win" platinum-plated platitudes.

It's not a fascinating process. As host and co-judge, Jewel is so glamorously reserved, she's faintly sinister. [6 Jun 2011, p.46]