G4 hottie Alison Haislip is taking to the internet for NBC’s new hit, The Voice. Haislip has been tasked with being the online correspondent for the show. PCM chatted with the Tweeter about the show, the online experience, and of course G4.

So what was it about The Voice that made you want to be a part of the show?

 

Well let me tell you when I sat down with the producers and found out exactly what the show was about because all I knew is that it was a singing competition that was created in Holland. And I had gone to the Holland website and tried to figure out what on earth was happening. But all they speak is Dutch.

 

So I really came at it without having a…And so when they sat me down and explained what the show was about I was just thrilled. Because I actually come from really strong music background, my whole family is musicians. Like when we get together for Christmas, we’re like the Partridge Family.

 

So this was something that personally I was very passionate about. And then when they explained what my role would be with the whole social media aspect with Facebook and Twitter and all that I was like so really what you want me to do is what I do in my free time anyway?

 

And they were like yes, pretty much. And I was like I’m sold, I’m in. That sounds great.

And using all the different social media that you’re going to be using, this is sort of – I mean it exists on other shows but it’s the first time it’s really been such an active part of it.

 

What you are most looking forward to in the sense of, you know, communicating with the world at large while the show is actually happening?

 

What I’m most excited about is letting the people know that what they’re seeing is actually reality. That this is isn’t one of those reality shows where it’s being overly produced or edited in a way to, you know, to make a story line better or anything like that.

 

I have been told specifically that I am allowed to talk about anything that happens backstage, that happens in interviews. Because mostly Mark wants people to realize that they’re getting the legit stories here.

 

And I think that’s pretty incredible because I was entirely expecting to show up to set and having people be like, okay so this is how it really works. But we’re not going to let that out in public.

We don’t want them to know that, you know. And it’s not like that at all. Like especially with the blind auditions, like those coaches have never seen or heard those people before in their lives. And that’s why the show works so well.

Is that this is legit. You as the audience member has more information than the superstar coaches do and that’s what makes it more exciting to watch.

 

So you can explain what all exactly your role does entail? I mean I know you’re going to be posting on social media. But obviously you’re doing stuff like with the show too so.

 

Right. Well what, in general, what I am trying to do is be the bridge between the audience and the show, to make the show more accessible than simply just sitting down and watching it in front of your TV.

I hope we’re allowing people to see behind the scenes to really get to know what’s going on with these artists, with the coaches, with the people who work on the show, like the band and the wardrobe stylists, and people like that.

So people will get a really full picture of what this show is about. And hopefully, I’ll be getting that out there through Twitter, through my blogs and specifically the fact that I am using my own Twitter account.

I hope that means people realize they are legitimately getting my point of view. They’re not getting something that like NBC told me to put out there.

 

Yes, okay. So are you going to get to watch the show live there? Or are you going to like interview the contestants too?

 

 

Yes well I will be watching the show live and live tweeting during the show. Now we’ve already taped a few episodes so I obviously already know what happens. But I will be watching the show and expressing it live out there.

But when we go live in June, I will actually be apart of the live show as well, giving all the behind-the-scenes. Once the artist sings, they will instantly be coming off stage and coming to talk to me. And giving people more well rounded view of these artists so they can really get to know who these people are.

They’re not just these people who sing on their screen for 90 seconds and then we get a 30 second back story about them. Like we’re going to figure out who these people are and get that out there to America.

 

Curious to know what do you think will be one of your biggest challenges working on the show?

 

Well this is the first time that any show has really incorporated social media the way that The Voice is doing it trying to make it very interactive and very open to our audience. So it really is kind of going to be, we’re going to be figuring it out as we go along.

We already have been. This has been a really interesting experiment at least. So for example tonight, when the show premiers, I’m going to be live tweeting during the show. And we’re just going to see how the audience reacts to that.

I mean hopefully people will enjoy getting so much inside information. There’s always the chance that we’re putting out to much information and people feel overwhelmed by it. But this is all just it’s just a really cool experiment to see how we can incorporate social media into television.

 

Because social media’s become such a huge part of our lives these days that it seems, it seems silly to not sort of incorporate it into our other media outlets.

 

So speaking of the work with G4, you know, how difficult is it for you to switch off between, you know, The Voice and your work with G4?

 

Well, you know, thankfully G4 is a Comcast owned company and so NBC and G4 are now sister networks. So they were able to arrange their own scheduling with me. I believe when my press release went out I was considered the first piece of synergy between Comcast and NBC which I never knew I was going to grow up to be a buzz word but that was pretty cool.

So the networks have really been working it out together. And for me, personally, I am like a huge gamer geek and nerd and all that but I also had a really strong passion for music my whole life. I’ve grown up in music.

So for me personally, the switch wasn’t that difficult because I was going from one subject matter that I cared about to another subject matter that I cared about. And was able to take, you know, all of my knowledge from G4 with me to The Voice and the whole social media aspect of it.

During the premier there’s like these nice strips across the screen that show tweets from Carson and some of the fellow coaches between each other and then some to the contestants and some to people who fail to even make the grade. How much of a role you will be playing in that?

 

Well I will actually be live tweeting throughout the show. So people who are watching the show in real time will be able to check in with my Twitter feed and see my reactions about what actually happened backstage or what people thought when the cameras were turned off and things like that.

As the show goes on, my tweets will then be incorporated into the show the same way. Because my aspect of the show is live; we start that tonight.

The one thing, all the blind auditions will be already done by the time – So there’s just a couple weeks of the blind auditions. And once that’s done, how does this show differ from all the other musical competition shows? So for someone like me that doesn’t usually watch these, how would this be interesting once you’re done with all that blind portion of it?

 

Well one of the things that I find really exciting about this show is that the format changes from week-to-week. It’s not like other competition shows where you basically just see the people perform in generally the same way every week.

So once these blind auditions are done, the show goes into what they’re calling battle rounds. And first off that sounds terribly exciting.

But anyway what happens there is in the blind auditions, the coaches have selected teams of eight. In the battle round, each coach pairs up their team into four duets. And then those duets have to sing, they perform. And after they do their performance, the coach then immediately has to decide which one of those two people get kicked off their team.

So the coaches go from creating these teams of eight to instantly having to eliminate four of their own teammates. And because the coaches have a goal in this competition, because what they’re trying to do is select the person who becomes the next Voice, they’re invested in these people and they care about these people.

And you get to see them make some really incredibly tough decisions. It’s not like other shows where it’s just like, oh, well America voted and they didn’t like you. They can put the blame on someone else. No these coaches have to make these decisions for themselves and be the bad guy.

And it’s really interesting like what comes out of that.

 

Will you also be doing another round of Ninja Warrior?

 

That is actually in discussions right now. Because of, you know, because of everything that’s happened in Japan recently, the Japanese side of Ninja Warrior, the Sasuke side, decided to push up production to get the season out sooner to let people know that it’s okay to go to Japan which I think is brilliant on their own end.

But because of that scheduling like I said, it’s all up in the air. I am definitely hoping to be a part of it to be quite honest. It might conflict with The Voice, I’m not sure yet. But I actually just heard some relatively good news this past week that it may not.

So we are still working on that and I’m really keeping my fingers crossed that I will be part of that. Because that show has really become a part of my heart and I love those guys that we bring on, our ninjas. I feel like they’re my family now so. I really hope to be a part of it again.

 

As part of that scare of the other network ganging up on you tonight specifically Glee is going 90 minutes, you know, Apia from American Idol, you know, Apia from American Idol is guesting on Dancing with the Stars. They’ve never done that before. It all feels like a response, you know, to your premier and even, you know, Simon Cowell announcing Paula might be a judge on X Factor. How are you feeling about that, the reaction from other networks on your show?

 

Well I mean I think it’s awesome because if they’re reacting this strongly to our premier it means they’re scared of us. It means that they see value in this show which is, you know, a fantastic compliment although I definitely had to tell my parents that they are required to TiVo Glee and watch my show live.

They’re not authorized to watch Glee in real time.

 

Now what have you noticed about how you need to approach the social aspect of The Voice as compared to I don’t know, say other talent competitions?

 

Well I think what I find very interesting is that people are hungry for information. People want to know everything they possible can about whatever show it is that they’re a fan of.

So what I’ve been trying to do is get out as much information as possible about the show but in moderated doses. Because as someone who has been on a, you know, I’ve been a part of social media since basically social media began. I understand that people who are on these sites don’t like any spam.

And I don’t want to do that to people. I want to make sure that people are getting the information that they want but in the time that they want. So and actually that right there is one of the reasons that NBC hired me is because I understand that end.

And so it’s been a pretty fantastic couple of weeks knowing that NBC trusts me to do this job that they hired me for.

 

Can you talk a little of what you’ve seen from Christina, Adam, and the other coaches that allow the talent to shine?

 

Oh okay. Well what I think is pretty incredible is that these coaches get invested in their artists and they really care about them. And they truly coach and mentor them. I mean I’ve sat in on a couple of their rehearsals and, you know, they get up there with their artist and they go that was awesome.

But what if you tried it this way and then they’ll sing a couple of lines for them. And let me tell me, when you hear Christina just bust out in like two lines of a song with no band, no anything, it’s unbelievable.

Like you realize why she is the talent that she is. And they’re not just sitting back and letting these people go and kind of giving them a few notes. They are invested. They’re in there, they’re working with them.

 

I mean Christina at one point basically became a couple’s therapist which was a moment when I was because we were all expecting her to be like, producers, this is not my job; you need to step in here. But she didn’t.

She took over the stage. You know, she owned it and she talked these two people through their issues which I was like wow that is not in her job description. But she cares so much that she got into it.

 

What’s been like your favorite moment working on the show?

 

I will say that there is a moment in the battle rounds where Cee Lo has to make one of the toughest decisions we’ve seen on this show. And it’s at that moment when you realize how invested these coaches are in these artists.

And while I can’t say anything more than that, it’s really a very beautiful moment to witness on TV. And that’s one of the moments that I’m really excited for America to see.

 

Do you know how they came up with the idea of like having their backs to the performers so it’s like they can only hear them sing?

 

Well The Voice was originally a show from Holland called The Voice of Holland. And we can credit Holland for coming up with that idea. I don’t know exactly who was the genius behind that.

But The Voice of Holland was such a successful show out there that that’s why Mark Burnett and NBC wanted to bring it out here. You know, because they saw something incredibly legit and something that was thankfully fresh in the world of reality competition shows.

So really you can thank the Dutch for that idea.

 

What’s something that your fans would be surprised to know about you?

 

Oh I get asked that question a lot and now I feel like I’m out of answers. That they would be surprised to know about me, well, you know, to kind of relate it back to The Voice, I have a gorgeous red piano in my apartment that I play a lot. And I don’t think my G4 fans realize how much music is a part of my life because it’s never been something that’s been brought up on G4.

So I think it’s important for people to realize that like I am on The Voice because I care about the subject matter and I love my little red piano.