Billboard (Dec. 12th 2012)

Finally Finding Its Voice

The Voice' claims its first hit single, renewing interest in song's original version

For the first time in its three seasons, "The Voice" has generated a hit single and breathed new life into a song that never quite got off the ground at radio. Cassadee Pope's version of "Over You" debuted at No. 25 on the Dec. 8 Billboard Hot 100 and has sold 191,000 copies in two weeks, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The original version of the Country Music Assn song of the year, written by Miranda Lambert and Blake Shel ton and recorded by Lambert peaked at No. 35 on the Hot 100 Pope's version also bowed at No 3 on Hot Country Songs, where it's No. 29 this week. 

Pope's take sparked interest in the original as Lambert's re-entered the Digital Songs chart at No. 47. It has sold 53,000 downloads since the "Voice" performance. 

"If you're a country fan, it's a well-known song, but it wasn't a crossover hit," says Shelton, the "Voice" coach who's working with Pope this season. "If you don't listen to country music, you didn't know that song, yet it's the biggest-selling song we've ever had on 'The Voice.' It was pop fans and rock fans and music fans who bought that."

After three seasons of connecting with TV audiences but failing to make a measurable impact with music fans, "The Voice" has begun to come around on Billboard's charts as its final episode approaches. Unlike "American Idol," "The Voice" makes its sales public and, in turn, serves as a barometer for who'll be headed home. A presence among national hitmakers on the charts during the show's run could well be the first step toward "The Voice" creating a star.

While "Over You" was enjoying a second life, a far lesser known song by Grace Potter, "Stars," had a resurgence thanks to a Nov. 19 performance from contestant Amanda Brown.

Prior to Brown's rendition, "Stars" was performed on TV only once: Potter and her band the Nocturnals played it on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" on Sept. 5. Adam Levine, who coaches Brown, was a guest that night.

At the time, Potter's version was being serviced to adult top 40 radio stations - the impact date was Aug. 28 - and has since been shipped to triple A. Sales of Potter's take were negligible: 3,700 downloads were sold the week prior to Brown's performance; at its peak it reached 5,000, according to SoundScan. After the "Voice" performance, Brown's version sold 47,000 copies (No. 97 on the Hot 100) and Potter's 42,000 (No. 95). In the week ended Dec. 2, Potter's sold 11,000 to Brown's 7,000.

"It was a great song that I wanted everyone to hear," Levine says.

Brown, who notes she's a fan of Potter, says she was sold on the song after hearing the first 90 seconds of it. "If it were up to me, I'd perform all obscure songs on this show," she says. "But obviously, you want to mix it up."

Shelton adds, "[NBC] tells me it's important to have a known song, but I don't think it is."

A week after "Only You" crashed the Hot 100, Melanie Martinez's version of Alex Clare's "Too Close" and Pope's take on Michelle Branch's "Are You Happy Now?" land on this week's chart. Those two songs plus Nicholas David's version of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" and Brown's spin on Adele's "Someone Like You" made it onto the Digital Songs chart, led by "Too Close" with 45,000 downloads and "Are You Happy Now?" with 43,000.

Sales on iTunes are playing a key role in determining the winner on this season of "The Voice," delivering bonus points to singers whose songs are in iTunes' top 10 at the end of voting sessions. Universal Music's Republic label releases all tracks from "The Voice."

"It's definitely resonating and having a tremendous residual effect," Republic president/CEO Monte Lipman says. "It's not just a 24-hour phenomenon."

In the show's first two seasons, few songs lingered on any of iTunes' genre charts beyond a day or two as sales would vanish as soon as new releases hit the site on Tuesdays. Lack of staying power on any sales chart has been pointed to as a reason the show hasn't produced a star. Republic is trying to change that with new singles from season-two winner Jermaine Paul, finalist Chris Mann and season-one thirdplace finisher Vicci Martinez.

Lipman adds: "Some success is starting to develop."