Posted by Katherine St Asaph on 08/15/2011 at 5:11 PM News

The Popdust Files: adam levine, american idol, the voice

Loyal The Voice watchers, or at least readers of our recaps, might remember Adam Levine’s numerous jibes at American Idol. Turns out it wasn’t just network sniping. In an interview with gay men’s magazine Out, he said of the show:

“What’s always pissed me off about Idol is wanting to mask that, for that to go unspoken. C’mon. You can’t be publicly gay? At this point? On a singing competition? Give me a break. You can’t hide basic components of these people’s lives. The fact that The Voice didn’t have any qualms about being completely open about it is a great thing.”

The quote wasn’t a non-sequitur at all; Levine also discussed his participation in It Gets Better (at Perez Hilton’s behest, which, y’know) and comparable moments on Glee, as well as his younger brother, who is gay. But The Voice was with good reason; finalists Beverly McClellan and Vicci Martinez were both openly gay, to varying degrees of non-drama from the show. McClellan and Martinez came in third and fourth, of course, rather than first and second, and The Voice had its share of slightly gay-baiting comments (most blatantly by Blake Shelton, although no coach was totally immune) but it’s hard to deny that the show took a much less regressive approach than Idol. Combine this with “Moves Like Jagger,” one of the few truly dance-heavy videos for guys we’ve seen lately, and we suddenly respect Adam Levine a lot more. Awesome! Now about Maroon 5….

[MJsBigBlog