Gay singers get a chance on 'Voice'

NEW YORK — NBC's hit show “The Voice” is giving a voice to gay singers.

The singing competition wraps its first season today with four contestants battling for the championship. Two of those finalists are gay.

Other TV talent shows such as “American Idol” and “America's Got Talent” have featured gay performers but not in an open way. For example, Adam Lambert, who won second place on “American Idol” in 2009, didn't address his sexuality until after the competition ended. He's had success as an openly gay performer, earning a Grammy nomination, a gold-selling CD and a pair of Top 40 hits. But the presence of gay singers on “The Voice” is fresh for prime-time TV, and the singers are making a splash at a time when New York state has legalized gay marriage.

“It couldn't have come at a better time, could it?” said Beverly McClellan, a 41-year-old gravelly voiced singer from Virginia and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., whose partner has appeared backstage on the show with her. McClellan is working with Christina Aguilera on “The Voice.” Vicci Martinez, a 26-year-old energetic singer from Tacoma, Wash., is also gay and has Cee Lo Green as her mentor.

“Everybody is just evaluated based on their talent and their voice, and that has no boundaries and no boxes to put anybody in,” said Audrey Morrissey, one of the show's executive producers.

Aguilera, Green, Blake Shelton and Adam Levine serve as coaches on the show. The four chose teams of eight after an audition process that allowed them only to hear the singer's voice but not to see them. Teams were whittled down to one contestant for each coach in the finals. The winning singer gets a record contract with Universal Republic Records and a $100,000 prize.