I wanted to like The Choice in a charmingly absurd kind of way. The premise of the show revolves around celebrities choosing dates based only on the sound of a suitor’s voice. The title is clearly a derivation of NBC’s singing competition show The Voice and this show seems to be trying to gain popularity based on viewers being familiar with the NBC show.  That was really the main reason I was interested in watching it. I knew it wasn’t going to be “quality” television, but I still thought it was going to be enjoyable. I was mostly wrong.

The show opened with introducing the celebrities. They included recording artist, Romeo, Olympic athlete Jeremy Bloom, Jersey Shore cast member  DJ Pauly D, and General Hospital star Jason Cook. None of these celebrities really interested me. Most of them are not really that famous. Of course, much like Dancing With The Stars, hiring low caliber “stars” is a common problem. I understand that most of the bigger “stars” already have their relationships constantly in the media or do not need the publicity, but the selection of celebrities was still a weak point for the show.

The Choice was not interesting. Much like The Voice, the celebrities sat in chairs with their backs turned away from the contestants. You would think that would add excitement, but there was no suspense at all. The contestant only had 30 seconds to talk about herself before her time was up and I started not to care who the contestants would pick when the chairs turned around. The women all had very generic things to say about themselves, which ended up just being annoying. The most common description was some variation of having “both brains and beauty.” You can hardly elaborate on who you are in 30 seconds, so it’s understandable. However, it doesn’t make for good television.

It quickly got very repetitive.. There was only one instance of no celebrity turning his chair around, which took the suspense out of the show completely. There is no thought involved in turning the chair around. It is a chance for a date, the women are all reasonably attractive. The men had nothing to lose. Of course, the celebrities were completely boring. It didn’t really matter who the women picked.

Next, the men were given 15 seconds to talk to each of the three women they chose and then send one of them home. Again, there is very little you can learn in that short amount of time. It seemed to be completely arbitrary who the men decided they connected with. Also, it was very irritating when DJ Pauly D, asked on more than one occasion the women their favorite DJ.

The last segment of the night had the remaining women ask very generic questions before the celebrities made their choice. I did not care who was chosen. I was not intrigued by any of these so-called “stars.” The show is basically an inadequate attempt to meekly emulate a previously successful gimmick. I knew this show wouldn’t be great, but even stupid shows can be entertaining. The Choice did not entertain me at all. The Choice is going to be another FOX reality show flop.