NBC’s ‘The Voice’ sets season 5 finale dates (mark this down, Blake Shelton fans)

Next week marks the beginning of the live rounds on “The Voice,” so with that in mind, it also feels appropriate to ask the question as to when the show will actually be done for season 5. Here’s your answer: December 16 and 17.

NBC announced on Tuesday that the show will air two-hour editions of the show on both days, which means that most of the competition better hope to be in repeats. Does this mean that we are in for some long-winded and extremely drawn out entertainment? Without a doubt, but this is what happens when you are sitting on the top of the totem pole in the ratings: You dictate the times, and everyone else just has to deal with it.

So why do we include Blake Shelton in the title? Mostly because we are feeling snarky, and since he has won almost every season of the show there doesn’t seem to be any reason for that to suddenly change now. Many of the best singers flock to him at this point knowing that he has the reputation of a winner and a big fan base. Even if he doesn’t win, our head might explode if the finale rolls around and his team is not adequately represented in some way.

We are writing this in the middle of watching “The X Factor” so we can definitely say this right now: “The Voice” has a better lineup to look forward to in the live shows, and also people more seasoned in the industry. If you want entertainment, NBC is where to go for that; “X Factor” is at this point more of a farm system for talent that could be great in a year or two with the right promotion and grooming.

While it’s a little early we personally feel like James Wolpert is the favorite to win “The Voice”, but he still has to make it through the Knockout Rounds before we even know that for sure. We’ll have our full review of it tonight at this link after it airs, since this is also where we have our review of the first go-around.

Photo: NBC