Adam Levine's protege thinks Xtina's diss is part of her strategy to make him seem crass and disrespectful, but another contestant Juliet Simms says the 'Fighter' hitmaker is entitled to her opinion.
- May 9, 2012
AceShowbiz - Just hours to go before "The Voice" season 2 winner is unveiled, things are heating up off screen. Tony Lucca, who had got negative comment from Christina Aguilera a few weeks ago, did not take it lightly when the only female coach blasted his decision to sing Jay-Z's "99 Problems" on Monday, May 7.
Speaking after the final performance show, the finalist from team Adam Levine claimed the diss is part of her strategy to bring him down. "I'm not going to let one person bring me down," he told People. "Clearly that seems like part of her strategy."
To The Hollywood Reporter, the father of two said that Xtina was "trying to set the stage so that I seem crass and unprofessional and disrespectful." He went on expressing his thought, "How convenient that she waits the whole season to talk about all things classy. It's just so transparent at this point and pathetic."
The 36-year-old former Mousketeer further speculated that her criticism has something to do with her rivalry with his coach, Adam. "It seems like a her-and-Adam thing," he gushed. "It's too bad because out of the four of them I think she may be the most knowledgeable about singing and the business. But she gets in her own way. Its a lack of self awareness or something."
Tony went on revealing that he has been using the negative feedbacks from the "Burlesque" star as motivation and inspiration each week. Still, he added, "As I said before, it's kind of a bummer that it was this dark cloud that was pervasive the whole season, edging out other really great stories that were going on here."
On Monday night, Xtina said, "I thought it was a little derogatory toward women," when commenting on Tony's cover of Jay-Z's song, though he had changed the lyric so it didn't include the "b***h" word. Defending the song choice, coach Adam explained, "We're not referring to women, we're referring to everything... It's called a metaphor."
Asked to comment on the feud, Juliet Simms of team Cee-Lo Green said, "I have nothing but good things to say about Christina. She is entitled to her opinion." Meanwhile, Xtina's protege Chris Mann defended his mentor as stating, "I felt defensive as a guy with the only female coach. But I thought Christina handled it well and it was funny that Adam had a 'Team Xtina' shirt on."
Tony and the three other finalists, Juliet, Chris, and Jermaine Paul, are awaiting the result of their last performance on the two-hour finale, which starts at 9 P.M. ET on NBC.
