Without Ricky Braddy, Scotty McCreery or Ethan Clark in the mix, I haven’t really been able to stoke my interest in this year’s season of American Idol. I have tried to watch a couple of episodes, but there is a new group aspect that has been thrown in to make the whole thing a little more complicated, and I haven’t acquired a taste for that change.

But there is some terrific talent.

Right now, though, my apparently fickle affection has turned toward The Voice, one of American Idol’s competitors.

While each of the shows has something to recommend, The Voice has Blake Shelton, a wonderful country singer and one of my personal favorites.

The flamboyant mega-talent Cee-Lo Green — of Gnarls Barkley fame and now a brilliant solo performer — also is a judge, along with Christina Aguilera and Adam Levine.

My interest in the show was still tepid, however, until this week, when Anthony Evans’ audition landed him a spot in the competition.

Although Evans is not an acquaintance, he seems almost like an old friend because he is the son of Tony Evans, a preacher, conference speaker, author and social activist based in the Dallas, Texas, area who has a large following across the country through his books and his radio show.

The elder Evans is a boundary buster in many ways, a black preacher who is hugely popular among both whites and blacks, a “conservative” social activist who shares many of the same goals as “liberal” community organizers. Evans’ Urban Alternatibe nonprofit is

Evans’ son, Anthony, also is a boundary crosser of sorts. In an interview that aired on The Voice earlier this week, he commented that he always has had one foot in Gospel and the other in contemporary Christian music. While the two genres share an obvious faith element, traditional Gospel music is associated with black audiences and so-called contemporary Christian is more popular among white listeners.

That these lines are broken rather than solid, however, is evidenced in Anthony’s words and in his work.

He won over the judges with a fine rendition of the Marvin Gaye classic “What’s Goin’ On.” The judges acknowledged that he took a risk by performing a classic, and one associated so closely with an awesome singer, but they gave him credit for singing the song both with solid musicianship and with the necessary panache to make that kind of song work.

Although he chose a Motown classic for his audition, he said in the interview that he intends to stay in the Gospel-Christian music field. That may prove a challenge for him on the show, but it’s not insurmountable. His father teaches that challenges are for taking and difficult tasks are for doing, so this situation offers him an opportunity to practice what his father preaches and what he sings about.

The Voice is loaded with remarkable singers this year, so it’s way too early to say that anyone is a favorite.

I’ve got to admit, though, that if Anthony Evans wins it all, I won’t be the least bit disappointed.