NBC’s hotly anticipated and heavily promoted talent show ‘The Voice’ premiered in the US last night and ratings were on fire! The show attracted over 11.4 million viewers during the first hour and increased in its second hour to a very impressive 12.2 million viewers. These numbers also beat out popular TV show ‘Glee’ by over 2.8 million viewers. The Carson Daly hosted show consists of judges Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Cee-Lo Green, and Blake Shelton going through a “blind auditions” process so that vocals are the only quality that gets judged. All coaches battle it out for the singers to join their teams hoping that they can find the next big recording artist. The winner will then snag a recording contract with Universal Republic.

‘The Voice’ was a very enjoyable affair last night. What makes it so much more refreshing from conglomerate talent shows such as ‘American Idol’ and ‘The X Factor’ is that there are less gimmicks. They do not exploit unfortunate singers for entertainment value. This alone gives the show that nice balance of authenticity. It’s also fascinating watching the coaches compete against each other, and selling themselves to the contending singers. Juding by the previews, I assumed it was Aguilera and Green who were the competitors. However, last night’s episode saw Levine and Aguilera playing cat and mouse antics whenever they’d reach out to the same singers. Levine came across as ruthlessly cunning with his dirty selling tactics to an extent where contestants felt backed into his corner even before making their decisions.

Christina’s approach was fun, bubbly and sexy. Her flirtatious nature with some of the male singers made for entertaining viewing and her laugh is very contagious. I liked that she went after the soulful powerhouse singers that she felt were in her comfort zone. All the judges had the same motive, selecting acts that they could relate to in terms of their OWN singing techniques and genres. For example, all the powerhouse soul singers are assigned to Aguilera, and all the country singers are assigned to Shelton.

Biggest laugh of the show? Tarryln Ramsey‘s eye watering lace front and Aggy telling a country male contestant to drop his pants. Biggest shock? Seeing disqualified American Idol contestant Frenchie Davis auditioning and making it through to Team Aguilera. Now that’s random! The fact is, ‘The Voice’ isn’t just your typical talent show. It is based on pure vocal talent and judged by a panel who ALL have vocal talent themselves. Neither coach is allowed to have their judgement clouded by good looks, sexy costumes and whatever gimmicky tactics you’d see on American Idol.

If you’re looking for a talent show with a great concept and a completely different twist, tune into ‘The Voice’ every Tuesday night. Make it your top priority entertainment. I simply cannot wait to tune in next week. Congrats to Aguilera on achieving a ratings winner, which is indeed “What A Girl Wants”. After her latest struggles, this is definetely the push Aguilera is in need of to positively catapult her career again.

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