"The Voice" Challenges "Idol" By Being ... Better?

"The Voice," NBC's answer to "American Idol," premiered Tuesday night (and aired again last night) and while some may have wondered why in the world the TV gods think we need another singing competition reality show, we must admit, "The Voice" is refreshing and wholly entertaining. Unlike "Idol," "The Voice" weeds out the not-so-talented beforehand and only brings us top-notch singers, so we're not left feeling like weeks of our lives were wasted laughing at delusional hopefuls with minimal-to-no talent.

"The unique thing about “The Voice” is that they are not looking for an “idol”- someone who is already a “star,”" explains Lisa Damiani, New York-based vocal coach and CEO of Star Rock for Kids. "They are looking to discover, nurture and develop talent and help pave the way for them to become a star. It is a breath of fresh air to see this."

With Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo, Blake Shelton and Adam Levine acting as coaches as opposed to judges, we quickly realized that the contestants are being pushed closer to success by being given a mentor. Aguilera, Shelton, Levine and Cee Lo duked it out in the first episode because as coaches they're competing against each other to put together a winning team of eight stellar vocalists.

However, there's a catch! Tuesday night was the first half of the blind auditions. Aguilera, Shelton, Levine and Cee Lo are expected to pick who they want to coach based solely on the singer's voice. Each coach keeps their back to the singer until a) they push the big red button indicating they want to work with the vocalist or b) the vocalist has finished their song. If we're keeping an "Idol" vs. "The Voice" scorecard we'd have to give a point to "The Voice" for originality. The blind auditions give "The Voice" the perfect twist to separate it from "Idol," "X Factor" and "America's Got Talent."