14 DAY TRIAL // Many said that the latest singing competition, The Voice, was destined to fail – but they were wrong. With Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton on board, the show premiered to massive ratings on NBC.
The show, which differs from American Idol in that contestants are picked solely based on their vocal abilities, kicked off to a great start, even boosting the net season average at the network by no less than 89%, The Hollywood Reporter notes.
With it, NBC even managed to leave direct competitor ABC in the dust: The Voice beat Dancing With the Stars, even if the latter included a performance by highly mediated American Idol castoff Pia Toscano.
“The Mark Burnett-produced singing competition improved NBC’s season average in the time period by 89 percent. With a 5.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 11.8 million viewers overall, it is the top-rated series premiere on a major network since CBS’ Undercover Boss debut following the 2010 Super Bowl,” THR says.
In other words, The Voice did wonderfully. Even better, critics and the media too enjoyed the first show, praising the judges (and Aguilera, in particular) for their comments on the contestants’ performances, and even for their chemistry and the wonderful relationship they seem to share.
“The Voice – which features Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton – was the No. 1 show of the night out-rating ABC’s Dancing with the Stars and a new 90-minute Lady Gaga episode of Glee,” THR says.
“In head-to-head competition, The Voice bested Glee 4.6 vs. 3.4 (from 9-9:30) and Dancing With the Stars 4.9 vs. 3.5 (from 9-10 p.m.),” the report further reads.
“The Voice boosted NBC to a rare ratings win for the night. The network averaged a 4.3 in the demo with 10.3 million viewers overall, followed by Fox (3.0, 7.5 million), ABC (2.7, 14.3 million) and CBS (1.9, 9.7 million), which aired reruns,” says the e-zine.
PopEater believes that an explanation for Pia’s performance on DWTS, while rumored boyfriend Mark Ballas danced, is to be found here: ABC tried to steal NBC’s thunder for the premiere of The Voice.
As it happens, it failed. Check out a 15-minute clip of The Voice, to see what it’s all about, if you happen to have missed the premiere.