THE VOICE: MUSICAL PERFORMANCES PREMIER

The Voice, to hear host Carson Daly tell it, premiered Tuesday on NBC as "a singing competition unlike any other, because it puts vocal ability first."

Sort of.

Before we even get to the musical performances on the series the network hopes will coax you away from American Idol, here's how it works ...

1. Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Blake Shelton and Adam Levine must each draft eight singers to form a team in the "blind auditions."


2. The singers come out to wow the coaches, whose backs are turned, with their voices alone. If one of the coaches likes The Voice, then ...


3. He/she presses a magic button that turns his chair around; if he's the only judge to turn, that vocalist is automatically on his/her team.


4. If more than one coach presses his button, the vocalist who's being fought over gets to choose which coach he/she wants to work with.


5. Once each coach has chosen eight singers, he or she personally trains the members of that team to make them better vocalists.


6. Then comes Round Two, in which each coach is responsible for cutting half the members of his or her team. Gonna be rough.


7. In its last round, The Voice will start to look a lot more familiar. The 16 remaining singers will perform live. Viewers will vote.


8. The victor receives $100,000 and a record deal. Yay!

Alright, let's get down to business!

The first hopeful to enter the Voice Box (yup, the call it that) was Tarralyn Ramsey, whose rendition of Faith Hill's "Breathe" moved Xtina and Cee Lo:

 

Tarralyn Ramsey - Breathe (On The Voice)

Christina ended up with Tarralyn, while Patrick Thomas became the first member of Blake Shelton's team by channeling his inner Tim McGraw:

 

Patrick Thomas - Live Like You Were Dying (The Voice)

Vicci Martinez's passionate performance of "Rolling in the Deep" piqued the interest of both Cee Lo and Christina, but she went with Cee Lo.

 

Vicci Martinez - Rolling in the Deep (The Voice)

This one was odd. Anyone remember Frenchie Davis from American Idol? She was kicked off because of a nude pic scandal. Now she's back:

 

Frenchie Davis - I Kissed A Girl (The Voice)

Now Christina's project now, while Kelsey Rey, a brunette cutie who whines about being so darn cute (boo hoo) landed on Cee Lo's team:

 

Kelsey Rey - American Boy (The Voice)

Then came Jeff Jenkins, who got ALL "four of the biggest artists on the planet Earth" (Carson loves to say this) to turn around for the first time:

 

Jeff Jenkins - Bless The Broken Road (The Voice)

Jeff chose Adam after heated competition. Also piquing interest from all four, and joining Adam, was Javier Colon with this "Time After Time" cover ...

 

Javier Colon - Time After Time (The Voice)

Tje Austin's audition was one of the only times where the "blind" audition really came into play. Watch him below and you'll see what we mean ...

 

Tje Austin - Just the Way You Are (The Voice)

Beverly McClellan, the final singer of the night, landed with Xtina, giving all the judges three hopefuls. Next week, they pick five more. Here's Bev:

 

Beverly McClellan - Piece Of My Heart (On The Voice)

What did you think of The Voice premiere? A nice addition to the genre, or a complicated, gimmicky American Idol knockoff? Discuss!