THE VOICE: HAS THE X FACTOR MET ITS MATCH

The Voice, the BBC’s new weapon in the battle for Saturday night viewers, is a singing contest with a twist – the judges hear the contestants, but don’t see them.

Jessie J, Danny O’Donoghue, Will.i.am and Tom Jones lend star-power as judges on ‘The Voice’ 

It’s time! To face! A different type of music! The X Factor has suffered a creaky series recently on ITV1, with ratings falling and its prime-time rival Strictly Come Dancing snapping at its heels. Now things could be about to get worse for Simon Cowell’s beleaguered behemoth.

This weekend the BBC launched its own new singing contest, The Voice UK. The show has proved a smash hit in 30 countries and is now the top-rated programme in the United States, where it has displaced American Idol from the top spot for the first time in eight years.

When the British rights to the programme became available last year, BBC One controller Danny Cohen flew to Holland himself, at an hour’s notice, to put in a bid with the format’s creator John de Mol, the man behind Big Brother and Deal or no Deal. The upshot was a two-year deal for the BBC – for a reported £22 mill

In America, The Voice’s so-called coaches (the show is big on “coaching, not judging”) include pop royalty Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green. For the UK edition, Welsh veteran Sir Tom Jones, urban popstar Jessie J, super-producer Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas and Danny O’Donoghue from Irish rock band The Script have all been signed up.

The quartet’s credentials are stressed from the very outset of the series.

The first programme opened with O’Donoghue at a piano, crooning I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyed Peas, a single that’s sold 13 million copies worldwide. With each verse, another coach joins in – first Jones, then Jessie J and finally the song’s co-creator, Will.i.am – belting out the song like some star-studded supergroup.

The studio audience are up on their feet, singing along with the anthemic chorus: “Tonight’s gonna be a good night”. You’d never catch Cowell and Louis Walsh doing this.

“The Voice UK, coaches are all high-calibre musicians, with 140 million record sales between them,”

“This enables  The Voice to do things other shows can’t.”

WHICH DO YOU PREFER: "THE VOICE?" OR "X-FACTOR?"

The Voice: has The X Factor met its match?