‘The Voice’ Premiere Supersized, Pits Christina vs. Britney

We all knew the ratings battle between NBC’s “The Voice” and Fox’s “The X Factor” would be an interesting one to watch, but NBC just upped the anty when it said “supersize me!” to “The Voice’s” premiere.

The NBC reality juggernaut was originally slated to premiere over a three hour, two night event next week on Sept 10 and 11. NBC just announced that it will add a fourth hour to the premiere with a special episode of the blind auditions on Wed Sept 12, which just so happens to be the night Simon Cowell and Fox roll out the new and improved season of The X Factor, featuring new judges Demi Levato and Ms. Britney Spears.

NBC bumped a previously scheduled repeat of America’s Got Talent and will now pit the two pop princesses against one another once again. It’s like 1999 all over again! The shows have different premises, but this will surely prove to be an interesting battle behind the scenes. We should note that the premiere of “The X Factor” will air from 8-10pm EST on Fox, while this special night of “The Voice” will air from 8-9pm EST on NBC.

As has been promised, this season of ‘The Voice’ will come with some change. The Battle Rounds will be less prominent, as the blind auditions take center stage. When a coach eliminates someone from the Battle Rounds, any of the other 3 coaches can push their button to “steal” the singer. They are only allowed 2 steals each. Each coach can leave the Battles with 10 contestants. Newly introduced this season, there will be a “knockout round,” where the field will then be narrowed down to 5 each headed into the LIVE shows.

So…what will you be watching next week? Is this a smart or dumb move on NBC’s part?