TV2 to Screen The Voice in HD

TV2 has bought America’s #1 new show, The Voice.

And unlike American Idol, the singing phenomenon will air here in HD.

The show has become fourth-ranked NBC’s highest-rating series with 18-49 year-olds since 2005 and won its two-hour launch opposite Glee and Dancing With the Stars.

From reality TV vet Mark Burnett (The Apprentice, Survivor), it casts Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton as vocal coaches mentoring singers chosen through blind auditions.

The winner will receive $100,000 and a recording contract.

“The idea of contestants competing on the merits of their singing alone is a noble one, even if it’s not as inspiring in execution,” the Chicago Sun-Times said.

“As soon as the coaches are allowed to see the singers, they comment on how good-looking they are.

“And the pre-screening producers haven’t seen fit to throw any Susan Boyles up onstage yet.”

People magazine thought it “odd television” visually “but the calibre of the voices is high – better than American Idol”.

However, Entertainment Weekly slammed the premiere for being “less about the strenuous voices of the singers than the yammering voices of its celebrity ‘coaches’”.

TV2 has yet to announce when it will screen The Voice but expect it to debut shortly as part of its Saturday line-up.