'The Voice' is in an amazing position: After premiering to solid ratings, it got a huge boost for episode two last week, coming incredibly close to beating Fox juggernaut 'American Idol' in the coveted 18-49 demo.

What does that mean? Well, we're not entirely sure yet. The show is still very new, and tonight's episode (Tues., May 10, 10PM ET on NBC) already marks another chapter in this first season, with the start of coaches mentoring and head-to-head competition.


This week will be the true test of whether or not the show's appeal lies only in the gimmick -- coaches not being able to see who they choose until they're chosen -- which has already come and gone, or if it's thanks to something else.

That "something else" is also a vague category: It could be the A-list coaches, the superior talent, overall 'Idol' fatigue, anything.

I asked critics and 'Idol' fans -- who are all enjoying 'The Voice' as well -- to help examine the secret of the new hit show's success. Kate Aurthur, West Coast Editor of The Daily Beast; Executive Editor of HitFix.com Dan Fienberg; and TVGuide.com's West Coast News Editor Denise Martin all chime in about 'The Voice''s appeal, if it could ever beat 'Idol' in the ratings and the wild card in this singing competition show equation: Simon Cowell's fall Fox series 'X Factor.'

They were all pretty unanimous that the lack of terrible auditions is a huge plus in 'The Voice''s corner. Do you agree? Keep reading for more ...

The Secret to 'The Voice''s Success
Kate Aurthur: "The fact that we're not seeing bad singers at all ... I don't know whether we would care about the absence of bad singers if it weren't after 10 seasons of 'Idol' audition rounds. We can't take it anymore. Also, the judges actually have chemistry -- which is rare."

Denise Martin: "I think part of it is 'Idol' fatigue. I'm serious ... 'Idol' just doesn't have any interesting contestants this season. But I think everyone is really curious about 'The Voice' because of the judges lineup, more than the concept. I just think they chose interesting people who are all in the news: Cee-Lo's always in the news, Christina's a mess ... they just chose a really good lineup. [Plus] we don't have to go through six weeks of crappy singers for crappy's sake."

Dan Fienberg: "They eliminated the freaks. That was simply a choice they made, was to say we're not going to subject our four coaches -- who all, frankly, have better things to do with their time -- to the litany of embarrassments who 'American Idol' feels no shame whatsoever about putting in front of their judges. And it worked in terms of people tuning in and going, 'OK, this is better than an 'Idol' audition episode.'"

What's Next for the Show?
Dan Fienberg: "What do you think is happening this week? I don't know. They've shown footage of this arena that looks to me like it might be sort of a Rock 'Em Sock-'Em Robot competition with singers going head-to-head. Two enter, only one leaves! I'm fine with that ... if it's capitalizing on the popularity of MMA, only in the singers forum, by all means, let me see some blood."



Kate Aurthur: "How is it all going to unfold? It seems a little improvisational. I do like the mentoring thing -- I think that'll be fun on 'X Factor,' and it'll be fun on this. I don't even care about the auditions part. But the auditions themselves seemed more viable commercially -- these are songs that are on the radio -- which is something that I have felt is missing in 'Idol' in recent years."

Denise Martin: "The good thing is it's going to change it up immediately, because we only had two episodes of auditions, and now we go straight into the mentoring. Now, what the mentoring will look like and how that'll all play out, who knows. That's another weak part of 'Idol' -- Jimmy [Iovine], for me, has added nothing to the show. If anything I'm like, 'Why are they still picking dumb songs?'"

Can It Beat 'Idol' in the Ratings?
Denise Martin: "Not anytime soon, and not in total viewers. I mean, maybe three seasons from now."

Dan Fienberg: "It came perilously close last week. I think if 'The Voice' goes up the same amount it went this week, and 'Idol' goes down the same amount it went, next week 'The Voice' could be roughly equal. But I don't think that's necessarily going to happen. Even if it does come close 18-49, it won't be close overall."

Kate Aurthur: "It was pretty close [last week]. It's getting a big young audience, almost ... not challenging 'Idol,' but almost in its league. The total viewers inched up [from premiere], but it is in no way a mass hit yet."

The 'X Factor' of This Equation
Kate Aurthur: "I think it's going to be interesting -- I'm assuming 'X Factor' is going to be a hit, but 'The Voice' is doing a smart thing making its season short. That's appealing to me -- it's not happening for months and months and then you get stuck with all this filler. I'm actually just curious, as an American: How many talented singers are there on this Earth? [Laughs] How sustainable is this?"

Denise Martin: "I do think 'The Voice' will end up hurting 'X Factor' a little bit. But I think people will tune in just because of Simon, at least initially. It really depends on what that show is like ... I think, if anything, it'll just be an indication of how important Simon was to people who were still tuning in to 'Idol.'"

Dan Fienberg: "I'm curious [about 'X Factor'] ... and you know that people in the Fox executive suites are more than curious. They're nervous-slash-possibly terrified. They have a lot of their fall riding on that show, and suddenly NBC jumped in, scooped the premise, had a better assortment of judges/coaches and got a hit out of it. So does that mean that America wants this, needs this and will be happy to have the Fox version come September? Or does it mean that America's going to get to 'X Factor' and go, 'Well, we've seen this show already -- it was called 'The Voice'?"

What do you think of 'The Voice'? Are you excited to see what's next?



Follow Maggie on Twitter @TheTVShowGirl