For those not in the know so far, The Voice is BBC 1’s new reality-show/singing competition much similar to all the others; a person stands and sings in front of a panel of judges, they get through or they don’t, they cry or they don’t, they get themselves a gun and go postal in down-town London or they don’t, etc, etc.

There’s one significant twist however, in the form of the swivel-chair. Specifically, each judge is made to face away from the singer, unaware of their outward appearance, and so they judge the contestants solely on their voice. If they like what they hear, they swivel around, facing the contestant. If more than one judge chooses said singer, they must then promote themselves and the contestant gets to choose which mentor they want.

Note; Anyone sick of Simon Cowell’s saggy man-tits, veneer-capped smile, collagen-shot face and fake tan, be aware that you will not find refuge here as Tom Jones is one of the judges.

They are four shows in so far and admittedly, I do like it. It may not have the same carnival-freak show aspect of Britain’s Got Talent or the X Factor but that’s its most refreshing quality. There’s only so many times you can get a kick from sniggering at an obese, elderly, mental patient standing on a stage with nipple-tassels and lit sparklers in their hair, trying to get their dog to do a trick, all from the safety of your living room.

That said, The Voice isn’t without its odd moments.

Take for example the format of the swiveling chair. As the auditions have shown so far, as soon as a contestant begins to sing, the most awkward, cringe-worthy chair dancing ever seen on television suddenly ensues from the judges.

Then there’s that bizarre moment when three of the judges turn their chair around, leaving the fourth to face the audience alone. The audience itself glares at said judge, as if to say; ‘Why aren’t you pressing your button? This contestant’s really good. What’s your problem? Bastard.’

Another strange factor is the fact that a number of the shows contestants that have auditioned have already found fame. So far to try out is that Sean Conlon bloke who was in boy band Five and that girl who was in that 80’s pop group that one time. (Note also, both of these hopefuls originally achieved fame/wealth by succumbing to the pop-manufacture machine, regardless of whether they had any talent or not). Interestingly, most of them were unsuccessful, to their utter embarrassment of course. There’s something gratifying about that – like watching the statue of an old dictator being pulled down and beaten to rubble.

But the strangest (and most annoying) scenes from the show so far has to be the faces that Jessie Jay likes to pull to the audience whilst listening to a contestant. I mean, she’s a pretty girl of course, but that’s granted she doesn’t move her face… ever. She looks like she’s going into seizure. Here’s some examples below:

It seems the BBC isn’t just satisfied with crushing the likes of the X Factor in regards to format or talent, but Miss Jay has even went to the extra effort to replace Louis Walsh on TV Burp’s ‘The Many Faces’ skit.