Everyone, apparently, looks – and sounds – better live.

In Tuesday night’s first-ever live performance of “The Voice,” it was Team Christina battling Team Blake with all eight of their singers rocking the stage. Whether it was mousey Dia Frampton who climbed out of her shell with a new take on a Kanye West tune or Beverly McClellan belting out Melissa Etheridge’s “I’m the Only One,” the contestants brought it.

But unlike “American Idol,” this NBC hit offers some twists and turns.

Right off the bat, the musician coaches took the stage to perform together once again. Blake Shelton, Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green and Adam Levine rocked it with a medley of Queen songs, showing their teams just how it’s done.

Later, Christina again performed – this time with her all-woman team to sing “Lady Marmalade.” (BTW, the Grammy-winning artist needs to give her costumer a big bonus for somehow keeping “the girls” inside  her too-tight outfit during the tune.)

Later, Blake and his team performed, too, singing Maroon 5′s “This Love.” They weren’t as dynamic as Christina’s team, but that’s not Blake’s fault – his team is weaker in general.

Voting is a bit different than “Idol,” too. Fans have nearly a week to call in to cast their votes for their favorite singers: This week’s voting isn’t over until June 13.

And in a first for a music competition series, you can also vote for your favorite artist by downloading studio versions of the songs they perform on the live show each week via itunes($1.29 each).

From the start, “The Voice” promised viewers a different take on the usual music competition.

So far, so good: The show is the season’s #1 new series among adults 18-49 and ranks behind only “American Idol” in entertainment series on the major networks.

Source: M Live