Season 4 of the Hit TV singing show "The Voice" premieres Monday night on NBC.  The first three seasons of the show have been a ratings hit and Season 4 hopes to do the same.  

The judges on the first three seasons were country music star, Blake Shelton, pop singer, Christina Aguilera, pop singer, Ceelo Green, and Maroon 5 singer, Adam Levine. This season Ceelo Green and Christina Aguilera have stepped away to pursue their careers (however both said they will be back on the show in future seasons) and their replacements for Season 4 will be pop singers Usher and Shakira.   

Carson Daly was the host the first three seasons and will be back to host for Season 4. 

What made "The Voice" fresh in the world of singing competitions (American Idol, X Factor, The Sing Off) was the personal interaction between the judges themselves and the judges with the contestants.  They did this in two very innovative and fresh ways that the other shows hadn't thought of.  

First, they invented the spinning chairs for the judges.  This means that the judges would not see the contestant singing, but only be able to hear their voice, so it allowed the judges to pick based on true vocal talent.  If the judge liked what they heard, they pressed the button on their chair and their seat spun around so they could see who they had been hearing.  

Secondly, they added the element of judges to banter with each other and allowed the judges to be vulnerable with the contestants.  This was great because in other shows like American Idol and X Factor, the judges almost come off as too cool to care a lot of the time.  With "The Voice", if more than one judge turns around for a contestant, then the banter war is on between judges with Blake Shelton and Adam Levine being the most enjoyable to watch.  

This is the FIRST show that puts any amount of control into the contestants hands as they get to pick which judge to work with if more then one judge turns around for them.  Seeing the superstar judges actually beg for contestants to join their team is endearing and funny, also seeing them pick on each other through out the show. 

Also, "The Voice" allows for professional singers to join the show regardless of previous record label experience and fans haven't seemed to have a problem with not all of the singers being true "amatuers' and of course it lends for even better talent on the show which is great.