"The Voice" Returns Sunday After the Super Bowl

NBCNBC's singing competition The Voice begins its second season on Sunday night, in the plum post-Super Bowl time slot. In one respect, the expectations for The Voice are raised -- it was a summer show last year, but this time around it will regularly air Monday nights opposite other networks' first-run programming.

All four mentors from season one -- Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton -- are back, as is host Carson Daly. They're joined by a new social media correspondent, Christina Milian.

Not surprisingly, The Voice is again being compared to shows like American Idol and The X Factor, but the mentors say there are a few aspects to their program that sets it apart from the competition. Adam recently told reporters, "All four of us are singers. That's probably the thing that differentiates us the most, is that we all sing. It's our craft. All four of us. So that alone is a unique element on its own."

Christina says the mentors last season tried to offer advice to struggling contestants, rather than ridicule them. She says, "We really wanted to give genuine opinion without tearing people down. So this year we actually are diving more into critiquing it."

Critics have pointed out that albums released by season-one winner Javier Colon and his Voice peers, including runner-up Dia Frampton, have not sold especially well. Carson's response: "Season one of a television show on a major network put out more quality music than arguably a lot of labels and a lot of artists that are in front of them on the charts. So as far as, you know, success, it's in the eyes of the beholder. "

There's actually a mini-feud brewing between The Voice and Idol. Speaking with reporters last month, Idol judge Randy Jackson dismissed Colon and other season-one Voice contestants as "second-chance people" because they had record deals before competing on the show.

Adam responded to Randy's dig during a taping of The Ellen DeGeneres Show alongside Christina and Blake, airing Friday. He said, “Shame on Randy Jackson for saying that. Because he, out of anybody, should know that if you’re in this business you need second, third, fourth and fifth chances. So we love and embrace that being part of the show.”

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