The Voice (franchise)

The Voice (franchise)
The Voice is an international reality television singing competition franchise. It is based on the reality singing competition The Voice of Holland, which was originally created by Dutch producer John de Mol and Dutch singer Roel van Velzen.
It has become a rival to the Idols franchise, The Four, Rising Star and The X Factor. Up until 2020, the franchise was owned by Talpa Network. The current owner is ITV Studios.
Originated in the Netherlands, many other countries adapted the format and began airing their own versions starting in 2010. Up till now, seven different versions of The Voice have been produced by countries/regions all around the world. Some programs still stick to the original format of the show while most of them are produced with twists of the format added.
The franchise maintains official YouTube channels called The Voice Global and La Voz Global (as the Spanish version). The channels upload compilation videos of performances from The Voice all around the world. The Voice Global channel currently has over 10 million subscribers. Other channels on YouTube such as Best of The Voice and Best of The Voice Kids also feature compilations of the performances.
History
Talpa's John de Mol Jr., creator of Big Brother, first created The Voice concept with Dutch singer Roel van Velzen. Erland Galjaard, a Dutch program director, asked John de Mol about whether he could come up with a format that went a step further than The X Factor. De Mol then came up with the idea of Blind Audition. He wanted the show's image to be about the focus on singing quality alone, so the coaches must be top artists in the music industry. The rotating chairs concept was invented by Roel van Velzen. It would also be the first talent show in which social media was actively involved.
On 17 September 2010, The Voice of Holland began to air on RTL 4 with Angela Groothuizen, Roel van Velzen, Nick & Simon, and Jeroen van der Boom as the mentor-judges (dubbed as "coaches") of the show. The show proved to be an instant success in the Netherlands.
The format was later sold to different countries, in many cases replacing a previous Endemol music contest format, Operation Triumph / Star Academy.
Original format
The show's format features five stages of competition: producers' auditions, blind auditions, battle rounds, knockouts (since 2012), and live performance shows.
Blind auditions
Contestants are aspiring singers drawn from public auditions (which are not broadcast) and active recruitment. Unlike Idols and The X Factor, the producers pick fewer contestants (usually from 100, up to 200 contestants), which are deemed "the best artists", to perform in the broadcast auditions. The first televised stage is the blind auditions, in which the four coaches, all noteworthy recording artists, listen to the contestants in chairs facing away from the stage so as to avoid seeing them. If a coach likes what they hear from that contestant, they press a button to rotate their chairs to signify that they are interested in working with that contestant. If more than one coach presses their button, the contestant chooses the coach he or she wants to work with. The blind auditions end when each coach has a set number of contestants to work with. Coaches will dedicate themselves to developing their singers mentally, musically and in some cases physically, giving them advice, and sharing the secrets of their success.
Battles
The contestants who successfully pass the blind auditions proceed to the battle rounds (dubbed The Cut/Callbacks in some versions), where the coaches put two or sometimes three of their own team members against each other to sing the same song together in front of a studio audience. After the vocal face-off, the coach must choose only one to advance. If no specific winner can be identified, either the competition turns to a game of fate via a coin toss, or the coach may combine them into a duo throughout the rest of the competition. In rare cases the coach can also choose to advance neither one (As seen in season eight of The Voice of Holland). In some versions, there are steals where opposing coaches can steal a contestant who was voted off by their own coach by pressing their button. As in the blind auditions, if more than one coach presses their button, the contestant chooses which coach they want. Each coach has a set number of steals, usually one or two (raised to three in the seventh season of The Voice Brasil).
Knockouts
The knockout round was introduced in 2012, and is implemented in some versions. The winners of the battle rounds proceed to this round (dubbed Super-battle round/Singoffs in some versions).
As in the battle rounds, coaches pit members of their own team (usually 2/3/4, rarely 6 or 10) against each other. This time, the contestants choose their own song to perform individually while the other watches and waits. After that, the coach chooses one to advance while the other is sent home. At the end of the knockout rounds, the strongest members of each coach's roster proceed to the live stage shows. Some versions include steals. Like in the battle round, the opposing coaches can steal a contestant who was voted off by their own coach by pressing their button. Similar to the blind auditions, if more than one coach presses their button, the contestant chooses which coach they want.
Live shows
In the final performance phase of the competition, the top contestants from each team compete against each other during a live broadcast. The television audience vote to save one contestant on each team, leaving the coach to decide on live television who they want to save and who will not move on. In the next round, the public chooses between the two artists left on each team, and the coach also has a vote that weighs equally with the public vote.
Finally, each coach will have his/her best contestant left standing to compete in the finals, singing an original song. From these four or five, one will be named "The Voice"—and will receive the grand prize of a recording contract and a cash prize. Universal Music Group is the general record company associated and affiliated with The Voice format in most countries.
Social media participation
One of the cornerstones of The Voice format is the social media participation via Twitter, Facebook and the specially designed platform "connect". Users are able to log in via their Facebook account and retrieve background information about the show. The platform also offers the possibility to stream the show online as well as to vote, interact with friends and to discuss various topics and questions asked by the producers throughout the show.
Format variations
Blind auditions twists
No conversations if no turn
Starting from the fifth season of The Voice of Holland, if all the coaches rejected one specific contestant, they left the stage straight away, without any conversations with the coaches, and the chairs remained unturned. This format has been used in versions of other countries such as Poland, Finland, Bulgaria, Nigeria, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the United Kingdom, Romania, Belgium-French, Germany, Albania, Françafrique, South Africa, France, Armenia, Ukraine, Czech Republic and Slovakia, Lithuania, and Mexico.
"Block" buttons
The American version introduced a new mechanism in the blind auditions on the fourteenth season: the "block" buttons. When a coach wants to get a specific contestant but does not want another coach to do so, they may press that coach's "block" button, blocking them from getting the contestant; then, the coach turns around. The coach who is blocked will not know until pressing their red button and, after that, they will get the word "blocked", instead of their name in the LED floor. This feature was adapted to several versions around the world. Mostly, the number of times each coach can block another one is once; however, this and how many blocks are allowed per audition varies in all versions (as described in the table below).
"Mute" button
The sixth season of the Vietnamese kids' version, Giọng hát Việt nhí, had a new feature called "Mute button". As its name implies, the muted coach is not allowed to speak, but can still do any kind of body language to convince the contestant to join their team. The "mute" only adds excitement to the program, as contestants can still pick the muted coach. Each coach has one "mute" per audition. It was shortly removed, in the seventh season, and then returned in the next season. The eleventh season of Vocea României also applied the mute buttons, but the coaches have to use it after the coaches have turned around.
"Wild Card" round and "The Comeback Stage"
The "Wild Card" round was introduced in the first two seasons of The Voice of Holland, wherein the failed contestants from the blind auditions were screened and would perform via radio program Radio 538. Some coaches would select if they want that contestant on their team to compete in the battles, but it was abandoned in later seasons.
In the 15th season of the English-American version, a similar concept was introduced, called "The Comeback Stage". On it, a fifth coach would mentor contestants that failed to make it into a team in the blind auditions, and they would compete against each other in a digital series, broadcast on YouTube. The winner, chosen by the public, secured a spot in the live shows. This round was acquired in other countries such as Germany, Indonesia, Spain, Finland, (Dutch) Belgium, Argentina, Brazil, Netherlands, France, Ukraine, Chile, Canada, Sri Lanka, and in the Spanish-American version.
Switch artists
The sixth season of Giọng hát Việt introduced the "Switch". Coaches with a full team could press the "switch" button to swap one contestant with another contestant that expressed interest in the coach. Each coach only has one "switch" during the course of the blind auditions.
With this feature, the "Special coach" was also introduced this season. One of the four coaches has their chair turned towards the stage during all performances, allowing them to know how the contestants look like. This coach has the ability to choose unlimited contestants, unlike other coaches, and their selection button is still valid even when the contestant has finished their performance. However, the "special coach" can only select contestants that were not chosen by the other three coaches.
No limit of team members
In season ten of Australian The Voice, the coaches did not have a limit on the number of contestants they could turn for during the blind auditions. However, in order to balance out numbers, a following round was introduced (straight after the blind auditions), called "The Cut". Coaches hold a private callback session with their team to make them battle for five spots in the knockouts round. This rule was also adapted in Bulgaria, Dominican Republic, Romania, Finland, and Lithuania.
"Battle pass"
The eleventh season of Australian The Voice introduced the "Battle pass". In this twist, coaches have a silver button who they can press to send the contestant automatically to the battles round (later removed in the twelfth season). Each coach could only press the button once during the auditions. This addition was also acquired in the fourth season of The Voice Nigeria.
Battles twists
The seventh season of The Voice of Holland created the non-stop "steal", which means that coaches may replace their stolen contestant as many times as they want until the end of the battles. This feature was adapted in Poland, Romania, Dutch-Belgium, Portugal, Ukraine, France, Armenia, the Arab World, Norway, Israel, Vietnam, Germany, the Dominican Republic, and Bulgaria.
The fourth season of Spanish La Voz Kids introduced the "supercoach". Instead of the regular coaches choosing whom of their team artists advance in the competition, this rule belonged to the "supercoach".
The fifth season of Giọng hát Việt featured the "no-elimination" twist. When a coach wants to advance both artists to the next round, they can ask and get consent from both contestants to become a duo throughout the rest of the competition. If a coach does not get consent, they must choose only one to advance to the knockouts, as the original format.
The 23rd season of the American series introduced the "playoff pass", which allows each coach to advance further both artists of a battle: one advances to the knockouts, and the recipient of the "pass" will bypass the knockouts and go directly to the playoffs.
The eleventh season of The Voice Portugal features live battles, the first in the franchise worldwide.
Knockouts twists
The third season of The Voice South Africa introduced a new way to conduct the knockouts round: after each contestant's solo performance, the respective coach will have to decide whether they are in the "Safe Zone" – which means qualified for the next round – or the "Danger Zone" – at risk of elimination. Each coach can only send three contestants to the "safe zone", and also have two steals to use across the round. After all members from one team have concluded their performances, the coach will save a number of artists from the "danger zone" to move on to the battles. Contestants who are sent to the "danger zone" and not chosen by their coach are eliminated. However, the audience can also save one artist in the "danger zone" by televoting. This rule was then applied in the eighth season of The Voice: la plus belle voix, where public's vote is not included, and in the third season of The Voice Nigeria.
Live shows twists
The cross-battles were introduced in the semi-final of the fourth season of The Voice of Holland. In this round, two contestants from two different teams compete against each other and the public determines who advances. This was also introduced in Brasil, Greece, United States' English and Spanish versions, France, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Ukraine.
All-star format
The eighth and ninth seasons of Australian The Voice introduced a new twist, called all-star. Former contestants from past seasons were able to compete just like new talents. Diana Rouvas and Chris Sebastian from the first season of the show were hailed as champions of seasons eight and nine, respectively. This status was adapted in Germany and Portugal.
On the other hand, an "All-Stars" edition that is only for previous candidates was announced by the ITV Studios' President Maarten Meijs, in September 2020. TF1 was the first broadcaster to air this version. The format was then applied in Finland, Thailand, and Indonesia.
Non-televised shows
There were non-televised shows as not seen in the various format of the franchise such as The Voice of the Ocean (US) with Princess Cruises, The Voice of the Ocean (Germany) with AIDA Cruises, The Voice of the Sea (Italian) with Costa Cruises, The Voice Univa and The Voice Teens Univa (Spanish) with Grupo Telecentro in México.
The Voice around the world
A combined 620 singers have won The Voice, The Voice Kids, The Voice Teens, The Voice Senior, The Voice All-Stars, The Voice Rap, The Voice Generations, and The Voice Native Songs in 65 countries/regions. Each winner is given a recording contract, a monetary prize, and a title as that nation's "Voice". The first winner was Ben Saunders from The Voice of Holland. The most recent was Mykhailo Panchyshyn (PTASHKIN) from Holos Krainy.
Key
Franchise with a currently airing season
Franchise with an upcoming season
Franchise awaiting confirmation
Franchise with an unknown status
Franchise that has ceased to air
Franchise that was cancelled during production
Alphabet
Notes
References
External links
Talpa Media's Official website
The Voice Global on YouTube
Television franchises
2010 Dutch television series debuts
2010s Dutch television series
2020s Dutch television series