The Voice

***The Voice*** is a multinational singing competition television franchise. The series started in the Netherlands as ' **in 2010. Many other countries have adapted the format and began airing their national versions in 2011 and 2012. It has become a rival to 's '** and 's '**.**

## Format

Contestants are aspiring singers drawn from public auditions and local karaoke bars. The show's format features four stages of competition. The first is the blind auditions, in which the four coaches listen to the contestants in chairs facing opposite the stage 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 (such as ten in the U.K. version, sixteen in the U.S. version or sixteen in the Dutch version). Coaches will dedicate themselves to developing their singers mentally, musically and in som e cases physically, giving them advice, and sharing the secrets of their success.

The contestants who successfully pass the blind auditions proceed to the battle rounds, where the coaches pit two 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 the competition turns to a game of fate via a coin toss. 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).

In some versions, the winners of the battle rounds proceed to the knockout rounds. As in the battle rounds, coaches pit two of their own team members to compete 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. In this 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, one will be named "The Voice"—and will receive the grand cash prize of a recording contract.
In some versions, all contestants perform each week and only the public's vote determines which contestants advance in the competition, a format similar to both Idol and The X Factor. This means that any contestant can be eliminated and no coach is guaranteed a spot in the finals.

One of the cornerstones of The Voice format is the social media participation via Twitter, Facebook and the especially designed platform "connect." Users are able to login 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.

### Ongoing

The series was created and licensed internationally by Dutch-based Talpa Media Group. The format was launched on in 2010 in the Netherlands as '**. The franchise has signed a global recording and artist services agreement with .**

American television network ran a variant of the format titled *The Voice* in April 2011, with the winner set to receive $100,000 and a recording contract with . NBC partnered with , and production company to bring the format of *The Voice of Holland* to America. Castings were held in major American cities (Chicago, New York, Miami, Nashville, Minneapolis, Austin, Los Angeles and Seattle). Online applications were also allowed and ended on 1 March 2011.

The third country to air its own version of *The Voice* was Ukraine. The Ukrainian version, called ' **("Voice of the Country"), premiered on on 22 May 2011.**

Belgian broadcaster began airing its own version of the show in 2011, titled ' **("The Voice of Flanders"). Broadcaster La Une has bought the rights and will air in 2011 for the French-speaking part of Belgium. Casting began in July 2011.**

The Polish version, '**, premiered on September 3, 2011 on the TVP 2 television network.**

And other countries that made a version of the show.

## Future

A Philippine version of the show is expected to premiere in 2013 with ABS-CBN acquiring the rights. It will be the second reality singing competition that the network will launch this year after also acquiring the rights to produce a Philippines version of The *X Factor*. This was confirmed during the finale of *Pinoy Big Brother: Unlimited*. However, it is originally set to premiere in December 2012, but it was moved to 2013, because another talent show will be aired, the 4th season of *Pilipinas Got Talent*.

## International series

'
* **The Voice of The Philippines-** 2 series 1 for adults and 1 for the kids.