Season 1

**The Voice U.S.**is an American reality talent show. The series is part of The Voice franchise and is based on a similar competition format in the Netherlands, The Voice of Holland. The show is hosted by Carson Daly, with Alison Haislip serving as the backstage and social networking correspondent. The winner receives $100,000 and a record deal with Universal Republic Records. Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Maroon 5 lead vocalist Adam Levine and Blake Shelton are the coaches. Each team of singers are mentored and developed by their coach. In the second stage, coaches have two of their team members battle against each other by singing the same song, with the coach choosing which team member to advance. In the final phase, the remaining contestants compete against each other in live broadcasts. The television audience helps to decide who advances. When one remains for each coach, the four contestants compete against each other in the finale.

The American series premiered on April 26, 2011 on the NBC television network. The winner of the first season was Javier Colon, mentored by coach Adam Levine, the finale airing on June 29, 2011. It immediately proved to be a hit for NBC and the network renewed the show for a second season.

## Overview

The series consists of three phases: a blind audition, a battle phase and live performance shows. Four coaches, all famous musicians, choose teams of contestants through a blind audition process. Each coach has the length of the auditioner's performance (about one minute) to decide if he or she wants that singer on his or her team; if two of more coaches want the same singer (as happened with all but one singer in the premiere episode), then the singer gets to choose their coach. In the final 32 (live shows), Aguilera, Green, Levine and Shelton were joined by Sia Furler, Monica, music producer Adam Blackstone and Reba McEntire.

## Auditions

Contestant auditions were held in eight cities across the United States between mid-January and mid-February 2011: Chicago, New York, Miami, Nashville, Minneapolis, Austin, Los Angeles and Seattle. Contestants were also allowed to submit an online application, which ended on March 1, 2011. For the online auditions, contestants were required to sing one of ten pre-selected songs.

Contestants on The Voice as revealed by airing of promotional advertisements or shows were Javier Colon, Frenchie Davis, Nakia, Lukas Rossi, Cherie Oakley and Dia Frampton.

## Coaches, Host and Social Media Correspondent

In late February 2011, NBC began announcements of the coaches for the series. First to sign on were Cee Lo Green and Adam Levine (frontman for Maroon 5). Christina Aguilera came on board in early March 2011. Blake Shelton was added as the final coach on March 7, 2011.

Carson Daly was announced as the show's first host. Alison Haislip was announced as the show's "backstage online and social media correspondent" during the live shows.

## Teams

**Colour Key:**

* Gold: Winner
* Silver: Runner-up
* Bronze: 3rd/4th Place
* Pink: Eliminated in the Live Shows
* Blue: Eliminated in the Battle Rounds

## Blind Auditions

**Colour Key:**

* **✔**: Coach hit his/her "I WANT YOU" button
* Pink: Artist defaulted to this coach's team
* Blue: Artist elected to join this coach's team
* Silver: Artist eliminated with no coach pressing his or her "I WANT YOU" button

### **Episode 1 (April 26, 2011)**

The first of two Blind Audition taped episodes was broadcast on April 26, 2011. The coaches performed coach Cee Lo's song "Crazy" at the start of the show.

### **Episode 2 (May 3, 2011)**

The second and final episode of the Blind Audition rounds was broadcast on May 3, 2011.

#### **Second Chance**

As, by the end of the regular audition round, only Cee Lo Green had completed his full team of eight finalists, with Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton with seven finalists and Adam Levine only six, selected contestants eliminated previously were given a second chance. The performances in the "second chance round" were as follows:

## The Battle Rounds

After the Blind Auditions, each coach had eight contestants for the Battle rounds that aired from May 10 to May 31, 2011. Coaches began narrowing down the playing field by training the contestants with the help of "trusted advisors". Each episode featured four battles consisting of pairings from within each team, and each battle concluding with the respective coach eliminating one of the two contestants; the four winners for each coach advanced to the live shows.

The trusted advisors for these episodes are: Adam Blackstone working with Adam Levine; Reba McEntire working with Blake Shelton; Monica working with Cee Lo Green; and Sia Furler working with Christina Aguilera.

**Colour Key:**

* Pink: Artist won the Battle and advanced to the live shows
* Blue: Artist lost the Battle and was eliminated

## Live Shows

### **Quarterfinals, Week 1 (June 7 and 13, 2011)**

After the Final 16 were decided, with four finalists for each coach, June 7, 2011 saw the launching of the live shows (EDT) with Team Christina and Team Blake performing.

Public voting across multiple platforms (phone, smartphone app, web and iTunes Store) commenced at this point, with two candidates eliminated from each participating team in the first two live shows. Voting lines were opened immediately after the broadcast of each live show on Tuesday and stayed open until 10am EDT the following Monday (June 13, 2011 for Week 1).

**Colour Key:**

* Pink: Artist was saved by the Public's vote
* Blue: Artist was saved by his/her coach
* Yellow: Artist was eliminated

#### **Non-competition Performances**

* "We Will Rock You"
 2
 3

### **Quarterfinals, Week 2 (June 14 and 20, 2011)**

On June 14, 2011, Team Adam and Team Cee Lo performed.

Voting proceeded as before, following the episode's close and continuing until 10am EDT June 20, 2011.

#### **Results from Week 7**

* From Christina Aguilera's team, the top Public's vote went to Beverly McClellan. Given the chance to save one additional contestant on her team, Aguilera chose to save Frenchie Davis. Thus both Lily Elise and Raquel Castro were eliminated.
* From Blake Shelton's team, the top Public's vote went to Dia Frampton. Given the chance to save one additional contestant on his team, Shelton chose to save Xenia. Thus both Jared Blake and Patrick Thomas were eliminated.

### **Semi-finals, Week 3 (June 21 and 22, 2011)**

#### **Results from Week 8**

* From Cee Lo Green's team, the top Public's vote went to Vicci Martinez. Given the chance to save one additional contestant on his team, Green chose to save Nakia. Thus both Curtis Grimes and The Thompson Sisters were eliminated.
* From Adam Levine's team, the top Public's vote went to Javier Colon. Given the chance to save one additional contestant on his team, Levine chose to save Casey Weston. Thus both Jeff Jenkins and Devon Barley were eliminated.

### **Semi-finals**

On June 21, 2011, the final eight performed. Voting proceeded following the episode until 10am EDT June 22, 2011.

**Colour Key:**

* Pink: Artist advanced to Finals
* Yellow: Artist was eliminated

#### **Non-competition Performances**

 2
 3
 4

### **Finals, Week 4 (June 28 and 29, 2011)**

On June 28, 2011, the four finalists each performed an original song and a duet with their coach. Voting proceeded immediately following the episode's close until 10am Eastern June 29, 2011.

#### **Non-competition Performances**

 2
 3

### **Finals Results**

Airing on June 29, 2011, after performances and recaps, Daly first declared that the top two were just 2% apart. Then the top two artists were announced: Dia Frampton and Javier Colon. Despite Dia Frampton's original song, "Inventing Shadows" topping the iTunes singles chart, Javier Colon was declared the first season winner of The Voice.

#### **Non-competition Performances**

 2
 3
 4

## Elimination Chart

**Colour Key:**

* Gold: Winner
* Silver: Runner-up / Artist did not perform that Week
* Bronze: 3rd/4th Place
* Blue: Artist from Team Adam
* Green: Artist from Team Cee Lo
* Pink: Artist from Team Christina
* Orange: Artist from Team Blake
* Yellow: Safe and advanced to Semi-finals
* Purple: Advanced to Finals
* Red: Artist was eliminated

## The Voice Live on Tour

In the final episode, Daly announced a summer concert tour. This tour had six stops across the United States, including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, Boston, Wallingford and New York. The tour featured the top two finalists from each team, including Javier Colon, Dia Frampton, Vicci Martinez, Beverly McClellan, Xenia, Frenchie Davis, Nakia and Casey Weston. Out of the six dates, the New York show was a sell-out. However, as overall ticket sales were lackluster, the tour was cancelled in subsequent seasons. In 2014, the tour was resumed from June 21, 2014 to August 2, 2014, including the contestants of the fifth season, the sixth season and the first season contestant Dia Frampton.

## Contestant Appearances on Earlier Talent Shows

* Frenchie Davis was a semi-finalist on the Season 2 of American Idol but was disqualified.
* The Thompson Sisters appeared on American Juniors in 2003 as separate acts; both winning the highest prize on the show to join the American Juniors group.
* Vicci Martinez appeared on Star Search in 2003, but did not make it past the semi-finals.

## Reception and TV Ratings

The premiere episode, in what was seen as a relative surprise, was the most watched telecast on the night it aired, garnering more viewers than high-profile competitors Dancing with the Stars on ABC (in persons 18 to 49; DWTS had more overall viewers) and Glee on Fox. The series debut garnered 11.775 million viewers from 9 to 11pm. It peaked at 10:45pm with 13.398 million viewers (live+SD).

Rolling Stone's Mallika Rao said of the show's premiere episode, "Could this concept be the best Dutch import since tulips and Eddie Van Halen?" Despite a high viewership in its debut, the show has received mixed reviews on Metacritic, which holds at a 58.