Broadcaster NBC Song "Stitch by Stitch" | Origin Stratford, Connecticut | |
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Broadcast from April 26 (2011-04-26) – June 29, 2011 (2011-06-29) Coaches Adam Levine
CeeLo Green
Christina Aguilera
Blake Shelton Host(s) Carson Daly
Alison Haislip (Social Media correspondent) | ||
The Voice is an American reality talent show. The series is part of the 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, CeeLo 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.
Contents
- Overview
- Auditions
- Coaches host and social media correspondent
- Teams
- Blind auditions
- Episode 1 April 26
- Episode 2 May 3
- Second chance
- The Battle rounds
- Quarterfinals 1 week 1 June 7 13
- Quarterfinals 2 week 2 June 14 20
- Semifinals week 3 June 21 22
- Finals week 4 June 28 29
- Elimination chart
- The Voice Live on Tour
- Contestant appearances on earlier talent shows
- Reception and TV ratings
- References
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 season finale aired 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 or 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 applications, which ended on March 1, 2011. For the online auditions, contestants were required to sing one of ten preselected 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 CeeLo 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
Blind auditions
Episode 1 (April 26)
The first of two Blind Audition taped episodes was broadcast on April 26, 2011. The coaches performed coach CeeLo's song, "Crazy" at the start of the show.
Episode 2 (May 3)
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 (with N/A meaning the coach has already filled his/her Final 8):
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 begin 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
Quarterfinals, 1: week 1 (June 7 & 13)
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 Aguilera and Team Blake Shelton 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 10 AM EDT the following Monday (June 13 for week 1).
Quarterfinals, 2: week 2 (June 14 & 20)
On June 14, 2011, Team Adam Levine and Team CeeLo Green performed.
Voting proceeded as before—following the episode's close and continuing until 10 AM EDT June 20.
Semifinals: week 3 (June 21 & 22)
On June 21, 2011, the final eight performed. Voting proceeded following the episode until 10 AM EDT June 22.
Finals: week 4 (June 28 & 29)
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 10 AM Eastern June 29.
Airing on June 29, 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.
Elimination chart
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
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 11 p.m. It peaked at 10:45 p.m. 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.