The Voice UK (series 1)

Coaches and presenters

Huge speculation began when the BBC announced that there would be four coaches on the panel of The Voice. It was said that Kylie Minogue was due to become a coach on the show, but it would have cost the TV station too much to get her on the panel. Her sister, Dannii Minogue was also confirmed to be in the running after she left the panel of The X Factor. Mark Owen and Lenny Kravitz were strong candidates for the role. Frankie Sandford of The Saturdays was also confirmed to be in the running. It was later confirmed by the BBC that Will Young was one of their favourites to get on the panel. Ricky Wilson of the Kaiser Chiefs was also in the running. Adele was the BBC's first Celebrity to be considered for the role as they said, "'Adele's success is all down to her incredible voice and, in this way, embodies all that The Voice represents. She's honest, funny and loved by millions of people of all ages. " The shows producers were impressed with Cee Lo Green's performance on the U. S. version of the show and wanted him on the UK version, but he turned the chance down. Dannii Minogue's former work mate, Cheryl Cole was also said to be in the running to be a coach on the show. However, Cole and Minogue were both ruled out of the running after producers of the show said they wanted to "start fresh" and not have The X Factor left overs. However, though Cole and Minogue were ruled out the BBC were keen to show enthusiasm about Charlotte Church, Robbie Williams and Jessie J was also announced to be in the running. Tom Jones was offered a role on the show, and later accepted the offer. It was revealed that Frankie Sandford was on the verge of signing a contract to become a coach. George Michael and Mary J. Blige were also in the running to be on the show, with Blige saying on Alan Carr: Chatty Man she has had meetings about her future on the show, she spoke "I have been approached and we have been in discussions about The Voice. I'm not sure if I'm doing it right now. We'll have to wait and see. " will.i.am was confirmed to be close to signing a contract with the show producers to become a coach on the show. It was said that Frankie Sandford was awaiting to finalise her contract, but she pulled out of becoming a coach on the show because of her "busy schedule". After Sandford revealed that she would not be joining the panel, the panel line-up was announced to be, Jessie J, will.i.am, Tom Jones and The Script lead singer, Danny O'Donoghue.

Controversy arose after O'Donoghue was announced as a coach, being picked over Will Young. Young put on his Twitter account, "The Voice came, the Voice went. They wanted to go more rock... Should have dusted off my Leather jacket! Hey ho, (sic)" he said, before adding: "Hang on... Just got Jimmy Page on the line. I'm commiserating him." A tweet the previous night may have also been connected to the loss of role saying, "Words escape me. Life is sometimes a bitch". In an interview with the Daily Star, Young stated he was "devastated" that he didn't get the job saying, "Of course I’m disappointed not to be doing the show, not to mention how it’s been handled. But the support from fans has been overwhelming. They really have been amazing." Many celebrities hit back at O'Donoghue in defence to Young, including Professor Green, who argued that "No one knows who Danny is" as well as saying to The Sun, "That's really s**t that they dumped Will for him. He would have been perfect for that job. He really knows what he is talking about when it comes to making music... I liked him.".

Former The X Factor contestants Shayne Ward and Stacey Solomon were both in the running to be the host of the show. The One Show presenter Alex Jones was also in the running to be a presenter. Despite Dermot O'Leary signing a three year contract with The X Factor, The Voice producers are eager to have him present the show. It was also said that Emile Heskey was in the running. However, former, The Xtra Factor and This Morning host, Holly Willoughby was confirmed to be in the running after she left as the host on Dancing on Ice. It was later confirmed that Willoughby and BBC Radio presenter, Reggie Yates would present the show.

Teams

Blind auditions

The blind auditions began in London on 18 January 2012 at the BBC Television Centre and finished filming on 22 January 2012. Each coach has the length of the artists' performance to decide if they want that artist on their team. Should two or more coaches want the same artist, then the artist gets to choose their coach. Once the coaches have picked their team, they are to pit them against each other in the ultimate sing off; the battles.

Episode 1 (24 March)

The first blind audition episode was broadcast on 24 March 2012.

Group performance: The Voice UK Coaches – "I Gotta Feeling"

Episode 2 (31 March)

The second blind audition episode was broadcast on 31 March 2012.

Episode 3 (7 April)

The third blind audition episode was broadcast on 7 April 2012.

Episode 4 (14 April)

The fourth and final blind audition episode was broadcast on 14 April 2012.

Battle rounds

The recording of the battle rounds took place on 22 and 23 February 2012 at The Fountain Studios in Wembley with five artists from each team progressing to the live shows. Each coach pitted two of their ten artists together as they performed a song of the coach's choice at the same time in a boxing ring-styled stage. After the two artists completed the song, one progressed to the live shows and one was eliminated from the competition. Once the coaches had completed this process, they each had five artists for the live shows.

The battle advisors for these episodes were: Paloma Faith working with Danny O'Donoghue, Cerys Matthews of Catatonia working with Tom Jones, Ana Matronic of Scissor Sisters working with Jessie J, and Dante Santiago working with will.i.am.

The battle round episodes aired on the 21 and 22 April 2012, in a special "battles weekend" (as the blind auditions were only shown on Saturdays).

Episode 1 (21 April)

The first of two battle rounds premiered on 21 April 2012.

Episode 2 (22 April)

The second of two battle rounds premiered on 22 April 2012.

Live shows

The live performance shows are aired live from Elstree Studios and will run for six consecutive weeks, ending on 2 June 2012. The first results show on 29 April featured a performance from American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey with British singer-songwriter Emeli Sandé performing during the second results show on 6 May 2012. American group Scissor Sisters performed during the third result show on 13 May 2012 with The Voice UK Battle Round Adviser Paloma Faith performing during the fourth results show on 20 May 2012. Cheryl and Kylie Minogue performed during the fifth live show It was confirmed on 18 May 2012 that the final on 2 June 2012 would feature performances from Ed Sheeran and Maroon 5.

Results summary

Week 1 (28 & 29 April)

The first live show aired on 28 April 2012 - with Team Tom and Team will.i.am performing.

Week 2 (5 & 6 May)

The second live show aired on 5 May 2012 - with Team Jessie and Team Danny performing.

Week 3 (12 & 13 May)

The third live show aired on Saturday 12 May 2012 - with Team Tom and Team will.i.am performing. Both judges had to eliminate two of their artists, leaving them with two each for the semi-final shows.

Week 4 (19 & 20 May)

The fourth live show was on Saturday 19 May 2012 - with Team Danny and Team Jessie performing. Both judges had to eliminate two of their artists, leaving them with two each for the semi-final shows.

Week 5: Semi-final (26 & 27 May)

The fifth live show aired on 26 May 2012, with all teams performing. The public then chose one artist from each team to advance to the final. For the first time in the series, Cheryl's performance was live on Saturday's show, but Kylie's performance was broadcast on Sunday's results show. It was also the first time there were two special musical guests.

Week 6: Final (2 June)

The final live show aired on 2 June 2012. Each coach had one artist each in their team, and for the first time in the series, each artist performed three songs: a solo number, a duet with their coach and their favourite song of the series.

Criticism and controversy

BBC Radio 2's Paul Gambaccini told the Radio Times that The Voice UK is "karaoke", and Mark Goodier questioned the motives of Universal Music saying, "Universal have to be doing this because they want market share." On whether The Voice is to become a "huge hit" in the UK, he added, "It really depends on whether they find a star or not."

During the performance in the Semi Final, Becky Hill forgot her words and said an explicit word. Willoughby apologized after the performance. An edited version to the performance was posted on BBC.com and YouTube.