The Voice UK is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The first series began on 24 March 2012 and ended on 2 June 2012. The show was co-presented by Holly Willoughby and Reggie Yates on BBC One. The series was won by Leanne Mitchell, who was on Tom Jones' team. Becky Hill, who was on Jessie J’s team and eliminated in the fifth live show (semi-final) of the competition, reached Number One in the UK Singles Chart as a guest vocalist on the hit song, "Gecko (Overdrive)" alongside Dutch DJ Oliver Heldens, and would find much success in the music industry after that.
Coaches and presenters
Coaches and Presenters for series 1 of The Voice UK
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.[1] Her sister, Dannii Minogue was also confirmed to be in the running after she left the panel of The X Factor.[2]Mark Owen[2] and Lenny Kravitz were strong candidates for the role.[2]Frankie Sandford of The Saturdays was also confirmed to be in the running.[3] The show's producers were impressed with Cee Lo Green's performance on the American TV series version and wanted him on the British version, but he turned the chance down.[4] Dannii Minogue's former work mate, Cheryl Cole was also said to be a candidate.[5] However, Cole and Minogue were both ruled out after producers said they wanted to "start fresh" and not have The X Factor left overs.[6] 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 with a chance.[6]Tom Jones was offered a role, and later accepted the offer.[7] It was revealed that Frankie Sandford was on the verge of signing a contract to become a coach.[8]George Michael and Mary J. Blige were also being considered,[9] 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. "[9]will.i.am was confirmed to be close to signing a contract with the show's producers.[10][11] It was said that Frankie Sandford was awaiting to finalise her contract, but she pulled out because of her "busy schedule".[12]
Controversy arose after Danny 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".[13]
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.
Colour key
✔
Coach hit his/her "I WANT YOU" button
Artist defaulted to this coach's team
Artist elected to join this coach's team
Artist eliminated with no coach pressing his or her "I WANT YOU" button
Artist received an 'All Turn'.
Episode 1 (24 March)
The first blind audition episode was broadcast on 24 March 2012.[17]
^ The artist Jaz Ellington was requested, by coach Jessie J, to sing a second track; despite having already joined coach will.i.am's team. Ellington selected "Ordinary People" by John Legend, having already performed "The A Team" by Ed Sheeran.
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 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[24] with British singer-songwriter Emeli Sandé performing during the second results show on 6 May 2012.[25] American group Scissor Sisters performed during the third result show on 13 May 2012[26] with The Voice UK Battle Round AdviserPaloma Faith performing during the fourth results show on 20 May 2012.[27]Cheryl and Kylie Minogue performed during the fifth live show[28] It was confirmed on 18 May 2012 that the final on 2 June 2012 would feature performances from Ed Sheeran and Maroon 5.[29]
Results summary
Team’s Colour Key
Team Will
Team Jessie
Team Tom
Team Danny
Result's colour key
–
Contestant was in the bottom two or three
–
Contestant was eliminated
–
Contestant who received the most public votes
–
Contestant did not perform on that particular week
Weekly results per contestant
Contestant
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Round 1
Round 2
Leanne Mitchell
Safe
Bottom three
Safe
Safe
Winner (week 6)
Bo Bruce
Safe
Safe
Safe
Safe
Runner-up (week 6)
Tyler James
Safe
Bottom three
Safe
Safe
Vince Kidd
Safe
Safe
Safe
4th
Eliminated (week 6)
Becky Hill
Safe
Bottom three
Eliminated
Eliminated (week 5)
Jaz Ellington
Safe
Safe
Eliminated
Eliminated (week 5)
Max Milner
Bottom two
Bottom three
Eliminated
Eliminated (week 5)
Ruth Brown
Safe
Safe
Eliminated
Eliminated (week 5)
Aleks Josh
Safe
Eliminated
Eliminated (week 4)
Cassius Henry
Safe
Eliminated
Eliminated (week 4)
David Julien
Safe
Eliminated
Eliminated (week 4)
Toni Warne
Bottom two
Eliminated
Eliminated (week 4)
Adam Isaac
Safe
Eliminated
Eliminated (week 3)
Frances Wood
Safe
Eliminated
Eliminated (week 3)
Joelle Moses
Bottom two
Eliminated
Eliminated (week 3)
Matt & Sueleen
Eliminated
Eliminated (week 3)
Hannah Berney
Eliminated
Eliminated (week 2)
Ruth-Ann St. Luce
Eliminated
Eliminated (week 2)
Sam Buttery
Eliminated
Eliminated (week 1)
Sophie Griffin
Eliminated
Eliminated (week 1)
Live show details
Week 1 (28 & 29 April)
The first live show aired on 28 April 2012 – with Team Tom and Team will.i.am performing.[30]
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.
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.[34]
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.
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.
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."[57]
During her performance in the fourth live show, Becky Hill forgot her words and said an explicit word.[58] Willoughby apologized after the performance. An edited version to the performance was posted on BBC iPlayer and YouTube.
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