The Voice of Ireland
| The Voice of Ireland | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Talent show |
| Created by | John de Mol |
| Presented by | Eoghan McDermott Kathryn Thomas |
| Judges | |
| Country of origin | Ireland |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 54 (inc. results shows) |
| Production | |
| Producer | Screentime Shinawil Productions |
| Production location | The Helix |
| Running time | 72-104minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | RTÉ One |
| Release | 8 January 2012 – Present |
| Release | followed_by |
| Release | followed_by |
| Release | followed_by |
| Release | followed_by |
| Release | followed_by |
| Related | |
| The Voice | |
The Voice of Ireland is the Irish edition of the international TV franchise The Voice, a reality singing competition created by media tycoon John de Mol. The first series began airing from 8 January 2012 on RTÉ One.[1] The coaches originally were Bressie, Sharon Corr, Kian Egan and Brian Kennedy. Kennedy left after the first series and was replaced by Jamelia. After the second series, Corr quit the show owing to other commitments and was replaced by Dolores O'Riordan. Following series 3, Dolores and Jamelia quit. The current coaches are Bressie, Una Foden, Kian Egan and Rachel Stevens. The show is hosted by Kathryn Thomas[2] and co-hosted by Eoghan McDermott, who also presented backstage show The Voice After Party in Series 3.
The series is part of the The Voice franchise and is based on a similar competition format in the Netherlands entitled The Voice of Holland. The show replaced The All Ireland Talent Show. One of the important premises of the show is the quality of the singing talent. Four coaches, themselves popular performing artists, train the talents in their group and occasionally perform with them. Talents are selected in blind auditions, where the coaches cannot see, but only hear the auditioner.
The TV show "blind" auditions are held at the The Helix, and are broadcast for the first five weeks of the series. The Battle Phase is broadcast over three weeks from the second week of February to the last week of February each year. The winner of the show is offered a recording contract with Universal Music Ireland worth €100,000.
The current holder of the crown The Voice of Ireland is the series 4 champion, Patrick Donoghue. It was confirmed on 12 June 2015 that the show would return for a fifth series in 2016.
Production
The show replaced The All Ireland Talent Show. The Voice of Ireland aired on RTE One. The show is produced by Screentime Shinawil Productions.
Auditions
Auditions took place at the end of 2011. The closing date for applications was Monday, 19 September 2011.[3]
The Blind Auditions for Series 1 took place at The Helix, Dublin, between 26 and 31 October 2011 in front of a live audience. The first series began on 8 January 2012 and finished on 29 April 2012. The Blind auditions for Series 2 took place at The Helix, Dublin, place on 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25 October 2012 at The Helix.[4]
Scheduling and filming
The show takes place in The Helix, Dublin. The Live Shows began on 4 March. The main show airs for 90 minutes. The results show airs for 30 minutes. The show airs on Sunday nights. The second series began filming the Blind Auditions in Dublin's Helix theatre on 21 October 2012.
Series overview
To date, four series have been broadcast and the fifth series is underway, as summarised below.
|
|
| Series | Start | Finish | Winner | Runner-up | Third place | Fourth place | Winning coach | Presenter | Backstage presenter | Coaches |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 January 2012 | 29 April 2012 | Pat Byrne | Richie Hayes | Vanessa Whelan | Jim Devine | Bressie | Kathryn Thomas | Eoghan McDermott | Bressie Sharon Corr Kian Egan Brian Kennedy |
| 2 | 6 January 2013 | 28 April 2013 | Keith Hanley | Kelly Mongan | Shane McLaughlin | Shannon Murphy | Jamelia | Bressie Sharon Corr Kian Egan Jamelia | ||
| 3 | 5 January 2014 | 27 April 2014 | Brendan McCahey | Kellie Lewis | Laura May Lenehan | Jamie Stanton | Bressie | Bressie Dolores O'Riordan Kian Egan Jamelia | ||
| 4 | 4 January 2015 | 26 April 2015 | Patrick Donoghue | Emma Humber | Sarah McTernan | Kieran McKillop | Una Foden | Bressie Rachel Stevens Kian Egan Una Foden | ||
| 5 | 3 January 2016 | 24 April 2016 |
Format
The series consists of three phases:
- Blind audition
- Battle phase
- Live performance shows
Blind audition
Four coaches, all famous musicians, choose teams of artists through a blind audition process. Each coach has the length of the artists performance to decide if he or she wants that artist on his or her team (twelve in the first series, more in the second); if two or more coaches want the same artist then the singer gets to choose which coach they want to work with. An addition to the third season is that RTÉ 2fm have selected 5 wildcards to audition.
Battle phase
Each team of singers will be mentored and developed by their coach. In the second stage, coaches will have two of their team members battle against each other by singing the same song, with the coach choosing which team member will advance to the next stage. For the third series a new feature was added whereby if an act lost their battle, they are not immediately out of the competition. Each coach has one 'Steal' where they get the opportunity to take one losing act and have them join their team for the live shows. They do this by pressing their 'I Want You' button.
Live performance shows
In the final phase, the remaining contestants will compete against each other in live broadcasts. The television audience will help to decide who moves on. When one team member remains for each coach, the contestants will compete against each other in the finale.
Post-The Voice of Ireland
The winner of the show will be offered a recording contract with Universal Music Ireland worth €100,000.
Coaches and hosts
| Coaches | Seasons | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| Brian Kennedy | |||||
| Bressie | |||||
| Kian Egan | |||||
| Sharon Corr | |||||
| Jamelia | |||||
| Dolores O'Riordan | |||||
| Rachel Stevens | |||||
| Una Foden | |||||
| Hosts | Seasons | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| Kathryn Thomas | |||||
| Eoghan McDermott | |||||
Coaches' teams and their artists
- Color key
|
|
|
Winners are in bold, Finalists are italicized in bold font, and eliminated artists are in small font.
Reception
Series averages
| Series | Series premiere | Series finale | Episodes (inc. results shows) |
Average Irish viewers (inc. results shows) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 January 2012 | 29 April 2012 | 25 | 597,222 (for 9 episodes) |
| 2 | 6 January 2013 | 28 April 2013 | 17 | 599,411 (for 9 episodes) |
| 3 | 5 January 2014 | 27 April 2014 | TBA | 575,767 (for 9 episodes) |
Ratings
RTÉ described the first ever episode as "a great ratings success" as it pulled in an average of 708,000 viewers and peaked at 1.2 million.[5] It was later reported that the first 5 episodes pulled in an average of 701,000 viewers a week.[6]
Audience ratings for the first series, initially promising, had plunged by 50% by the time the live shows were broadcast and were reported to be unfavourable when compared to ratings held by its predecessor The All Ireland Talent Show.[7]
Music releases by The Voice of Ireland contestants
As of July 2015, the Voice of Ireland has had thirteen singles and four albums chart on the top 100 on the Irish Singles and Albums Charts.
Singles
| Artist | Series | Position in show | Song title | IRE release date | IRE peak chart position |
Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pat Byrne | 1 | Winner | "What a Wonderful World" | 23 April 2012 | 3 | [8] |
| Richie Hayes | 1 | Runner-up | "One Voice" | 23 April 2012 | 23 | [8] |
| Vanessa Whelan | 1 | Third place | "Who Wants to Live Forever" | 23 April 2012 | 28 | [8] |
| Jim Devine | 1 | Fourth Place | "The Dance" | 23 April 2012 | - | [9] |
| Pat Byrne | 1 | Winner | "End of the World" | 2 November 2012 | 61 | |
| Ryan O'Shaughnessy | 1 | Final 24 | "No Name" | 5 August 2012 | 3 | [10] |
| Pat Byrne | 1 | Winner | "All or Nothing" | 15 March 2013 | 80 | |
| Kim Hayden | 1 | Final 8 | "Warrior" | 19 April 2013 | - | [11] |
| Keith Hanley | 2 | Winner | "Beggin'" | 29 April 2013 | 37 | [12] |
| Kelly Mongan | 2 | Runner-Up | "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" | 29 April 2013 | 67 | [12] |
| Shannon Murphy | 2 | Fourth Place | "Ho Hey" | 29 April 2013 | 49 | [12] |
| Ryan O'Shaughnessy | 1 | Final 24 | "Who Do You Love?" | 2 August 2013 | 3 | [13] |
| Andrew Mann | 2 | Final 16 | "Middle Of The Dancefloor" | 8 November 2013 | - | [14] |
| Keith Hanley | 2 | Winner | "Blue" | 21 February 2014 | 29 | |
| Brendan McCahey | 3 | Winner | "You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover" | 17 April 2014 | 15 | |
| Keith Hanley | 2 | Winner | "Hush" | 30 May 2014 | - | |
| Brendan McCahey | 3 | Winner | "Sweet Love" | 31 October 2014 | 90 | |
| Brendan McCahey | 3 | Winner | "Safe and Well" | 10 April 2015 | - | |
| Patrick Donoghue | 4 | Winner | "Redemption Days" | 17 July 2015 | - |
Albums
| Artist | Series | Position in show | Album title | IRE release date | IRE peak chart position |
Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pat Byrne | 1 | Winner | "All or Nothing" | 16 November 2012 | 10 | [15] |
| Ryan O'Shaughnessy | 1 | Final 24 | "Ryan O'Shaughnessy" | 13 August 2012 | 1 | [16] |
| Conor Quinn | 1 | Final 8 | "Golden Kids" | 20 August 2013 | - | |
| Andrew Mann | 2 | Final 16 | "Hidden In Plain Sight" | 31 December 2013 (re-release) | - | |
| Kim Hayden | 1 | Final 8 | "Better" | 14 February 2014 | - | |
| Keith Hanley | 2 | Winner | "Hush" | 7 March 2014 | 17 | |
| Brendan McCahey | 3 | Winner | "To Where I Begin" | 14 November 2014 | 20 |
References
- ^ "The Voice of Ireland begins Sunday". RTÉ Ten. Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 6 January 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
- ^ Finn, Melanie (2 September 2011). [http://www.herald.ie/entertainment/around-town/how-kathryn-won-voice-gig-by-a-hairs-
breadth-2865009.html "How Kathryn won Voice gig by a hair's breadth"]. Evening Herald. Independent News & Media. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
{{cite news}}: Check|url=value (help); line feed character in|url=at position 85 (help) - ^ "Applications to audition for 'The Voice of Ireland' are now open!". Film Ireland. 2 September 2011. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
- ^ "The Voice of Ireland – RTÉ Television". RTÉ News.
- ^ "708,000 watch The Voice of Ireland". RTÉ Ten. Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 9 January 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
- ^ Rogers, Kathryn (7 February 2012). "Kathryn Thomas's The Voice beats Grainne Seoige's All Ireland Talent Show in rating". The Star. Archived from the original on 20 September 2014.
{{cite news}}:|archive-date=/|archive-url=timestamp mismatch; 20 March 2012 suggested (help) - ^ Murphy, Claire (24 March 2012). "The Voice under strain as viewers switch off". Evening Herald. Independent News & Media. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
- ^ a b c "TOP 50 SINGLES, WEEK ENDING 26 April 2012". chart-track.co.uk. 26 April 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
- ^ http://irish-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Jim+Devine&titel=The+Dance&cat=s
- ^ "TOP 50 SINGLES, WEEK ENDING 16 August 2012". chart-track.co.uk. 16 August 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
- ^ http://irish-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Kim+Hayden&titel=Get+Out+Of+My+Life&cat=s
- ^ a b c "TOP 100 SINGLES, WEEK ENDING 2 May 2013". chart-track.co.uk. 2 May 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
- ^ [http://www.chart-track.co.uk/index.jsp?
c=p%2Fmusicvideo%2Fmusic%2Farchive%2Findex_test.jsp&ct=240001&arch=t&lyr=2013&year=2013&week=32 "TOP 100 SINGLES, WEEK ENDING 8 August 2013"]. chart-track.co.uk. 8 August 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
{{cite news}}: Check|url=value (help); line feed character in|url=at position 40 (help) - ^ http://irish-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Andrew+Mann&titel=Middle+Of+The+Dancefloor&cat=s
- ^ "TOP 75 ARTIST ALBUM, WEEK ENDING 22 November 2012". chart-track.co.uk. 22 November 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
- ^ "TOP 75 ARTIST ALBUM, WEEK ENDING 16 August 2012". chart-track.co.uk. 16 August 2012.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help)