The Voice was designed around one trick: judges who cannot see the singer
A Dutch programme director asked the creator of Big Brother for a talent show that went further than The X Factor. John de Mol's answer was the blind audition, where famous coaches sit with their backs to the stage and turn their chairs only if a voice alone persuades them.
The Voice was devised by John de Mol Jr. of Talpa together with the Dutch singer Roel van Velzen, after programme director Erland Galjaard challenged de Mol to top The X Factor. The idea was that singing quality should be all that mattered, which meant the coaches had to be major recording artists. The Voice of Holland launched on RTL 4 on 17 September 2010 with van Velzen among the coaches and was an immediate hit.
The format then spread, often displacing Endemol's older contest Operation Triumph, also known as Star Academy. Talpa owned the franchise until 2020, when ITV Studios took over. Universal Music Group is the usual record partner, and the winner gets a recording contract plus cash. A global YouTube channel collecting performances from every version has passed 10 million subscribers.
A season runs in stages. Producers first pick a relatively small pool, usually around 100 and up to 200 hopefuls, far fewer than rival shows. In the blind auditions a coach hits a button to turn around, and if several turn, the singer chooses. In battle rounds a coach pits team members against each other in a duet and keeps one; knockouts, added in 2012, have them sing separately. Live shows then mix public votes with coaches' choices until each coach has one finalist singing an original song.
Local versions keep tinkering. The American edition, in its fourteenth season, added a block button that lets a coach sabotage a rival's turn, discovered only when the blocked coach spins round to see the word on the floor. Vietnam's kids' version tried a mute button that silenced a coach, who could still plead with gestures. Other twists recycle rejects: the Dutch show's early Wild Card round, the American Comeback Stage streamed on YouTube, and an Australian second-chance coach.
Source: The Voice (franchise)
