The Voice is an Australian competitive singing television show which is broadcast on the Nine Network and is based on a show called ‘The Voice of Holland’. The show is currently hosted by Sonia Kruger who took over as host during the fifth season of the show after the departure of host Darren McMullen.

What is the format of The Voice Australia?

The Voice is structured into three phases known as the blind auditions, the battle round and the live performance shows. In 2017 the show added an additional knock out phased between the blind auditions and the battle rounds. The winder of the show gets a contract with either Universal Music or EMI as well as $100,000 in prize money, amongst other prizes.

During the blinds auditions on the show, four judges (all notable recording artists) choose teams of contestants through a blind audition process. Each judge is given the length of the audition to decide if they want they singer on their team, if more than one judge wants the singer on their team then it is up to them to decide who they want to be coached by.

During the knockout and battle rounds of the show each team of singers are given the opportunity to be mentored and developed by their coach. At the second stage of the competition the coaches each choose three of their competitors to go head to head against each other in a sing off competition.

Each competitor is given a different song, the judges then choose which competitor will go on to the next phase of the competitors. Every coach is given the opportunity to use two saves, allowing their own acts to proceed through to the next rounds.

During the battle rounds, artists are given the opportunity to perform a duet together. 32 artists are given the opportunity to make it into the battle rounds, but only 16 of them are given a chance to compete in the finals.

Coaches are each given one wildcard, which allows them to save an artist from elimination and take them trough to the finals.

During the final phase of the competition the remaining eight contestants compete against each other. The audience and judges are both given equal say in the decision about which competitors proceed to the final four places. Each coach had one contestant to compete with in the final round. The winner of the competition is decided by the public.

Filming for the show first began in 2012 at Fox Studios in Sydney. There were 121 artists featured during the initial Blind Auditions selection process. The first day involves hundreds of audiences’ members being turned away due to overbooking. Filming of the battle rounds of the show began in the following months.

The ratings success of show led to a renewal of the second season, whilst the first was still filming. Keith Urban who appeared in the first season advised that he would not return for the second season after he accepted an offer to join the judging panel on American Idol. Ricky Martin was eventually chosen to replace Urban for the second season of the show. Delta Goodrem, Madden and Seal all returned for the second season of the show.

The successful run of the first season of the show led Nine Network to increase its programming for the second season of the show and an additional ten hours of content were produced and broadcast by the network. The show’s run in its second season went for three months, instead of two.

Goodrem remained on the show until 2014 until she left to join The Voice Kids and Seal left the show to continue his music career.  They were replaced by Kylie Minogue and Will.i.am. In 2015, Goodrem returned to the judging panel alongside Jessie J and Benji Madden. Ronan Keating came in to replace Martin in the fifth season.

The Voice Season 1

Karise Eden was the first winner of the show, with Darren Percival coming in the runner up place in the 2012 season. The first season resulted in 80% of the artists entering the music charts. Eden had a record breaking eight singles in the charts, a number one single and a number one album.

The Voice Season 2

The second season of the show saw Harrison Craig win top place, under the coaching of Seal. Luke Kennedy reached second place in the competition.

The Voice Season 3

The third season, which was filmed in 2014 led to Anja Nissen winning top place. Jackson Thomas won second place in the competition.

The Voice Season 4

During the fourth season of the show Ellie Drennan was announced as the first place winner, whilst Joe Moore came in second place on the show.

The Voice Season 5

During the firsth season of the show Alfie Arcuri was announced as the winner of the show, with Adam Ladell coming in second place.

The Voice Season 6

During the 2017 sixth season, Boy George and Kelly Rowland were announced as new coaches. Judah Kelley was announced as the winner of the season, whilst Hoseak Partsch came in second place.

The Voice Season 7

Season seven of the show aired in 2018, Sam Perry was announced as the winner of the show and Bella Paige came in second place.

The Voice Season 8

Season eight of the show aired in 2019 and added Guy Sebastian as a new judge.

The Voice Season 9

The show has been confirmed as renewed for a ninth season, due to air in 2020.

Music released by contestants from The Voice

Two of The Voice Australia winners, Karise Eden and Harrison Craig have both had albums that have debuted at number one in the ARIA album charts. Darren Percival, Rachael Leahcar, Sarah De Bono, Prinnie Stevens, Emma Birdsall, Adam Martin and Lakyn of season 1 and Luke Kennedy, Emma Pask, Celia Pavey, Danny Ross and Caterina Toress of season 2 have all signed contracts with Universal Music Australia.

Controversies surrounding The Voice Australia

A lot of the controversy surrounding the show is based around the tensions between the coaches on the show. In the recent season of the show, tensions boiled over between Kelly Rowland and Boy George.

George accused Kelly Rowland of cheating after Kelly’s artist, Denzel performed an original song instead of a cover during the knock out rounds of the competition. The other judges piled on with Guy Sebastian agreeing that the judges were being hypocrites. Deltra Goodrem agreed that it was unfair and that the other artists would kill to perform an original song.

Many of the judges have previously admitted that things can get tense on set and that judges sometimes have to walk away from the show for a breather.

Controversy also sometimes arises when contestants don’t agree with the judges feedback, such as during the recent eighth season when contestant Kirrah Amara disagreed with Delta Goodrem and marched off stage.

In the past the show has also been accused of ‘holding the audience’ against their wills during long filming sessions of up to nine hours. Some audience members reported that staff barred the doors and wouldn’t let them leave.