91Èȱ¬

Danny Cohen, Controller, 91Èȱ¬ One announces today that The Voice, the new "blind audition" talent search for the next voice of the nation, will make its UK debut on the channel next year.

The US version of the Talpa format, currently taking America by storm and starring Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton, debuted on NBC in April this year to 12m viewers and great critical acclaim. Viewing figures have been steadily rising and a second series has already been commissioned.

Danny Cohen, who reached the agreement with the show's creator John de Mol yesterday, says: "I'm absolutely delighted that The Voice will be coming to the 91Èȱ¬. It's a big, exciting and warm-hearted series and will be a fantastic Saturday night event on 91Èȱ¬ One."

John de Mol, owner of Talpa Media, the show's creator, says: "The Voice stands for a new generation in its genre and I'm delighted that in the UK it has been picked up by the 91Èȱ¬ who really share my passion and belief in the show."

Nick Southgate, CEO at Shed Media, says: "We're thrilled to be working with John de Mol and his team at Talpa in bringing The Voice to the UK public. It's an extraordinary show that has captured the hearts of viewers round the world and we're proud to be part of bringing it to 91Èȱ¬ One."

The Voice is a Talpa format. The series was created by John de Mol. Earlier this year, the original version – "The Voice Of Holland" – was the most watched talent competition in the history of Dutch TV. The 91Èȱ¬ version will be a co-production between Talpa and Wall to Wall (a Shed Media company) and overseen by Wall to Wall Creative Director, Leanne Klein.

Format

The series consists of three phases: a blind audition, a battle phase and live performance shows. Four judges/coaches, all famous musicians, will choose teams of contestants through a blind audition process. Each judge has the length of the auditionee's performance to decide if he or she wants that singer on his or her team; if two or more judges want the same singer then the singer gets to choose which coach they want to work with.

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.

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.

KT