The Voice is an international reality television singing competition franchise originally created by Dutch producer John de Mol Jr. and Dutch singer Roel van Velzen.

It has become a rival to the Idol franchise, The Four, Rising Star and The X Factor. The owner of the franchise was Talpa Network up until 2020 and ITV Studios ever since.

Originating from the reality singing competition The Voice of Holland, many other countries adapted the format and began airing their own versions starting in 2010. Up till now, seven different versions of The Voice have been produced by countries/regions all around the world. Some programs still stick to the original format of the show while most of them are produced with twists of the format added.

The franchise maintains official YouTube channels called The Voice Global and La Voz Global (as the Spanish version). The channels upload compilation videos of performances from The Voice all around the world. The Voice Global channel currently has over 10 million subscribers. Other channels on YouTube such as Best of The Voice and Best of The Voice Kids also feature compilations of the performances.

History Talpa's John de Mol Jr., creator of Big Brother, first created The Voice concept with Dutch singer Roel van Velzen. Erland Galjaard, a Dutch program director, asked John de Mol about whether he could come up with a format that went a step further than The X Factor. De Mol then came up with the idea of Blind Audition. He wanted the show's image to be about the focus on singing quality alone, so the coaches must be top artists in the music industry. The rotating chairs concept was invented by Roel van Velzen. It would also be the first talent show in which social media was actively involved.

On 17 September 2010, The Voice of Holland began to air on RTL 4 with Angela Groothuizen, Roel van Velzen, Nick & Simon, and Jeroen van der Boom as the mentor-judges (dubbed as "coaches") of the show. The show proved to be an instant success in the Netherlands.

The format was later sold to different countries, in many cases replacing a previous Endemol music contest format, Operation Triumph/Star Academy.

Original format The show's format features five stages of competition: producers' auditions, blind auditions, battle rounds, knockouts (since 2012), and live performance shows.

Blind auditions Contestants are aspiring singers drawn from public auditions (which are not broadcast) and active recruitment. Unlike Idols and The X Factor, the producers pick fewer contestants (usually from 100, up to 200 contestants), which are deemed "the best artists", to perform in the broadcast auditions. The first televised stage is the blind auditions, in which the four coaches, all noteworthy recording artists, listen to the contestants in chairs facing away from the stage so as to avoid seeing them and to prevent judging the contestants based on other factors. If a coach likes what they hear from that contestant, they press a button to rotate their chairs to signify that they are interested in working with that contestant. If more than one coach presses their button, the contestant chooses the coach he or she wants to work with. The blind auditions end when each coach has a set number of contestants to work with. Coaches will dedicate themselves to developing their singers mentally, musically and in some cases physically, giving them advice, and sharing the secrets of their success.

Battles The contestants who successfully pass the blind auditions proceed to the battle rounds (dubbed The Cut/Callbacks in some versions), where the coaches put two or sometimes three of their own team members against each other to sing the same song together in front of a studio audience. After the vocal face-off, the coach must choose only one to advance. If no specific winner can be identified, either the competition turns to a game of fate via a coin toss, or the coach may combine them into a duo throughout the rest of the competition. In rare cases the coach can also choose to advance neither one (As seen in season eight of The Voice of Holland). In some versions, there are steals where opposing coaches can steal a contestant who was voted off by their own coach by pressing their button. As in the blind auditions, if more than one coach presses their button, the contestant chooses which coach they want. Each coach has a set number of steals, usually one or two (raised to three in the seventh season of The Voice Brasil).

Knockouts The knockout round was introduced in 2012 and is implemented in some versions. The winners of the battle rounds proceed to this round (dubbed Super-battle round/Singoffs in some versions).

As in the battle rounds, coaches pit members of their own team (usually 2/3/4, rarely 6 or 10) against each other. This time, the contestants choose their own song to perform individually while the other watches and waits. After that, the coach chooses one to advance while the other is sent home. At the end of the knockout rounds, the strongest members of each coach's roster proceed to the live stage shows. Some versions include steals. Like in the battle round, the opposing coaches can steal a contestant who was voted off by their own coach by pressing their button. Similar to the blind auditions, if more than one coach presses their button, the contestant chooses which coach they want.

Live shows In the final performance phase of the competition, the top contestants from each team compete against each other during a live broadcast. The television audience vote to save one contestant on each team, leaving the coach to decide on live television who they want to save and who will not move on. In the next round, the public chooses between the two artists left on each team, and the coach also has a vote that weighs equally with the public vote.

Finally, each coach will have their best contestant left standing to compete in the finals, singing an original song. From these four or five, one will be named "The Voice"—and will receive the grand prize of a recording contract and a cash prize. Universal Music Group is the general record company associated and affiliated with The Voice format in most countries.

Social media participation One of the cornerstones of The Voice format is the social media participation via Twitter, Facebook and the specially designed platform "connect". Users are able to log in via their Facebook account and retrieve background information about the show. The platform also offers the possibility to stream the show online as well as to vote, interact with friends and to discuss various topics and questions asked by the producers throughout the show.

Format variations Blind auditions twists

No conversations if no turn Starting from the fifth season of The Voice of Holland, if all the coaches rejected one specific contestant, they left the stage straight away, without any conversations with the coaches, and the chairs remained unturned. This format has been used in versions of other countries in list below;

+ Regular versions that adapted "No turn, No conversation" rule Regular Version Season(s) Albania6Armenia4Australia15–Belgique4–6Belgium 6Bulgaria4–Česko Slovensko3Finland6–France6–8Françafrique2–3Georgia5Germany6–8Italy5Kazakhstan3Lithuania4–8Mexico6–7, 11Mongolia2– Myanmar2–3Nepal4, 6–Nigeria3–4Poland6–Romania5, 8South Africa2–3Sri Lanka2–Thailand6–8Ukraine8United Kingdom6–

"Block" buttons The fourteenth season of the American version introduced a new mechanism for the blind auditions: "block" buttons. A coach who wants a specific contestant can prevent another coach from doing so by pressing that coach's "block" button instead of their own main button. The coach who is blocked will not know until pressing their red button; upon turning around, the word "blocked" appears on the LED floor instead of their name. More than 40 versions around the world have adapted this feature. In most cases, a coach can only use a single block button per season, although variations exist, as indicated in the table below.

+ Countries that adapted the "block" buttons Country / Region Version Season(s) Notes Arab World Regular 5– In season 6, a coach can block another one after the performance, and the blocked coach's chair will turn to the audience again. Kids 4–Coach can block another one after the performance, and the blocked coach's chair will turn to the audience again Argentina Regular 4– Each coach has three "blocks". Coaches press the "block" button and then the main one. In the next season, the button block was made the main Afrique Francophone Regular 4 Australia Regular 9– The number of "blocks" is two for each coach and two blocks are permitted in a single audition. Also, the "block" can only be used after the blocked and the blocking coaches have already turned around. Starting in season 11, the "block" buttons can be used even after the contestant's performance. In season 12, "block" buttons can be used before the blocked coach turns and, then, the chair does not turn around. In season 13, "blocks" are reduced to one, however, the second block was replaced with a twist called "ultimate block" which "blocks" all other turned coaches. Belgium Regular 8– Starting in season 9, the number of "blocks" increased to two per coach. In season 11, a coach can block another one after the performance, and the blocked coach's chair will turn to the audience again.

The "superblock" buttons were removed in season 12 but was replaced with a twist called "ultimate block" which "blocks" all other turned coaches Kids 2 Each coach has three "blocks" to use. The block buttons were removed in season 3 Regular 6, 9– The "block" buttons were removed in season 7. It returned in season 9, and coach can block another one after the performance, and the blocked coach's chair will turn to the audience again

The "superblock" buttons were removed in season 10 but was replaced with a twist called "ultimate block" which "blocks" all other turned coaches Kids 5–7 Two "blocks" for each coach. In season 7, blocks were reduced to one and a coach can block another one after the performance, and the blocked coach's chair will turn to the audience again.

The "superblock" buttons were removed in season 8 Brazil Regular 7– The "blocks" are also possible in the battles round. Starting in season 8, the number of blocks per coach was raised to two, only in the auditions. Starting in season 10, the "block" buttons were only available during the auditions. In season 11, two " blocks" are permitted in a single audition. In season 12 the blocks returned in the battles. Bulgaria Regular 6– Only in season 7, when the blocked coach tried to turn around, the chair did not turn. Starting in season 8, each coach had two "blocks" to use.

Starting in season 10, blocking a coach could happen only when the audition ended, and the blocked coach's chair will turn back to the audience. From season 11 two blocks are permitted in a single audition.

In season 12 each coach had one "block" and one "superblock" to use during the auditions. Cambodia Regular 3 Canada Regular 7– In season 10, a coach can block another one after the performance, and the blocked coach's chair will turn to the audience again, and coaches are given two "blocks". Chile Regular 4 Coaches can use the "block" buttons indefinitely, and two coaches can be blocked in a single audition. When the blocked coach tries to turn for the contestant, the chair does not turn around. Colombia Kids 6 Coaches can use the "block" buttons indefinitely, and when the blocked coach presses their button to turn, the chair does not turn