The Voice is a reality talent show. The series is part of the franchise The Voice and is based on a similar competition format in the Netherlands, The Voice of Holland. The show is hosted by Carson Daly, with Alison Haislip serving as the backstage and social networking correspondent, and the coaches, all well-known musicians, were Christina Aguilera, CeeLo Green, Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine and Blake Shelton. The inaugural season premiered April 26, 2011, and ended on June 29, 2011, with the live finale.
Javier Colon was named the winner of the inaugural season, marking Adam Levine's first win as a coach.
Overview The series consists of three phases: a blind audition, a battle phase and a four-week live performance shows. Four coaches each choose teams of (eight) contestants through a blind audition process. Coaches have the length of the auditioner's performance (about one minute) to decide whether to select that singer for their team; if two or more coaches want the same singer (as happened with all but one singer in the premiere episode), the artist is given an option to choose their coach. These artists will be mentored by the selected coach throughout the entire season, then compete in battle rounds followed by live performance shows and eliminations are done team-based until each coach had one artist remaining. When one remains for each coach, the four contestants compete against each other in the finale, with the winning artist receiving $100,000 and a record deal with Universal Republic Records.
Coaches, host, and social media correspondent In late February 2011, NBC began announcements of the coaches for the series. First to sign on were CeeLo Green and Adam Levine (frontman for Maroon 5). Christina Aguilera came on board in early March 2011. Blake Shelton was added as the final coach on March 7, 2011.
Carson Daly was announced as the show's official host. Alison Haislip was announced as the show's "backstage online and social media correspondent" during the live shows.
The season's advisors for Green, Levine, Aguilera and Shelton were respectively are: Sia, Monica, music producer Adam Blackstone and Reba McEntire.
Auditions Contestant auditions were held in eight cities across the United States between mid-January and mid-February 2011: Chicago, New York, Miami, Nashville, Minneapolis, Austin, Los Angeles, and Seattle. Contestants were also allowed to submit an online applications, which ended on March 1, 2011. For the online auditions, contestants were required to sing one of ten preselected songs.
Contestants on The Voice as revealed by airing of promotional advertisements or shows were Javier Colon, Frenchie Davis, Nakia, Lukas Rossi, Cherie Oakley, and Dia Frampton.
Teams Color key
Coaches Top 32 ArtistsAdam Levine Javier Colon Casey Weston Devon Barley Jeff Jenkins Casey Desmond Rebecca Loebe Tim Mahoney Angela WolffCeeLo Green Vicci Martinez Nakia Curtis Grimes The Thompson Sisters Tje Austin Niki Dawson Kelsey Rey Emily ValentineChristina Aguilera Beverly McClellan Frenchie Davis Raquel Castro Lily Elise Julia Eason Justin Grennan Cherie Oakley Tarralyn RamseyBlake Shelton Dia Frampton Xenia Jared Blake Patrick Thomas Elenowen Sara Oromchi Tyler Robinson Serabee
Blind auditions Color key Coach hit his/her "I WANT YOU" button Artist defaulted to this coach's team Artist selected to join this coach's team Artist initially eliminated with no coach pressing his or her "I WANT YOU" button, but given a final chance to sing once again to complete the coach's team Artist eliminated with no coach pressing his or her "I WANT YOU" button and did not advance to the second and final chance round to sing once again to complete the coach's team
Episode 1 (April 26) The coaches performed coach CeeLo's song, "Crazy" at the start of the show.
Order Artist Age Hometown Song Coach's and artist's choicesAdamCeeLoChristinaBlake 1 Tarralyn Ramsey 31 Jacksonville, Florida "Breathe" — — 2 Patrick Thomas 20 Nashville, Tennessee "Live Like You Were Dying" — 3 Jared Blake 32 Star City, Arkansas "Good Girls Go Bad" — — — — 4 Vicci Martinez 26 Tacoma, Washington "Rolling in the Deep" — — 5 Sonia Rao 24 Freehold Township, New Jersey "If I Ain't Got You" — — — — 6 Elenowen Unknown Nashville, Tennessee "Falling Slowly" — — 7 Frenchie Davis 31 Los Angeles, California "I Kissed a Girl" — — — 8 Kelsey Rey 20 Sebastian, Florida "American Boy" — 9 Jeff Jenkins 22 Jones Creek, Texas "Bless the Broken Road" 10 Rebecca Loebe 27 Atlanta, Georgia "Come as You Are" — — 11 Joann Rizzo 56 Freehold Township, New Jersey "I Say a Little Prayer"———— 12 Xenia 16 Temecula, California "Breakeven" — — 13 Tje Austin 27 Austin, Texas "Just the Way You Are" — — 14 Javier Colon 33 Stratford, Connecticut "Time After Time" 15 Beverly McClellan 41 Fort Lauderdale, Florida "Piece of My Heart" — —
Episode 2 (May 3)
Order Artist Age Hometown Song Coach's and artist's choices Adam CeeLo Christina Blake 1 Cherie Oakley 29 Nashville, Tennessee "Gunpowder & Lead" — — — 2 Devon Barley 19 "I'm Yours" — — 3 Joshua Hand 29 West Palm Beach, Florida "Paparazzi" — — — — 4 Raquel Castro 16 Long Island, New York "Bleeding Love" — — — 5 Emily Valentine 23 Hollywood, California "Sober" — — 6 Niki Dawson 19 Jacksonville, Florida "Teenage Dream" — — — 7 Sara Oromchi 18 San Jose, California "Imagine" — — — 8 Tim Mahoney 39 Minneapolis, Minnesota "Bring It On Home to Me" — — — 9 Julia Eason 18 Palos Verdes, California "Mercy" — — 10 Angela Wolff 25 Metter, Georgia "The House That Built Me" — — — — 11 Tyler Robinson 20 Folsom, California "Hey, Soul Sister" — — — 12 Nakia 36 Austin, Texas "Forget You" — — 13 Serabee 34 Mississippi "Son of a Preacher Man" — — — 14 Casey Desmond 25 Boston, Massachusetts "Born This Way" — — — 15 Justin Grennan 30 Enumclaw, Washington "Drops of Jupiter" — — — 16 Casey Weston 18 Naples, Florida Unknown — — — — 17 Lily Elise 20 San Anselmo, California "If I Were a Boy" — — — — 18 Dia Frampton 23 St. George, Utah "Bubbly" — — 19 Curtis Grimes 25 Gilmer, Texas "Hillbilly Bone" — — — 20 The Thompson Sisters(Tori & Taylor Thompson) Santa Maria, California "Stuck Like Glue" — — —
Second chance At the conclusion of Episode 2, only Team CeeLo had completed his full team of eight finalists, while Teams Blake and Christina recruited with seven artists and Team Adam with only six. Selected artists eliminated previously were given a second chance to perform in the round.
Order Artist Age Hometown Song Coach's and artist's choicesAdamCeeLoChristinaBlake1 Lily Elise 20 San Anselmo, California "If I Ain't Got You" — Team full — 2 Sonia Rao 24 "Chasing Pavements" — Team full — 3 Jared Blake 32 Star City, Arkansas "Not Ready to Make Nice" — 4 Casey Weston 18 Naples, Florida "Stupid Boy" Team full 5 Angela Wolff 25 Metter, Georgia "Rolling in the Deep"
The Battles After the Blind Auditions, each coach had eight contestants for the Battle rounds airing over four weeks, with each week one pair of duets from each team competing for a place in the live shows. Coaches begin narrowing down the playing field by training the contestants with the help of "trusted advisors". Each episode featured four battles consisting of pairings from within each team, and each battle concluding with the respective coach eliminating one of the two contestants; the four winners for each coach advanced to the live shows.
The trusted advisors for these episodes are: Adam Blackstone for Team Adam; Reba McEntire working with Team Blake; Monica working with Team CeeLo; and Sia Furler working with Team Christina.
Color key Artist won the Battle and advances to the Live shows Artist lost the Battle and was eliminated
Episode Coach Order Winner Song Loser Episode 3Christina Aguilera 1 Frenchie Davis "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" Tarralyn Ramsey Blake Shelton 2 Patrick Thomas "Burning Love" Tyler RobinsonAdam Levine 3 Casey Weston "Leather and Lace" Tim MahoneyCeeLo Green 4 Vicci Martinez "Perfect" Niki Dawson Episode 4CeeLo Green 1 Nakia "Closer" Tje Austin Blake Shelton 2 Jared Blake "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" ElenowenAdam Levine 3 Javier Colon "Stand By Me" Angela WolffChristina Aguilera 4 Beverly McClellan "Baba O'Riley" Justin Grennan Episode 5Christina Aguilera 1 Raquel Castro "Only Girl (In The World)" Julia Eason Blake Shelton 2 Dia Frampton "You Can't Hurry Love" SerabeeAdam Levine 3 Devon Barley "Creep" Rebecca LoebeCeeLo Green 4 The Thompson Sisters "Unwritten" Kelsey Rey Episode 6Adam Levine 1 Jeff Jenkins Casey Desmond Blake Shelton 2 Xenia "I'll Stand by You" Sara OromchiChristina Aguilera 3 Lily Elise "Since U Been Gone" Cherie OakleyCeeLo Green 4 Curtis Grimes "Need You Now" Emily Valentine
Live shows Week 1 (June 7 & 13) For the first two live shows, two teams performed on one performance show for the public votes and received the results on the following week's live show. Voting commences after the broadcast of each live show on Tuesday and stayed open until 10 AM EDT the following Monday. Results were announced on the following week's live show where the only artist with the highest votes advances, and a second artist saved by the coach from the remaining three. The first week of live shows featured Team Christina and Team Blake.
Color key Artist was saved by the public's vote Artist was saved by his/her coach Artist was eliminated
Order Coach Artist Song Result 1Christina Aguilera Raquel Castro "Blow" Eliminated 2 Blake Shelton Jared Blake "Use Somebody" Eliminated 3Christina Aguilera Beverly McClellan "I'm the Only One" Public's vote 4 Blake Shelton Dia Frampton "Heartless" Public's vote 5 Xenia "Price Tag" Blake's choice 6Christina Aguilera Lily Elise "Big Girls Don't Cry" Eliminated 7 Blake Shelton Patrick Thomas "I Hope You Dance" Eliminated 8Christina Aguilera Frenchie Davis "When Love Takes Over"Christina's Choice
+ Non-competition performances Order Performers Song 1 The Voice coaches "Bohemian Rhapsody", "We Will Rock You", "We Are the Champions" 2Christina And Her 4 Finalists(Raquel Castro, Beverly McClellan, Lily Elise and Frenchie Davis) "Lady Marmalade" 3 Blake Shelton and his 4 finalists(Jared Blake, Dia Frampton, Xenia and Patrick Thomas) "This Love"
Week 2 (June 14 & 20) Similar to the past week, voting proceeded as before—following the episode's close and continuing until 10 AM EDT June 20, two artists each teams advanced by either public vote or coach itself. The second live shows featured Team Adam and Team CeeLo.
The eliminated contestants from this week released a studio performance that's not performed in any episode. Tori & Taylor Thompson - "Cowboy Take Me Away" Jeff Jenkins - "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" Devon Barley - "Animal" Curtis Grimes - "Colder Weather"
Order Coach Artist Song Result 1CeeLo Green The Thompson Sisters "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" Eliminated 2Adam Levine Casey Weston "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree"Adam's Choice 3CeeLo Green Vicci Martinez "Jolene" Public's vote 4Adam Levine Devon Barley "Stop and Stare" Eliminated 5CeeLo Green Nakia "Sex on Fire"CeeLo's Choice 6Adam Levine Jeff Jenkins "Jesus, Take the Wheel" Eliminated 7CeeLo Green Curtis Grimes "Addicted to Love" Eliminated 8Adam Levine Javier Colon "Angel" Public's vote
+ Non-competition performances Order Performers Song 08.1 CeeLo and his 4 Finalists(The Thompson Sisters, Vicci Martinez, Nakia and Curtis Grimes) "Everyday People" 08.2 Adam & His Team(Casey Weston, Devon Barley, Jeff Jenkins and Javier Colon) and John Burroughs High School Choir "With a Little Help from My Friends"
Week 3: Semifinals (June 21 & 22) In deciding on which artist would represent in the finale, both the coach as well as the public vote made up were given an equal say. The artist (for the team) which received a higher combined score will advance to the finals.