The Voice: Ahla Sawt Explained

Genre:Reality television
Creator:John de Mol
Presenter:
  • Arwa Gouda (2012–2014)
  • Mohammad Kareem (2012–2014)
  • Nadine Wilson Njeim (2012–2014)
  • Aimée Sayah (2015)
  • Momen Nour (2015)
  • Nardin Faraj (2018–2019)
  • Badr Al Zaidan (2018)
  • Yasir Al-Saggaf (2019)
Judges:
Country:Arab world
Language:Arabic
Company:Talpa (2012–2019)
Sony Pictures Television Arabia (2012–2014)
ITV Studios (2020–present)
Network:MBC 1, LBCI
Num Seasons:5
Num Episodes:56

The Voice: Ahla Sawt (Arabic: ذا فويس: أحلى صوت; Ahla Sawt meaning "The Most Beautiful Voice") is the Arabic version of Dutch show The Voice of Holland created by John de Mol and produced by Talpa Media Group. The first season of MENA's version of The Voice debuted on 14 September 2012 and was broadcast worldwide from Beirut, Lebanon via MBC 1, a pan-Arabian television station.[1] Through an agreement, the show was also simulcast via LBCI's channels. The first two season's main host was Egyptian actor Mohammad Kareem[2] and Arwa Gouda. Nadine Wilson Njeim hosted from backstage.

The format of The Voice: Ahla Sawt has three stages, which are the blind auditions, the battle rounds, and the live performances. In the blind auditions, each contestant will be allowed to sing for 90 seconds with each of the coaches having their backs to the singer. When a coach wants a singer on their team, the coach presses a red button that results in the chair being turned around to reveal who the singer is to that coach and the singer joining their team. If two or more coaches turn around for that singer, the singer gets to decide which team they want to join. Each coach will have to select 12 singers to form their team from a group of 100 contestants.[3]

Once the blind auditions finish, the battle rounds will begin where the coaches will pair two singers on each team to compete against each other singing the same song on stage. The coaches will then have to decide which contestant will stay and which will be eliminated. After a series of eliminations, live performances will occur where the public can decide which singer will represent the Arab World as "The Voice".

The winner of season 1 of The Voice Ahla Sawt was Murad Bouriki from Team Assi who received the highest number of votes beating out Yousra Mahnouch, Farid Ghannam, and Qusai Hatem.

Due to the high ratings and big popularity the series got in the Arab World, MBC renewed the show for a second season which aired in 2013. All 4 coaches of season 1 came back for season 2. The second season premiered on Saturday, 28 December 2013.

The Voice: Ahla Sawt seasons 1 and 2 were produced by Sony Pictures Television Arabia for MBC and Season 3 was produced by Talpa Middle East.

In season two, during an intense finale which drew millions of viewers across the Middle East & North Africa, guest star Ricky Martin took the stage to perform his new songs "Adrenalina" and "Come With Me". Iraq's Sattar Saad from Team Kadim won the title after receiving the highest number of votes beating out Iraq's Simor Jalal, Egypt's Wahm and Syria's Hala Al Kaseer.[4] [5]

All four coaches once again returned for season three of The Voice Ahla Sawt, which started airing on MBC on 26 September 2015. On 26 December 2015, the winner of season three was Jordan's Nedaa Sharara from Team Sherine who beat out Lebanon's Christine Said from Team Kadim, Iraq's Ali Yousef from Team Assi, and Tunisia's Hamza Fadlaoui from Team Saber.

In 2015, a spin-off of the show featuring children as contestants debuted under the title The Voice Kids – Ahla Sawt.

In 2018, there was a change in the judging panel. The season 4 judges were Elissa, Mohamed Hamaki, Assi El Helani (who had not been replaced since season 1) and Ahlam. The title was won by Iraqi contestant Doumou' Tahseen from Team Ahlam.

The first episode of the fifth season was broadcast on 21 September 2019. In addition to previous coaches Ahlam and Hamaki, the season saw two new coaches: Moroccan singer Samira Said and Lebanese popstar Ragheb Alama, the latter of whom had the winner team this season.

The Voice coaches

Coaches' timeline

CoachesSeasons
35
Assi El Helani
Kadim Al Sahircolspan="2"
Sherinecolspan="2"
Saber Rebaïcolspan="2"
Ahlam
Mohamed Hamaki
Elissa
Ragheb Alama

Series overview

Color key

SeasonFirst aired Last airedWinnerRunner-upOther finalistsWinning coachHost(s)Coaches (chair's order)
1234
1 2012 2012Mourad BourikiFareed GhanamQusai HatemYousra Mahnouch Assi El HelaniMohammed KareemArwa GoudehNadine Wilson NjeimKadim SherineSaber Assi
2 2013 2014Sattar Saad QuasserSimour JalalWahmKadim Al Sahir
327 Sep 2015 2015Nedaa ShararaChristine SaïdAli YoussefHamza FadlaouiSherineAimée SayahMoemen Nur
410 Feb 2018 2018Doumouh TahsinIssam SarhanYusuf SultanHela MelkiAhlamNardine FaragBadr ZaidanAssiAhlamElissaMohamed
521 Sep 201921 Dec 2019Mehdi AyachiIman GhaniFahd MouftakhiRadwan Al AsmarRagheb AlamaYaser Al SakkafMohamedRaghebSamira

The Voice finalists

Color key
  • – Winning coach and their team.
  • Winners are in bold, finalists in finale listed first, eliminated artists are in small font.
    SeasonCoaches and their finalists
    1
    Mourad Bouriki
    Mory Hatem
    Hassan Amara
    Elie Asmar
    Marina Chebel
    Inas Lattouf
    Qusai Hatem
    Lamia Zaïdi
    Samer Abu Taleb
    Lamia Jamal
    Christian Abu Anni
    Mona Roukhachi
    Farid Ghannam
    Mohammad Adli
    Enji Amin
    Abdel Azeem Zahabi
    Alaa Ahmad
    Yousra Mansour
    Yousra Mahnouch
    Nour Ereksousi
    Xriss Jor

    Rouba Khouri
    Roni Shemali
    Rawdan Katrish
    2
    Hala Al Qasser
    Adnan Bresim
    Ghazi Al-Amir
    Reem Mehrat
    Amer Tawfik
    Sahar Seddiki
    Rabih Jaber
    Nadia Khaless
    Simour Jalal
    Mohammed Fares
    Marwa Nagy
    Samer Al-Saeed
    Eyad al-Quassam
    Nancy Nasrallah
    Aïda Mohammed
    Hossam Hosny
    Wahm
    Nile
    Karar Salah
    Khaled El-Khayat
    Mohamed Dahleb
    Mahmoud Tourabi
    Wael Al Muallem
    Alaa Fouad
    Sattar Saad
    Khaoula Moujahid
    Ammar Khattab
    Ahmad Hussein
    Ghazi Khattab
    Ingrid Bawab
    Sanae Abdel-Hamid
    Mehvan Saleh
    3
    Ali Yousef
    Omar Dean
    Nayress Ben Gaga
    Rehab Saleh
    Ahmed Nasser
    Hossam Al Shami
    Hamza Fadhlaoui
    Aboud Barmada
    Mahrazia Touil
    Jad Abi Haydar
    Ranine Al Shaar
    Abdulsamad Jabran
    Nedaa Sharara
    Ghassan Ben Brahim
    Eyad Baha'a
    Abdulmajeed Ibrahim
    Mohamed Al Tayeb
    Reham Mustafa
    Christine Said
    Najat Rajoui
    Radwan Sadek
    Tamer Najm
    Amjad Shaker
    Nasser Atoui
    4
    Yusuf Sultan
    Eya Daghnouj
    Maryse Ferzly
    Safa Saad
    Rita Camilos
    Batoul Bani
    Doumouh Tahsin
    Faisal Al-Ansari
    Olga El Kadi
    Souha El Masri
    Abdelrahman Al Mofarij
    Fouad El Jaritly
    Hela Melki
    Khaled Helmi
    Hassan El Attar
    Ahmed El Hellak
    Giana Ghantous
    Rabih Hajjar
    Issam Sarhan
    Houcine Ben Haj
    Chaima Abdelaziz
    Rana Atiq
    Elyas Mabrouk
    Ali Rasheed
    5
    Mehdi Ayachi
    Michel Chalhoub
    Dua Lahyaoui
    Youssef Hennad
    Nouha Rhaiem
    Charaf Ahmed
    Eman Abdelghani
    Rabab Najid

    Ibrahim Machwali
    Nourhan El Morshdi
    Ali al-Shareefi
    Redwan El Asmar
    Cindy Latty
    Maher Sami
    Clara Atallah
    Omar Al Attas
    Toufic Al Kalash
    Fahd Mouftakhir
    Yamane El Haj
    Hafida Falkou
    Bahaa Khalil
    Ahmed Abdelaziz
    Wiam Redouane
    Stolen contestants italicized

    Notes and References

    1. Web site: mbc.net.
    2. Web site: The National.
    3. Web site: Alarabiya.net.
    4. Web site: March 30, 2014 . The Iraqi singer Sattar Saad has won Season Two of the Voice Arabia . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140330202955/http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/television/the-iraqi-singer-sattar-saad-has-won-season-two-of-the-voice-arabia . 30 March 2014 . 19 April 2022 . thenational.ae.
    5. Web site: 'The Voice Arabia' Crowns Iraqi Singer Sattar Saad. 30 March 2014.
    6. Web site: Albawaba.com.