| Genre: | Reality television, Singing competition |
| Based On: | The Voice franchise by John de Mol Jr. |
| Director: | Samith Basnayake |
| Presenter: |
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| Judges: |
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| Composer: | Asela Bandara |
| Country: | Sri Lanka |
| Language: | Sinhala |
| Num Seasons: | 2 |
| Num Episodes: | 200-300 |
| Producer: | Waruna Karunarathna |
| Location: | Ratmalana, Sri Lanka - Stein Studios |
| Animator: |
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| Editor: | Lalith Wasantha, Pubudu Wanigasekara |
| Camera: | Multi-camera |
| Runtime: | 1 hour and 30 minutes |
| Company: | Stein Studios MTV/MBC ITV Studios |
| Network: | Sirasa TV |
| Last Aired: | present |
| Related: |
The Voice Sri Lanka is a singing competition reality television program from Sri Lanka, broadcast on Sirasa TV. It premiered on 21 November 2020, and has continued airing with yearly seasons ever since.[1] The series is based on the original Dutch singing competition, The Voice of Holland, created by media tycoon John de Mol Jr., and part of a larger international franchise.[2]
Contestants are selected by a panel of four judges (known as "coaches") who are facing away from the contestants, allowing them to judge the singers based solely on their voice. If the coach wants the performing contestant on their team, they press a button which turns their chair, revealing to them what the singer looks like. If more than one coach turns their chair, the contestant is allowed to choose which coach's team they would like to join.[3] Since its inception, the show has the same coaches panel: Bathiya and Santhush, Kasun Kalhara, Sashika Nisansala and Umaria Sinhawansa.[4] Season Two also had a Fifth Coach For Comeback Stage, Supun Perera, who formed a team of previously eliminated contestants.[5] The coaches guide their team through different stages of the competition. The show follows its predecessor, The Voice Teens, which garnered massive fame in the country,[6] spawning a larger series that also includes The Voice Kids.[7]
The show first premiered on 21 November 2020, with its most recent season, Season Two, concluding on 21 May 2023. The show has produced two winning contestants: Harith Wijeratne (Team Umaria),[8] and Rameesh Sashinka(Ramiya) (Team Supun).[9] The winner is determined by television viewers voting via SMS.
The Voice is a reality television singing competition show that is a spin-off of The Voice, which first broadcast in the Netherlands. While the original format utilizes four judges, this version utilizes five, including one duo-set of judges, namely Bathiya and Santhush. The title of the show hints at the concept: the four coaches will judge a singer hopeful dubbed "Artist" solely on his or her vocal ability, regardless of physical appearance.
Contestants are selected by a panel of five judges (known as "coaches") who are facing away from the contestants, allowing them to judge the singers based solely on their voice. If the coach wants the performing contestant on their team, they press a button which turns their chair, revealing to them what the singer looks like. If more than one coach turns their chair, the contestant is allowed to choose which coach's team they would like to join.
The blind auditions are the first stage, in which the five coaches, all well-known recording artists, listen to the contestants while sitting in seats facing away from the stage. If a coach likes what they hear from a contestant, they hit the "I Want You" button, which causes their chairs to rotate, indicating that they want to work with that contestant. If more than one coach hits their button, the contender chooses the coach with whom he or she wishes to work. When each coach has a certain amount of contestants to work with, the blind auditions end. Coaches devote themselves to helping their vocalists grow psychologically, musically, and physically, as well as providing advice and sharing their secrets of success.[10]
The contestants that pass their blind audition advance to the battle rounds, where coaches pit two of their own team members against one other in front of a studio audience to perform the same song together. After the verbal duel, the coach chooses just one person to continue to the knockout round, the next phase of the competition. A key feature to note is that each coach is awarded one "steal," allowing them to choose one person who was eliminated by another coach during a battle round and take that contestant for their own team.
By this stage of the competition, 28 competitors remain. As in the battle rounds, coaches pit members of their own team (usually 3 or 4) 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 two to advance while the others are sent home. At the end of the knockout rounds, the strongest members of each coach's roster proceed to the next stage of the competition.
The top contenders from each team compete against each other in a live show during the competition's final performance phase. The television audience votes to retain one person from each team, leaving the coach to select who will move on and who will not on live television. The public decides between the two remaining artists on each team in the next round, while the coach has a vote that is weighted equally with the public vote.
Each coach has one last competitor who will perform an original song in the finals. One of these four is dubbed "The Voice" and earns a cash reward. Each finale contestant also performs a duet song with their coach. Furthermore, all previously eliminated team members come back for one final performance with their coach, usually singing a medley of the coach's songs.
Following the massive success of The Voice Teens in the country, Sirasa TV announced that the regular Voice format will also be coming to Sri Lanka.[11] Sri Lanka was the third country to have The Voice Teens format, after Colombia and the Philippines. This also made Sri Lanka the third country to not have the traditional Voice format first, the others being the U.S. Spanish Voice Kids and The Voice Kids Malta.
It was confirmed by Sirasa TV on Instagram and YouTube on 14 November 2020, that famed singers Bathiya and Santhush, Kasun Kalhara,Sashika Nisansala, and Umaria Sinhawansa will be the coaches for The Voice Sri Lanka. The coaches were first teased on 3 November 2020 in a video posted to social media which showed the silhouettes of all the coaches.[12] This was followed by a second teaser posted on 11 November 2020, showing closer more detailed silhouettes of the coaches, along with instrumental versions of their hit songs.[13] The 14 November 2020 video reveal was a follow-up to this, finally revealing their faces.On 1 March 2023, in the middle of Season Two, it was revealed that a Fifth Coach Supun Perera will be entering the competition, bringing back previously eliminated contestants for a comeback stage. One such contestant, Rameesh Sashinka (Ramiya), who was previously on Team Umaria prior to elimination, ended up ultimately winning the season.
The Blind Auditions stage of Season One was hosted by Dinithi Walgamage, who was then replaced by Kingsley Rathnayake for the Battle Rounds. Subsequent rounds were then hosted by Sumiran Dhananjaya Gunasekara, who has gone on to host all of Season Two.
| Season | First aired | Last aired | Winner | Other finalists | Winning Coach | Main Host | Coaches (chairs' order) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Comeback Stage | |||||||||
| 1 | 2020 | 2021 | Harith Wijeratne | Julius Mitchell | Miyuru Somarathne | Thilina Sudesh | Umaria Sinhawansa | Dinithi Walgamage (Blind Auditions) | Kingsly Rathnayaka (The Battles) | Sumiran Dhananjaya Gunasekara | Umaria | BNS | Sashika | Kasun | ||
| 2 | , 2022 | , 2023 | Rameesh Sashinka | Chinthaka Roshan | Sheron Silva | Chanupa Deshitha | Shehan Rangana | Supun Perera | Sumiran Dhananjaya Gunasekara | Kasun | Umaria | Supun | ||||
The show format has been met with great success in Sri Lanka. There are currently three different formats of The Voice running concurrently in the country: The Voice Sri Lanka, The Voice Teens, and The Voice Kids. Every contestant performance is uploaded onto YouTube, where the videos hold millions of views. This includes promotional videos, compilations, and the post-performance interviews known as "V Clapper." The Voice Sri Lanka YouTube channel has garnered 684.61 million views as of October 2023.
Shortly after the start of Season One, the five judges on the show made a collaborative promotional single covering Pandit W.D. Amaradeva's 1978 song "Nim Him Sewwa". The single fused both the Sinhalese and English-language versions of the song. The video was met with success, having 1.09 million views as of October 2023.[14] Since then, Coach Umaria has made it a staple song of her setlist whenever she performs live.[15]