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The Voice UK is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The first series began on 24 March 2012 and ended on 2 June 2012. The show was co-presented by Holly Willoughby and Reggie Yates on BBC One. The series was won by Leanne Mitchell, who was on Tom Jones' team. Becky Hill, who was on Jessie J’s team and eliminated in the fifth live show (semi-final) of the competition,reached Number One in the UK Singles Chart as a guest vocalist on the hit song, "Gecko (Overdrive)" alongside Dutch DJ Oliver Heldens, and would find much success in the music industry after that.
Huge speculation began when the BBC announced that there would be four coaches on the panel of The Voice. It was said that Kylie Minogue was due to become a coach on the show, but it would have cost the TV station too much to get her on the panel.[1] Her sister, Dannii Minogue was also confirmed to be in the running after she left the panel of The X Factor.[2] Mark Owen[2] and Lenny Kravitz were strong candidates for the role.[2] Frankie Sandford of The Saturdays was also confirmed to be in the running.[3] The show's producers were impressed with Cee Lo Green's performance on the U. S. version and wanted him on the UK version, but he turned the chance down.[4] Dannii Minogue's former work mate, Cheryl Cole was also said to be a candidate.[5] However, Cole and Minogue were both ruled out after producers said they wanted to "start fresh" and not have The X Factor left overs.[6] However, though Cole and Minogue were ruled out the BBC were keen to show enthusiasm about Charlotte Church, Robbie Williams and Jessie J was also announced to be in with a chance.[6] Tom Jones was offered a role, and later accepted the offer.[7] It was revealed that Frankie Sandford was on the verge of signing a contract to become a coach.[8] George Michael and Mary J. Blige were also being considered,[9] with Blige saying on she has had meetings about her future on the show, she spoke "I have been approached and we have been in discussions about The Voice. I'm not sure if I'm doing it right now. We'll have to wait and see. "[9] will.i.am was confirmed to be close to signing a contract with the show's producers.[10] [11] It was said that Frankie Sandford was awaiting to finalise her contract, but she pulled out because of her "busy schedule".[12]
Controversy arose after Danny O'Donoghue was announced as a coach, being picked over Will Young. Young put on his Twitter account, "The Voice came, the Voice went. They wanted to go more rock... Should have dusted off my Leather jacket! Hey ho, (sic)" he said, before adding: "Hang on... Just got Jimmy Page on the line. I'm commiserating him." A tweet the previous night may have also been connected to the loss of role saying, "Words escape me. Life is sometimes a bitch".[13]
Former The X Factor contestants Shayne Ward and Stacey Solomon were both in the running to be hosts.[14] The One Show presenter Alex Jones was also a possibility.[14] Despite Dermot O'Leary signing a three-year contract with The X Factor, The Voice producers are eager to have him present the show.[15] It was also said that Emile Heskey was in the running.[15] However, former, The Xtra Factor and This Morning host, Holly Willoughby was confirmed to be a candidate after she left as the host on Dancing on Ice. It was later confirmed that Willoughby and BBC Radio presenter, Reggie Yates would be the presenters.[16]
| Coaches | Top 40 Artists | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| will.i.am | |||||
| Tyler James | Jaz Ellington | Frances Wood | Joelle Moses | Sophie Griffin | |
| Heshima Thompson | Jay Norton | Kate Read | Jenny Jones | J Marie Cooper | |
| Jessie J | |||||
| Vince Kidd | Becky Hill | Toni Warne | Cassius Henry | Ruth-Ann St. Luce | |
| Jessica Hammond | Indie & Pixie | Kirsten Joy | David Faulkner | Ben Kelly | |
| Sir Tom Jones | |||||
| Leanne Mitchell | Ruth Brown | Matt & Sueleen | Adam Isaac | Samuel Buttery | |
| Barbara Bryceland | Deniece Pearson | Lindsey Butler | Denise Morgan | Aundrea Nyle | |
| Danny O'Donoghue | |||||
| Bo Bruce | Max Milner | David Julien | Aleks Josh | Hannah Berney | |
| Vince Freeman | Bill Downs | John James Newman | Emmy J Mac | Murray Hockridge | |
The blind auditions began in London on 18 January 2012 at the BBC Television Centre and finished filming on 22 January 2012. Each coach has the length of the artists' performance to decide if they want that artist on their team. Should two or more coaches want the same artist, then the artist gets to choose their coach. Once the coaches have picked their team, they are to pit them against each other in the ultimate sing off; the battles.
| Colour key | ||
| Coach hit his/her "I WANT YOU" button | ---> | |
|---|---|---|
| Artist defaulted to this coach's team | ||
| Artist elected to join this coach's team | ||
| Artist eliminated with no coach pressing his or her "I WANT YOU" button | ||
| Artist received an 'All Turn'. | ||
The first blind audition episode was broadcast on 24 March 2012.
Group performance: The Voice UK Coaches – "I Gotta Feeling"
| Order | Artist | Age | Song | Coaches and artists choices[17] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| will.i.am | Jessie | Tom | Danny | ||||
| 1 | Jessica Hammond | 17 | "Price Tag" | ||||
| 2 | Sean Conlon | 30 | "Trouble" | — | — | — | — |
| 3 | Samuel Buttery | 20 | "Set Fire to the Rain" | — | — | — | |
| 4 | Toni Warne | 34 | "Leave Right Now" | — | |||
| 5 | Aundrea Nyle | 36 | "Crazy" | — | — | — | |
| 6 | Adam Isaac | 28 | "Maybe Tomorrow" | — | — | ||
| 7 | Max Milner | 20 | "Come Together"/"Lose Yourself" | — | |||
| 8 | Ben Kelly | 22 | "Rocket Man" | ||||
| 9 | Twinnie-Lee Moore | 24 | "The Climb" | — | — | — | — |
| 10 | Phil Poole | 27 | "Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)" | — | — | — | — |
| 11 | J Marie Cooper | 27 | "Mamma Knows Best" | ||||
The second blind audition episode was broadcast on 31 March 2012.
| Order | Artist | Age | Song | Coaches and artists choices[18] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| will.i.am | Jessie | Tom | Danny | |||||
| 1 | Heshima Thompson | 25 | "Dynamite" | |||||
| 2 | Barbara Bryceland | 49 | "Wild Horses" | — | — | — | ||
| 3 | David Julien | 23 | "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" | — | — | |||
| 4 | Kerry Ellis | 31 | "Son of a Preacher Man" | — | — | — | — | |
| 5 | Vince Kidd | 22 | "Like a Virgin" | |||||
| 6 | Shansel Huseyin | 17 | "Nessun dorma" | — | — | — | — | |
| 7 | Ross Wild | N/A | "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" | — | — | — | — | |
| 8 | Sam Thornton | N/A | "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" | — | — | — | — | |
| 9 | Siobhan Stott | N/A | "Hallelujah" | — | — | — | — | |
| 10 | Vince Freeman | 34 | "Sex on Fire" | — | — | — | ||
| 11 | Aleks Josh | 17 | "I'm Yours" | — | — | |||
| 12 | Frances Wood | 18 | "Where Is the Love?" | — | — | — | ||
| 13 | Matt & Sueleen | 34 | "A Little Time" | — | — | |||
| 14 | Holly Cosgrove | 16 | "You Need Me, I Don't Need You" | — | — | — | — | |
| 15 | Deniece Pearson | 43 | "Fighter" | — | — | — | ||
| 16 | David Faulkner | 29 | "Superstition" | |||||
The third blind audition episode was broadcast on 7 April 2012.
| Order | Artist | Age | Song | Coaches and artists choices[19] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| will.i.am | Jessie | Tom | Danny | ||||
| 1 | Joelle Moses | 21 | "Rolling in the Deep" | ||||
| 2 | Jay Norton | 24 | "I Need a Dollar" | — | — | ||
| 3 | Allyson Brown | 29 | "Somebody Else's Guy" | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | Leanne Mitchell | 28 | "If I Were a Boy" | — | — | ||
| 5 | Cassius Henry | 32 | "Closer" | — | — | ||
| 6 | Denise Morgan | 31 | "Love Song" | — | — | — | |
| 7 | Murray Hockridge | 47 | "You Give Me Something" | — | — | — | |
| 8 | Hannah Berney | 20 | "You and I" | — | — | ||
| 9 | Cris Grixti | 31 | "Forget You" | — | — | — | — |
| 10 | Bill Downs | 23 | "She Said" | — | — | — | |
| 11 | Kate Read | 19 | "True Colors" | — | — | ||
| 12 | Kirsten Joy | 25 | "Heaven" | — | — | — | |
| 13 | Ruth-Ann St. Luce | 18 | "Run" | — | — | — | |
| 14 | Alys Williams | 24 | "Someone like You" | — | — | — | — |
| 15 | Nathan James | 23 | "Livin' on a Prayer" | — | — | — | — |
| 16 | Tyler James | 27 | "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" | — | — | — | |
| 17 | Bo Bruce | 28 | "Without You" | — | — | ||
The fourth and final blind audition episode was broadcast on 14 April 2012.[20]
| Order | Artist | Age | Song | Coaches and artists choices | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| will.i.am | Jessie | Tom | Danny | |||||
| 1 | Emmy J Mac | 21 | "Put Your Records On" | — | ||||
| 2 | Jenny Jones | 25 | "Mercy" | — | — | |||
| 3 | Sophie Griffin | 17 | "American Boy" | — | — | — | ||
| 4 | Ben Lake | 33 | "I (Who Have Nothing)" | — | — | — | — | |
| 5 | Indie & Pixie | 17 & 18 | "Perfect" | |||||
| 6 | Lindsey Butler | 41 | "I Don't Want to Talk About It" | — | — | — | ||
| 7 | Harriet Whitehead | 17 | "What's Up?" | — | — | — | — | |
| 8 | John James Newman | 33 | "Pack Up"/"Don't Worry, Be Happy" | — | — | |||
| 9 | Ruth Brown | 19 | "When Love Takes Over" | — | — | |||
| 10 | Becky Hill | 18 | "Ordinary People" | |||||
| 11 | Chloe Blackwell | 21 | "This Love" | — | ||||
| 12 | Daniel Walker | 35 | "Kiss from a Rose" | — | ||||
| scope=col | 13 | Jaz Ellington | 27 | "The A Team" | ||||
The recording of the battle rounds took place on 22 and 23 February 2012 at The Fountain Studios in Wembley with five artists from each team progressing to the live shows. Each coach pitted two of their ten artists together as they performed a song of the coach's choice at the same time in a boxing ring-styled stage. After the two artists completed the song, one progressed to the live shows and one was eliminated from the competition. Once the coaches had completed this process, they each had five artists for the live shows.
The battle advisors for these episodes were: Paloma Faith working with Danny O'Donoghue, Cerys Matthews of Catatonia working with Tom Jones, Ana Matronic of Scissor Sisters working with Jessie J, and Dante Santiago working with will.i.am.[21]
The battle round episodes aired on the 21 and 22 April 2012, in a special "battles weekend" (as the blind auditions were only shown on Saturdays).
| Artist won the Battle and advanced to the Live shows | |
| Artist lost the Battle and was eliminated | |
| Episode | Coach | Order | Winner | Song | Loser |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episode 1 [22] | will.i.am | 1 | Joelle Moses | "I'm Every Woman" | Jenny Jones |
| Danny O'Donoghue | 2 | Max Milner | "Beggin'" | Bill Downs | |
| Tom Jones | 3 | Samuel Buttery | "A Little Less Conversation" | Aundrea Nyle | |
| Jessie J | 4 | Toni Warne | "Think" | Kirsten Joy | |
| Danny O'Donoghue | 5 | Bo Bruce | "With or Without You" | Vince Freeman | |
| will.i.am | 6 | Tyler James | "Yeah 3x" | Heshima Thompson | |
| Jessie J | 7 | Vince Kidd | "We Found Love" | Jessica Hammond | |
| will.i.am | 8 | Jaz Ellington | "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" | Jay Norton | |
| Tom Jones | 9 | Ruth Brown | "No One" | Deniece Pearson | |
| Episode 2 [23] | Jessie J | 1 | Cassius Henry | "Beat It" | David Faulkner |
| Tom Jones | 2 | Leanne Mitchell | "The Edge of Glory" | Barbara Bryceland | |
| will.i.am | 3 | Frances Wood | "Ironic" | Kate Read | |
| Danny O'Donoghue | 4 | Aleks Josh | "Broken Strings" | Emmy J Mac | |
| Jessie J | 5 | Ruth-Ann St. Luce | "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" | Ben Kelly | |
| Tom Jones | 6 | Matt & Sueleen | "Born to Run" | Lindsey Butler | |
| Danny O'Donoghue | 7 | Hannah Berney | "Kids" | Murray Hockridge | |
| Jessie J | 8 | Becky Hill | "Irreplaceable" | Indie & Pixie | |
| Tom Jones | 9 | Adam Isaac | "Use Somebody" | Denise Morgan | |
| will.i.am | 10 | Sophie Griffin | "Firework" | J Marie Cooper | |
| Danny O'Donoghue | 11 | David Julien | "Dakota" | John James Newman | |
The live performance shows are aired live from Elstree Studios and will run for six consecutive weeks, ending on 2 June 2012. The first results show on 29 April featured a performance from American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey[24] with British singer-songwriter Emeli Sandé performing during the second results show on 6 May 2012.[25] American group Scissor Sisters performed during the third result show on 13 May 2012[26] with The Voice UK Battle Round Adviser Paloma Faith performing during the fourth results show on 20 May 2012.[27] Cheryl and Kylie Minogue performed during the fifth live show[28] It was confirmed on 18 May 2012 that the final on 2 June 2012 would feature performances from Ed Sheeran and Maroon 5.[29]
| – | Contestant was in the bottom two or three | |
| – | Contestant was eliminated | |
| – | Contestant who received the most public votes | |
| – | Contestant did not perform on that particular week |
| Contestant | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | Round 2 | ||||||||
| Leanne Mitchell | Safe | Bottom three | Safe | Safe | Winner (week 6) | ||||
| Bo Bruce | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Runner-up (week 6) | ||||
| Tyler James | Safe | Bottom three | Safe | Safe | |||||
| Vince Kidd | Safe | Safe | Safe | 4th | Eliminated (week 6) | ||||
| Becky Hill | Safe | Bottom three | Eliminated | Eliminated (week 5) | |||||
| Jaz Ellington | Safe | Safe | Eliminated | Eliminated (week 5) | |||||
| Max Milner | Bottom two | Bottom three | Eliminated | Eliminated (week 5) | |||||
| Ruth Brown | Safe | Safe | Eliminated | Eliminated (week 5) | |||||
| Aleks Josh | Safe | Eliminated | Eliminated (week 4) | ||||||
| Cassius Henry | Safe | Eliminated | Eliminated (week 4) | ||||||
| David Julien | Safe | Eliminated | Eliminated (week 4) | ||||||
| Toni Warne | Bottom two | Eliminated | Eliminated (week 4) | ||||||
| Adam Isaac | Safe | Eliminated | Eliminated (week 3) | ||||||
| Frances Wood | Safe | Eliminated | Eliminated (week 3) | ||||||
| Joelle Moses | Bottom two | Eliminated | Eliminated (week 3) | ||||||
| Matt & Sueleen | Eliminated | Eliminated (week 3) | |||||||
| Hannah Berney | Eliminated | Eliminated (week 2) | |||||||
| Ruth-Ann St. Luce | Eliminated | Eliminated (week 2) | |||||||
| Samuel Buttery | Eliminated | Eliminated (week 1) | |||||||
| Sophie Griffin | Eliminated | Eliminated (week 1) | |||||||
The first live show aired on 28 April 2012 – with Team Tom and Team will.i.am performing.
| Artist | Order | Song[31] | Coach | Result[32] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joelle Moses | 1 | "I'm Goin' Down" | will.i.am | Bottom two |
| Samuel Buttery | 2 | "A Little Respect" | Tom Jones | Eliminated |
| Frances Wood | 3 | "Ain't Nobody" | will.i.am | Safe |
| Adam Isaac | 4 | "All My Life" | Tom Jones | |
| Jaz Ellington | 5 | "At Last" | will.i.am | |
| Leanne Mitchell | 6 | "Who Knew" | Tom Jones | |
| Sophie Griffin | 7 | "Titanium" | will.i.am | Eliminated |
| Matt & Sueleen | 8 | "Go Your Own Way" | Tom Jones | Bottom two |
| Tyler James | 9 | "Higher Love" | will.i.am | Safe |
| Ruth Brown | 10 | "Get Here" | Tom Jones |
The second live show aired on 5 May 2012 – with Team Jessie and Team Danny performing.
| Artist | Order | Song[33] | Coach | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toni Warne | 1 | "Proud Mary" | Jessie J | Bottom two |
| Max Milner | 2 | "Free Fallin" | Danny O'Donoghue | |
| Ruth-Ann St. Luce | 3 | "Promise This" | Jessie J | Eliminated |
| Hannah Berney | 4 | "Cry Me a River"/"Cry Me a River" | Danny O'Donoghue | |
| Vince Kidd | 5 | "Always on My Mind" | Jessie J | Safe |
| Aleks Josh | 6 | "Dream a Little Dream of Me" | Danny O'Donoghue | |
| Cassius Henry | 7 | "Paradise" | Jessie J | |
| David Julien | 8 | "Sweet Disposition" | Danny O'Donoghue | |
| Becky Hill | 9 | "Good Luck" | Jessie J | |
| Bo Bruce | 10 | "Running Up that Hill" | Danny O'Donoghue |
The third live show aired on Saturday 12 May 2012 – with Team Tom and Team will.i.am performing. Both judges had to eliminate two of their artists, leaving them with two each for the semi-final shows.
| Artist | Order | Song | Coach | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leanne Mitchell | 1 | "I Put a Spell on You" | Tom Jones | Bottom three | |
| Frances Wood | 2 | "Show Me Love" | will.i.am | Eliminated | |
| Matt & Sueleen | 3 | "Missing" | Tom Jones | ||
| Joelle Moses | 4 | "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" | will.i.am | ||
| Ruth Brown | 5 | "Next to Me" | Tom Jones | Safe | |
| Tyler James | 6 | "Sign Your Name" | will.i.am | Bottom three | |
| Adam Isaac | 7 | "High and Dry" | Tom Jones | Eliminated | |
| Jaz Ellington | 8 | "Just the Way You Are"/"Just the Way You Are" | will.i.am | Safe |
The fourth live show was on Saturday 19 May 2012 – with Team Danny and Team Jessie performing. Both judges had to eliminate two of their artists, leaving them with two each for the semi-final shows.
| Artist | Order | Song[34] | Coach | Result[35] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max Milner | 1 | "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" | Danny O'Donoghue | Bottom three |
| Cassius Henry | 2 | "Turning Tables" | Jessie J | Eliminated |
| Bo Bruce | 3 | "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)" | Danny O'Donoghue | Safe |
| Vince Kidd | 4 | "My Love Is Your Love" | Jessie J | |
| Aleks Josh | 5 | "Better Together" | Danny O'Donoghue | Eliminated |
| Becky Hill | 6 | "Seven Nation Army" | Jessie J | Bottom three |
| David Julien | 7 | "She Will Be Loved" | Danny O'Donoghue | Eliminated |
| Toni Warne | 8 | "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" | Jessie J |
The fifth live show aired on 26 May 2012, with all teams performing. The public then chose one artist from each team to advance to the final. For the first time in the series, Cheryl's performance was live on Saturday's show, but Kylie's performance was broadcast on Sunday's results show. It was also the first time there were two special musical guests.
| Artist | Order | Song[36] | Coach | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruth Brown | 1 | "The Voice Within" | Tom Jones | Eliminated |
| Vince Kidd | 2 | "Back to Black" | Jessie J | Safe |
| Max Milner | 3 | "Every Breath You Take" | Danny O'Donoghue | Eliminated |
| Jaz Ellington | 4 | "Let It Be" | will.i.am | |
| Leanne Mitchell | 5 | "Run to You" | Tom Jones | Safe |
| Becky Hill | 6 | "Like a Star" | Jessie J | Eliminated |
| Bo Bruce | 7 | "Charlie Brown" | Danny O'Donoghue | Safe |
| Tyler James | 8 | "Bohemian Rhapsody" | will.i.am |
The final live show aired on 2 June 2012. Each coach had one artist each in their team, and for the first time in the series, each artist performed three songs: a solo number, a duet with their coach and their favourite song of the series.
| Order | Coach | Artist | First song[38] | Second song (duet) | Third song | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Danny O'Donoghue | Bo Bruce | "Nothing Compares 2 U" | "Read All About It" (with Danny O'Donoghue) | "Charlie Brown" | Runner-up | |
| 2 | Tom Jones | Leanne Mitchell | "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" | "Mama Told Me Not to Come" (with Tom Jones) | "Run to You" | Winner | |
| 3 | will.i.am | Tyler James | "I'll Be There" | "OMG" (with will.i.am) | "Higher Love" | Third Place | |
| 4 | Jessie J | Vince Kidd | "Many Rivers to Cross" | "Nobody's Perfect" (with Jessie J) | N/A (already eliminated) | Eliminated |
| Episode | Date | Official ratings[39] | Weekly rank | Share | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blind auditions 1 | 24 March | 9.44 | 5 | 37.6% | [40] |
| Blind auditions 2 | 31 March | 9.93 | 2 | 39.3% | [41] |
| Blind auditions 3 | 7 April | 10.71 | 1 | 41.1% | [42] |
| Blind auditions 4 | 14 April | 11.99 | 45.5% | [43] | |
| Battle rounds 1 | 21 April | 11.24 | 42.3% | [44] | |
| Battle rounds 2 | 22 April | 10.98 | 2 | 38.5% | [45] |
| Live show 1 | 28 April | 10.51 | 1 | 41.8% | [46] |
| Results 1 | 29 April | 9.17 | 2 | 35.1% | [47] |
| Live show 2 | 5 May | 9.36 | 3 | 35.6% | [48] |
| Results 2 | 6 May | 7.24 | 13 | 30.3% | [49] |
| Live show 3 | 12 May | 6.54 | 23 | 29.4% | [50] |
| Results 3 | 13 May | 6.75 | 19 | 26.4% | [51] |
| Live show 4 | 19 May | 6.79 | 12 | 27.9% | [52] |
| Results 4 | 20 May | 6.28 | 18 | 26.2% | [53] |
| Live show 5 | 26 May | 5.25 | 20 | 28.8% | [54] |
| Results 5 | 27 May | 5.14 | 21 | 26.5% | [55] |
| Live final | 2 June | 7.82 | 4 | 34.2% | [56] |
| Series average | 2012 | 8.54 | 8 | 34.5% | |
BBC Radio 2's Paul Gambaccini told the Radio Times that The Voice UK is "karaoke", and Mark Goodier questioned the motives of Universal Music saying, "Universal have to be doing this because they want market share." On whether The Voice is to become a "huge hit" in the UK, he added, "It really depends on whether they find a star or not."[57]
During her performance in the fourth live show, Becky Hill forgot her words and said an explicit word.[58] Willoughby apologized after the performance. An edited version to the performance was posted on BBC iPlayer and YouTube.