It’s all about The Voice!
M-Net’s new feel-good singing show for 2016. Here is how The Voice works!
These four seasoned performers, who all have massive followings and loads of accolades behind their names, are the four coaches in the local version of the singing contest that originated as The Voice of Holland and has been a huge hit in more than 60 countries across the globe.
“The Voice South Africa is taking singing contests to the next level,” says M-Net’s Head of Publicity, Lani Lombard. “In this feel-good, proudly South African show it’s all about ‘the voice’; the singers are all extraordinary talent who can sing; and the competition between the coaches to nab the best of this talent for their teams results in emotional roller-coaster rides. Get ready for some heartfelt moments, great tension, unexpected drama and a few tears.”
There are three phases to The Voice SA. It kicks off with seven episodes of Blind auditions during which the coaches sit with their backs to the talent in order to make decisions based on the performers’ vocal ability.
Originally, these Blind audition shows would have been 60 minutes long and screened between 18:00 and 19:00, “but the quality of performances was so extraordinary that we decided to extend the Blind audition episodes to 90 minutes. So be sure you’re tuned into M-Net 101 from 17:30 this week Sunday,” says Lombard.
This means that the final episode of Sarah Graham’s Food Safari moves to 14:00 on Sunday, and this week’s episode of My Story will air from 16:30 – 17:30.
More info about the different phases of The Voice SA:
“Blind” auditions
Hundreds of hopeful singers auditioned for The Voice SA’s producers and 
Just over 100 of the finest of those voices were chosen to audition for the four coaches in “Blind” auditions, in which the coaches sit with their backs turned to the talent, so that they can solely base their decisions on the quality of The Voice. If one coach turns their chair around before the end of the audition, the talent is automatically placed in that coach’s team. If more than one coach turns, the talent is then able to choose which coach they want to work with. During the Blind audition episodes, each coach will build a team of 14 singers.
“Battle” rounds
The four teams of 14 contestants each (56 contestants in total) then progress through to the Battle rounds, in which each coach pits their singers against each other in pairs. At the end of each Battle, the coach has to decide which of the two contestants has performed well enough to continue on their The Voice SA journey, and which has to be sent home. At this stage each coach has a “Steal” available to them too, which means that each coach has one chance to “steal” one of their fellow coaches’ eliminated contestants over to their team
The Battle rounds will run over the course of four episodes. These episodes will be two hours in duration, meaning that they will air from 17:00 – 19:00 every Sunday night.
The Live Shows
The remaining episodes of The Voice SA Season 1 will be broadcast live from Johannesburg, and it will be down to the public to vote for who they want to progress in the series. The result of each voting period is announced at the beginning of the following week’s episode, and these shows will also be two hours in duration. There will be a total of six live shows, including the grand finale on Sunday, 22 May, where the winner will be announced
For more information about The Voice SA visit mnet.tv/thevoice or be sure to download the exclusive The Voice SA app on Android or iOS to play real-time games, and to keep up to date with the latest developments from the coaches and the talent.
You can also join The Voice SA conversation on “The Voice SA” Facebook page, and via Twitter on @VoiceSA with the hashtag #TheVoiceSA, or use your WeChat account and check in with the ID MNetTV.
The Voice South Africa launches exclusively on M-Net 101 on Sunday, 31 January at 17:30. It is produced for M-Net by AMPN and is sponsored by Dialdirect. Keep an eye on the official website for details about the viewers’ competition, where you could win fantastic prizes courtesy of Samsung.