The Voice of Ireland

The Voice of Ireland is the Irish edition of the international TV franchise The Voice, a reality singing competition created by media tycoon John de Mol. The first series began airing from 8 January 2012 on RTÉ One.[1] The coaches originally were Bressie, Sharon Corr, Kian Egan and Brian Kennedy. Kennedy left after the first series and was replaced by Jamelia. After the second series, Corr quit the show owing to other commitments and was replaced by Dolores O'Riordan. Following series 3, Dolores and Jamelia quit. The coaches for series 4 were Bressie, Una Healy, Kian Egan and Rachel Stevens. The show was hosted by Kathryn Thomas[2] and co-hosted by Eoghan McDermott, who also presented backstage show The Voice After Party in Series 3.

For the final series, see The Voice of Ireland (series 5)

The Voice of Ireland
Genre	Reality competition
Created by	John de Mol
Presented by	Eoghan McDermott Kathryn Thomas
Judges	Bressie Kian Egan Sharon Corr Brian Kennedy Jamelia Dolores O'Riordan Una Healy Rachel Stevens
Country of origin	Ireland
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	71
Production
Producer(s)	Screentime Shinawil Productions
Production location(s)	The Helix
Running time	72–104 minutes (inc. adverts)
Distributor	RTÉ Commercial Enterprises Ltd.
Release
Original network	RTÉ One
Picture format	16:9
Original release	8 January 2012 – 24 April 2016
Chronology
Preceded by	The All Ireland Talent Show
Followed by	Dancing with the Stars
Related shows	The Voice UK
External links
Website

The series was part of The Voice franchise and was based on a similar competition format in the Netherlands entitled The Voice of Holland. The show replaced The All Ireland Talent Show. One of the important premises of the show is the quality of the singing talent. Four coaches, themselves popular performing artists, train the talents in their group and occasionally perform with them. Talents are selected in blind auditions, where the coaches cannot see, but only hear the auditioner.

The TV show "blind" auditions were held at the Helix, and were broadcast for the first five weeks of the series. The Battle Phase was broadcast over three weeks from the second week of February to the last week of February each year. The winner of the show is offered a recording contract with Universal Music Ireland worth €100,000.

The current and final holder of the crown The Voice of Ireland is the series 5 champion, Michael Lawson.

On 3 August 2016, it was announced that the show was going to be replaced by an Irish version of Strictly Come Dancing.[3]

History

The show replaced The All Ireland Talent Show. The Voice of Ireland aired on RTÉ One and was produced by Screentime Shinawil Productions.

Auditions

The Blind Auditions for Series 1 took place at The Helix, Dublin, between 26 and 31 October 2011 in front of a live audience. The first series began on 8 January 2012 and finished on 29 April 2012. The Blind auditions for Series 2 took place at The Helix, Dublin, between 21 and 25 October 2012 at The Helix.[4] The later seasons followed a very similar schedule.

Scheduling and filming

The show took place in The Helix in Dublin. The main show aired for 90 minutes. The results show aired for 30 minutes. The show aired on Sunday nights. Filming for the Blind Auditions took place in October each year in Dublin's Helix.

Format

The series consists of three phases:

• Blind audition
• Battle phase
• Live performance shows

Blind audition

Four coaches, all famous musicians, choose teams of artists through a blind audition process. Each coach has the length of the artists performance to decide if he or she wants that artist on his or her team (twelve in the first series, more in the second); if two or more coaches want the same artist then the singer gets to choose which coach they want to work with. An addition to the third season was that RTÉ 2fm selected 5 wildcards to audition.

Battle phase

Each team of singers is mentored and developed by their coach. In the second stage, coaches have two of their team members battle against each other by singing the same song, with the coach choosing which team member will advance to the next stage. For the third series a new feature was added whereby if an act lost their battle, they are not immediately out of the competition. Each coach has one 'Steal' where they get the opportunity to take one losing act and have them join their team for the live shows. They do this by pressing their 'I Want You' button.

Live performance shows

In the final phase, the remaining contestants compete against each other in live broadcasts. The television audience help to decide who moves on. When one team member remains for each coach, the contestants compete against each other in the finale.

Post-The Voice of Ireland

The winner of the show is offered a recording contract with Universal Music Ireland worth €100,000.

Coaches and hosts

Name	Series
	1	2	3	4	5
Niall Breslin
Sharon Corr
Kian Egan
Brian Kennedy
Jamelia
Dolores O'Riordan †
Una Foden
Rachel Stevens
Kathryn Thomas	Presenter
Eoghan McDermott	Co-presenter

• Coaches gallery
• 
  Brian Kennedy (2012)
• 
  Sharon Corr (2012–2013)
• 
  Kian Egan (2012–2016)
• 
  Bressie (2012–2016)
• 
  Jamelia (2013–2014)
• 
  Dolores O'Riordan (†) (2014)
• 
  Una Healy (2015–2016)
• 
  Rachel Stevens (2015–2016)

Coaches' teams and their artists

Key

     – Winning judge/category. Winners are in bold, eliminated contestants in small font.

Series	Bressie	Sharon Corr	Kian Egan	Brian Kennedy
1	Pat Byrne Conor Quinn Kiera Byrne Gari Deegan Jessica Pritzel Gavin Kenny	Vanessa Whelan Kim Hayden Kevin Keeley Nollaig O'Connor Kellie Blaise Fauve Chapman	Jim Devine Sharon Gaynor Liam Geddes Elliot Canavan Doyle Graham Dowling Kyle Kennedy	Richie Hayes Alan Fitzsimons Brendan Keeley Sinead Fox Claire O'Loughlin Ryan O'Shaughnessy
2	Bressie	Sharon Corr	Kian Egan	Jamelia
	Shannon Murphy Katy Anna Mohan Sinead O'Brien Andrew Mann Terri O'Reilly Velvin Lamont	John Gaughan Aoife McLoughlin Tammy Browne Mark Guildea Stephen Hudson Dean Anthony	Kelly Mongan Shane McLaughlin Ray Scully Andy Mac Unfraidh Karl Sheridan Daryl Phillips	Keith Hanley Wayne Beatty Dylan Powell Roisin Carlin Jennifer Moore Sophie Rischar
3	Bressie	Dolores O'Riordan †	Kian Egan	Jamelia
	Brendan McCahey Jamie Stanton Sarah Sylvia Ciara Donnelly Pádraig Byrne Kedar Friis-Lawrence	Kellie Lewis Mariah Butler Michelle Revins Emma Walsh Peter Whitford John Hogan	Jay Boland Paddy Molloy Danica Holland Laura O'Connor Craig McMarrow Pauric McLaughlin	Laura May Lenehan Gavin Murray Aisling Connolly Remy Naidoo Martin McInerney Daisy Valenzuela
4	Bressie	Rachel Stevens	Kian Egan	Una Healy
	Emma Humber Denise Morgan Kayleigh Cullinan John O'Grady Ashley Loftus Laura Enright	Sarah McTernan Kieran McKillop Patrick Kennedy Amy Hansard Gemma Lomar Cian O'Melia	John Bonham Helena Bradley Bates Fionn Gardner Caoin Fitz Ciara Monaghan Pat Fitz	Patrick Donoghue John Sheehy Niall O'Halloran Kelley McArdle Evan Cotter Nicola Lynch
5	Michael Lawson Moylan Brunnock Georgina Richmond	Laura O'Connor Matthew Soares Ciaran O'Driscoll	Kelesa Mulcahy Jasmine Kavanagh Luke Ray Lacey	Nigel Connell Emmett Daly Emmie Reek

Series overview

Team Bressie      Team Kian      Team Sharon      Team Brian

Team Jamelia      Team Dolores      Team Rachel      Team Una

Season	Start	Finish	Winner	Runner-up	Third Place	Fourth Place	Winning coach	Presenter		Coaches (order)
										1	2	3	4
1	8 January 2012	29 April 2012	Pat Byrne	Richie Hayes	Vanessa Whelan	Jim Devine	Bressie	Kathryn Thomas	Eoghan McDermott	Bressie	Sharon	Kian	Brian
2	6 January 2013	28 April 2013	Keith Hanley	Kelly Mongan	Shane McLaughlin	Shannon Murphy	Jamelia						Jamelia
3	5 January 2014	27 April 2014	Brendan McCahey	Kellie Lewis	Laura May Lenehan	Jamie Stanton	Bressie				Dolores
4	4 January 2015	26 April 2015	Patrick Donoghue	Emma Humber	Sarah McTernan	Kieran McKillop	Una Healy				Rachel		Una
5	3 January 2016	24 April 2016	Michael Lawson	Kelesa Mulcahy	Nigel Connell	Laura O’Connor
6	21 April 2020	23 July 2020	Jonathan Gabijys	Maria Ukinomul	Nikolas O'Vyfed	Anna Reqyki	Yvonne Catterfeld				Yvonne		Danny
7	21 April 2020	23 July 2020	Jonathan Gabijys	Maria Ukinomul	Nikolas O'Vyfed	Anna Reqyki
8	TBA 2021	TBA 2021	Stefanie Bukorun	Dolores-Maria Tyluj	Tomas Vyceqab	Adam Liokys							Ronan	Michael Patrick
9	TBA 2021	TBA 2021	Patrick & Maria Kinumedo	Laura Jiolumynop	Patrick Fernio	Sharon Piolyn	Kian Egan

Reception

Series averages

Series	Premiere date	Finale date	Episodes (inc. results shows)	Average Irish viewers (inc. results shows)
1	8 January 2012	29 April 2012	25	597,222
2	6 January 2013	28 April 2013	17	599,411
3	5 January 2014	27 April 2014	TBA	575,767
4	4 January 2015	26 April 2015		TBA
5	3 January 2016	26 April 2016

Ratings

RTÉ described the first ever episode as "a great ratings success" as it pulled in an average of 708,000 viewers and peaked at 1.2 million.[5] It was later reported that the first 5 episodes pulled in an average of 701,000 viewers a week.[6]

Audience ratings for the first series, initially promising, had plunged by 50% by the time the live shows were broadcast and were reported to be unfavourable when compared to ratings held by its predecessor The All Ireland Talent Show.[7]

The Voice After Party

The Voice After Party is a spin-off show, discussing each show afterwards.[8]

Music releases by The Voice of Ireland contestants

As of July 2016, The Voice of Ireland has had thirteen singles and four albums chart on the top 100 on the Irish Singles and Albums Charts.

Singles

Artist	Series	Position in show	Song title	IRE release date	IRE peak chart position	Ref(s)
Pat Byrne	1	Winner	"What a Wonderful World"	23 April 2012	3	[9]
Richie Hayes	1	Runner-up	"One Voice"	23 April 2012	23	[9]
Vanessa Whelan	1	Third place	"Who Wants to Live Forever"	23 April 2012	28	[9]
Jim Devine	1	Fourth Place	"The Dance"	23 April 2012	-	[10]
Pat Byrne	1	Winner	"End of the World"	2 November 2012	61
Ryan O'Shaughnessy	1	Final 24	"No Name"	5 August 2012	3	[11]
Pat Byrne	1	Winner	"All or Nothing"	15 March 2013	80
Kim Hayden	1	Final 8	"Warrior"	19 April 2013	-	[12]
Keith Hanley	2	Winner	"Beggin'"	29 April 2013	37	[13]
Kelly Mongan	2	Runner-Up	"Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word"	29 April 2013	67	[13]
Shannon Murphy	2	Fourth Place	"Ho Hey"	29 April 2013	49	[13]
Ryan O'Shaughnessy	1	Final 24	"Who Do You Love?"	2 August 2013	3	[14]
Andrew Mann	2	Final 16	"Middle Of The Dancefloor"	8 November 2013	-	[15]
Keith Hanley	2	Winner	"Blue"	21 February 2014	29
Brendan McCahey	3	Winner	"You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover"	17 April 2014	15
Keith Hanley	2	Winner	"Hush"	30 May 2014	-
Brendan McCahey	3	Winner	"Sweet Love"	31 October 2014	90
Brendan McCahey	3	Winner	"Safe and Well"	10 April 2015	-
Patrick Donoghue	4	Winner	"Redemption Days"	17 July 2015	-
Patrick Donoghue	4	Winner	"Judge My Love"	8 April 2016	-
Michael Lawson	5	Winner	Revival	15 July 2016	-

Albums

Artist	Series	Position in show	Album title	IRE release date	IRE peak chart position	Ref(s)
Pat Byrne	1	Winner	"All or Nothing"	16 November 2012	10	[16]
Ryan O'Shaughnessy	1	Final 24	"Ryan O'Shaughnessy"	13 August 2012	1	[17]
Conor Quinn	1	Final 8	"Golden Kids"	20 August 2013	-
Andrew Mann	2	Final 16	"Hidden In Plain Sight"	31 December 2013 (re-release)	-
Kim Hayden	1	Final 8	"Better"	14 February 2014	-
Keith Hanley	2	Winner	"Hush"	7 March 2014	17
Brendan McCahey	3	Winner	"To Where I Begin"	14 November 2014	20

References

1. "The Voice of Ireland begins Sunday". RTÉ Ten. Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 6 January 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
2. Finn, Melanie (2 September 2011). "How Kathryn won Voice gig by a hair's breadth". Evening Herald. Independent News & Media. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
3. "RTÉ drops The Voice for Dancing with the Stars". RTÉ News. RTÉ. 3 August 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
4. "The Voice of Ireland – RTÉ Television". RTÉ News.
5. "708,000 watch The Voice of Ireland". RTÉ Ten. Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 9 January 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
6. Rogers, Kathryn (7 February 2012). "Kathryn Thomas's The Voice beats Grainne Seoige's All Ireland Talent Show in rating". The Star. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012.
7. Murphy, Claire (24 March 2012). "The Voice under strain as viewers switch off". Evening Herald. Independent News & Media. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
8. https://thevoice.rte.ie/videos/the-voice-of-ireland-afterparty-preview/
9. "TOP 50 SINGLES, WEEK ENDING 26 April 2012". chart-track.co.uk. 26 April 2012. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
10. http://irish-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Jim+Devine&titel=The+Dance&cat=s
11. "TOP 50 SINGLES, WEEK ENDING 16 August 2012". chart-track.co.uk. 16 August 2012. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
12. Hung, Steffen. "irishcharts.com - Kim Hayden - Get Out Of My Life". irish-charts.com.
13. "TOP 100 SINGLES, WEEK ENDING 2 May 2013". chart-track.co.uk. 2 May 2013. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
14. "TOP 100 SINGLES, WEEK ENDING 8 August 2013". chart-track.co.uk. 8 August 2013. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
15. Hung, Steffen. "irishcharts.com - Andrew Mann - Middle Of The Dancefloor". irish-charts.com.
16. "TOP 75 ARTIST ALBUM, WEEK ENDING 22 November 2012". chart-track.co.uk. 22 November 2012. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
17. "TOP 75 ARTIST ALBUM, WEEK ENDING 16 August 2012". chart-track.co.uk. 16 August 2012.