The Voice (American TV series) season 1

Overview

The series has three phases: blind auditions, battle rounds, and four weeks of live shows. Four coaches each select eight contestants during blind auditions, where coaches decide within about one minute whether to choose a singer.

If multiple coaches want the same artist, the artist chooses their coach. Contestants are mentored by their coach through battle rounds and live shows, with eliminations team-based until one artist per coach remains. The four finalists compete in the finale, with the winner receiving $100,000 and a record deal with Universal Republic Records.

The Battles

After blind auditions, each coach had eight contestants for battle rounds airing over four weeks. Each week, one pair from each team performed a duet, and the coach eliminated one contestant per battle. Coaches trained contestants with help from trusted advisors: Adam Blackstone for Team Adam, Reba McEntire for Team Blake, Monica for Team CeeLo, and Sia Furler for Team Christina. Four winners from each team advanced to the live shows.

Live shows

For the first two live shows, two teams performed on one show for public votes, with results announced the following week. Voting opened after each Tuesday broadcast and closed at 10 AM EDT the following Monday. The artist with the highest votes advanced, and the coach saved a second artist from the remaining three. The first week featured Team Christina and Team Blake.

The second week featured Team Adam and Team CeeLo, with voting open until 10 AM EDT June 20. Eliminated contestants released studio performances: Tori & Taylor Thompson - "Cowboy Take Me Away", Jeff Jenkins - "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", Devon Barley - "Animal", Curtis Grimes - "Colder Weather". For the finale, the coach and public vote each had equal say; the artist with the higher combined score advanced. The final four performed on June 28, 2011, with results on June 29, 2011.

Each finalist performed an original song and a duet with their coach. Katharine McPhee appeared during the results show to promote Smash. The top two were 2% apart; runner-up Dia Frampton's original song "Inventing Shadows" topped the iTunes singles chart that week.

Artists' appearances in other media

Frenchie Davis was a semi-finalist on season two of American Idol but was disqualified. Emily Valentine auditioned for the eighth season of American Idol under the name Emily Wynn-Hughes but was cut in the Hollywood Rounds. The Thompson Sisters appeared on American Juniors in 2003 as separate acts, both winning the highest prize to join the American Juniors group.

Vicci Martinez appeared on Star Search in 2003 but did not make it past the semi-finals. Kelsey Rey auditioned for American Idol under the name Kelsey Laverack and later returned to the series in season 26 as Felsmere. Raquel Castro starred in the 2004 film Jersey Girl and later appeared on the second season of Songland.

Did You Know?

• The coaches performed CeeLo's song "Crazy" at the start of the show.
• Contestant auditions were held in eight cities across the United States between mid-January and mid-February 2011.