The Voice of Germany


The Voice of Germany is a German reality talent show created by John de Mol, based on the concept The Voice of Holland and it is part of an international series. It began airing on ProSieben and Sat.1 on November 24, 2011.
There are five different stages to the show: producers' auditions, blind
auditions, battle rounds, sign offs, and live shows. There have been nine winners to date: Ivy Quainoo, Nick Howard, Andreas Kümmert, Charley Ann Schmutzler, Jamie-Lee Kriewitz, Tay Schmedtmann, Natia Todua, Samuel Rösch, and the latest Claudia Emmanuela Santoso.
The show was originally presented by Stefan Gödde. However, from 2012 onwards Thore Schölermann has presented the show. From 2015 until 2019, Schölermann together with Lena Gercke hosted the show. In 2020, Annemarie Carpendale will replace Gercke as the new host. The coaches for the tenth season will feature Mark Forster, Nico Santos, Stefanie Kloss & Yvonne Catterfeld and Samu Haber & Rea Garvey. Other coaches from previous seasons include Nena, The BossHoss, Xavier Naidoo, Max Herre, Michi & Smudo, Andreas Bourani, Michael Patrick Kelly, Alice Merton and Sido. In the ninth season, Nico Santos was featured as an off-screen fifth coach for Comeback Stage contestants. Michael Schulte took over as the Comeback Stage coach for the tenth season.
On April 5, 2013, premiered on Sat.1 the kids version of the show and have been played so far eight seasons. In 2020, The Voice Kids was renewed for a ninth season, which will begin airing on 2021. On December 23, 2018, premiered on Sat.1 the seniors version of the show and have been played so far two seasons.

Format

The series consists of three phases: a blind audition, a battle phase and live performance shows. Four judges/coaches, all noteworthy recording artists, choose teams of contestants through a blind audition process. Each judge has the length of the auditioner's performance to decide if he or she wants that singer on his or her team; if two or more judges want the same singer, the singer has the final choice of coach.
Each team of singers is mentored and developed by its respective coach. In the second stage, called the battle phase, coaches have two of their team members battle against each other directly by singing the same song together, with the coach choosing which team member to advance from each of four individual "battles" into the first live round. Within that first live round, the surviving four acts from each team again compete head-to-head, with public votes determining one of two acts from each team that will advance to the final eight, while the coach chooses which of the remaining three acts comprises the other performer remaining on the team.
In the final phase, the remaining contestants compete against each other in live broadcasts. The television audience and the coaches have equal say 50/50 in deciding who moves on to the final 4 phase. With one team member remaining for each coach, the contestants compete against each other in the finale with the outcome decided solely by public vote.
In Season 2, the battle format was extended into the live shows. The eight contestants in one team competed in battles until one finalist is left. The winner of these battle was selected by a 50%-mixture of a coach and televoting.
In Season 3, the live show battle format was abolished after it was criticized that popular contestants had to compete against each other. The number of live shows was reduced from six to four. The knockout round where contestants who succeeded from battle rounds compete for live shows was introduced in this season. It was first seen in the third season of The Voice US. The Cross-battle was also introduced in season 3 and was extended to season 4. In season 5, four contestants received the highest vote from the public advanced to the Live Finals regardless of what team they are from. But from the sixth season onwards, only one contestant from each team who received the highest vote out of their teams' top 3 was sent to the finals.
From season nine, the show added a brand new phase of competition called The Voice: Comeback Stage by SEAT that was exclusive to thevoiceofgermany.de. It was shown for the first time in the fifteenth season of the American version. After failing to turn a chair in the blind auditions or eliminated from battles and sing offs, artists had the chance to be selected by fifth online-coach to become a member of his person team. The two winners will compete in the live shows against the talents of the main coaches live on TV and so they can The Voice of Germany win.

Production

In April 2011, ProSieben announced its intention to bring an adaptation of The Voice of Holland to Germany. In July 2011, ProSieben began announcements of the coaches/judges for the series. The first season aired in 2011-12 network television schedule. After a successful Season 1, Prosieben and Sat.1 decided to run another season in 2012. After the successful ratings in the blind auditions in Season 2, Prosieben and Sat.1 announced a third season in 2013. In December 2013, it was announced a fourth season, which began airing in October 2014. In June 2015, Prosieben and Sat.1 announced the fifth season for the 2015-16 network television schedule.
In the final of the fifth season, it was announced the sixth season for 2017. During the seventh season, it was announced that there would be an eighth season in 2018. In the final of season 8, it was announced by the presenter the ninth season. On November 3, 2019, it was announced the tenth season or the anniversary season which will premiere on 2020. On June 16, 2020, Sat.1 announced that the anniversary series of the casting show The Voice of Germany will have more episodes than before.

Coaches and presenters

Coaches

On July 11, 2020, ProSieben and Sat.1 announced that Nena and Xavier Naidoo are the first two coaches for the first season. On August 25, 2020, were announced the last two coaches, they were Rea Garvey and the duo Boss Burns & Hoss Power from the band The BossHoss. All four coaches returned for the second season. Naidoo and Garvey did not return for season three and were replaced by Samu Haber and Max Herre. On March 18, 2014, Völkel and Vollmer from the band The BossHoss announced that they would no longer be coaches for the fourth season. Five days later, Nena also announced her exit from the show. On March 27, 2014, Michi Beck & Smudo from the band Die Fantastischen Vier were announced as The BossHoss replacement. On April 3, 2014, Haber announced on Facebook that he would coach in the fourth season. On May 6, 2014, it was announced that Herre had left the show, but Garvey returned after one season hiatus. On July 3, Silbermond frontwoman Stefanie Kloss announced that she would replace Nena. In early May 2015, Haber announced that he would not be a coach on the fifth season. He was replaced by Andreas Bourani. The other three coaches remained on the show.
On April 30, 2016, it was announced that Garvey would leave the show and Haber would return for the sixth season, after one season hiatus. On June 14, 2016, it was announced that Michi & Smudo and Bourani would continue as coaches, whereas Kloss was replaced by Yvonne Catterfeld. For the seventh season, Bourani was replaced by The Voice Kids coach Mark Forster. Catterfeld, Haber and Michi & Smudo all returned. In May 2018, the management of Haber confirmed that he would not be a coach for the eighth season. He was replaced by Michael Patrick Kelly. Catterfeld, Forster and Michi & Smudo all returned as coaches. On April 7, 2019, Michi & Smudo announced their departure from The Voice of Germany after five seasons. In May Catterfeld and Kelly also announced their exit. Forster returned as a coach. Garvey after three seasons hiatus returned as a coach on the show and with Alice Merton and Sido sitting in the chairs for the first time. On August 21, 2019, it was announced that Nico Santos would also joined season nine as the fifth coach for the Comeback Stage of the competition. In June 2020, it was announced that Sido and Merton will not be in the anniversary series of The Voice of Germany. On July 17, 2020, it was announced that the anniversary season will include six coaches, 2 solo coaches and 2 duo coaches. The two solo were Forster and Santos and the two duo were Kloss & Catterfeld and Haber & Garvey. On July 21, 2020, it was announced that Michael Schulte will be the new Comeback Stage coach.

Presenters

was announced as the host of the program in July 2011. Since season two, actor Thore Schölermann hosts the show. From the fifth season until the ninth season, Schölermann and model Lena Gercke hosted together the show. In the tenth season Schölermann and tv presenter Annemarie Carpendale will host the show. From season one until season four, Doris Golpashin was as the show's social media correspondent during the live shows.
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Coaches and finalists

Winners are in bold, the finalists in the finale are in italicized font, and the eliminated artists are in small font.

Coaches' advisors

From the first season until the fourth the Coaches' advisors was in the Battle rounds and from season sixth are in the Sing Offs.

Series overview

Colour key

Season 1 (2011–2012)

The first season of the show was aired from November 24, 2011 to February 10, 2012. The first season was moderated by Stefan Gödde and backstage by Doris Golpashin. The coaches were pop musician Nena, soul singer Xavier Naidoo, singer and guitarist Rea Garvey and duo Alec Völkel and Sascha Vollmer from the band The BossHoss. The winner was Ivy Quainoo from Team BossHoss.
Ivy Quainoo debuted at No. 2 on the German Media Control charts with her debut single "Do You Like What You See", while the other three finalists also made it into the top 20.

Season 2 (2012)

The second season of The Voice of Germany aired from October 18 to December 14, 2012. The second season was moderated by Thore Schölermann. The four coaches and the backstage presenter remained the same as in season one. The winner of the second season was Nick Howard with his song "Unbreakable".

Season 3 (2013)

The third season of The Voice of Germany was aired from October 17 to December 20, 2013. In addition to the previous coaches Nena and the duo from The BossHoss, the coaches included rapper and music producer Max Herre and songwriter, singer and guitarist Samu Haber. The third season was moderated again by Thore Schölermann and backstage by Doris Golpashin. The winner was Andreas Kümmert with his song Simple Man.

Season 4 (2014)

The fourth season was aired from October 9 to December 12, 2014. Samu Haber returned as coach and with Rea Garvey, who was also in the first two seasons a coach, Stefanie Kloss and Michi & Smudo. This season was again hosted by Thore Schölermann and the backstage presenter was Doris Golpashin. The winner of the fourth season was Charley Ann Schmutzler from team Michi & Smudo with her song "Blue Heart".

Season 5 (2015)

The fifth season was aired from October 15 to December 17, 2015. Rea Garvey, Stefanie Kloss and Michi & Smudo returned as coaches and with Andreas Bourani as the new coach. This season had two main presenter Thore Schölermann and Lena Gercke. The winner of the fifth season was Jamie-Lee Kriewitz from team Michi & Smudo with her song "Ghost", which was also the German contribution to the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 a few months later. There Kriewitz reached the last place with 11 points.

Season 6 (2016)

The sixth season began airing on October 20 and ended on December 18, 2016. From the previous season Michi & Smudo and Andreas Bourani returned as coaches. Samu Haber and Yvonne Catterfeld replaced Rea Garvey and Stefanie Kloss. Thore Schölermann and Lena Gercke both returned as the hosts. On September 15, 2016, it was announced that the show would be broadcast on ProSieben on Thursdays and on Sat.1 on Sundays. The winner of the sixth season was Tay Schmedtmann from team Andreas.

Season 7 (2017)

The seventh season started on October 19 and ended on December 17, 2017. Yvonne Catterfeld, Samu Haber as well as Michi & Smudo returned as coaches. Andreas Bourani was replaced by Mark Forster. Also hosts Thore Schölermann and Lena Gercke remained on the show. The winner was Natia Todua from team Samu. None of the finalists sang their original song this year.

Season 8 (2018)

The eighth season of the show was aired from October 18 to December 16, 2018. Yvonne Catterfeld, Mark Forster and Michi & Smudo were joined by Michael Patrick Kelly, who replaced Samu Haber. Host Lena Gercke and Thore Schölermann remained. The Winner was Samuel Rösch from Michael Patrick Kelly's Team.

Season 9 (2019)

The ninth season began on September 12 and ended on November 10, 2019. Returning coach Mark Forster, was joined by Rea Garvey, who returned after a 3 year hiatus, and new coaches Alice Merton and Sido. For the first time in the show's history, the season featured a fifth coach, Nico Santos, who selected contestants who did not turn a chair in the Blind Auditions or was eliminated from later rounds of the competition, to participate in Comeback Stage by SEAT. Thore Schölermann and Lena Gercke remained as the presenters. The winner was Claudia Emmanuela Santoso from Team Alice.

Season 10 (2020)

The ten-year season will begin airing in 2020. Mark Forster will return to his chair, while Stefanie Kloss & Yvonne Catterfeld will coach as a duo, Nico Santos will move from online-coach to his own coaches chair and Samu Haber & Rea Garvey will also coach as a duo. Thore Schölermann will return to host and will be joined by Annemarie Carpendale who will replace Gercke. Michael Schulte will join the show as the online-coach

Reception

Critical reception

In the media, the casting show met some critical voices. In the selection of candidates is prefiltered, so that conspicuously many candidates look attractive or bring along moving stories.
The contracts of the participants were also criticized. During the TV show, the candidates are usually prescribed which songs they have to sing. Even after the end of the show, they are bound to the Universal Music Group. The financial terms up to and including the third album by the TV show were not negotiable.

Ratings

Awards