Vocea României (season 1)


The []first season of the Romanian reality talent show Vocea României premiered on September 27, 2011 on ProTV and was hosted by Pavel Bartoș and Roxana Ionescu, while Vlad Roșca was the social media correspondent. Horia Brenciu, Loredana Groza, Smiley and Marius Moga were the coaches for the first season. Each coach was allowed to mentor twelve contestants. The winner was Ștefan Stan from Team Smiley.
The season finale aired on December 26, 2011. It immediately proved to be a hit for ProTV and the network renewed the show for a second season.

Overview

The series consists of three phases: a blind audition, a battle phase and live performance shows. Four coaches, all famous musicians, choose teams of contestants through a blind audition process. Each coach has the length of the auditioner's performance to decide if they want that singer on their team; if two or more coaches want the same singer, then the singer gets to choose their coach.
Contestant auditions were held on June 26 and 27, 2011, at Hotel Crown Plaza Bucharest. Contestants were also allowed to submit online applications.

Teams

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Blind auditions

;Color 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

Episode 1 (September 27)

The first of five pre-recorded audition episodes aired on Tuesday, September 27, 2011. The show started with the four coaches singing Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now".

Episode 2 (October 4)

The second episode aired on October 4, 2011.

Episode 3 (October 11)

The third episode aired on October 11, 2011.

Episode 4 (October 18)

The fourth episode aired on October 18, 2011.

Episode 5 (October 25)

The fifth and last blind audition episode was aired on October 25, 2011.

The battles

After the blind auditions, each coach had twelve contestants for the battle rounds that aired from November 1 to November 15, 2011. Coaches began narrowing down the playing field by training the contestants with the help of "trusted advisors". Each episode featured seven or eight battles consisting of pairings from within each team, and each battle concluding with the respective coach eliminating one of the two contestants.
The trusted advisors for these episodes are: Monica Anghel working with Horia Brenciu, Dana Dorian working with Loredana Groza, :ro:Alex Velea|Alex Velea working with Smiley and Randi working with Marius Moga
;Color key:
Artist won the battle and advanced to the next round
Artist lost the battle and was eliminated

Episode 6 (1 November)

The sixth episode aired on November 1, 2011.
CoachOrderWinnerSongLoser
Smiley1Cătălin Dobre"Beat It":ro:Ionel Istrati|Ionel Istrati
Marius Moga2Cristian Sanda"Cry Me a River"Aura Pohoață
Horia Brenciu3Claudiu Mirea"Every Breath You Take"Vlad Stoia
Loredana Groza4Aminda"Valerie"Ana Odagiu
Smiley5Ștefan Stan"Give Me One Reason"Florina Nițulescu
Horia Brenciu6:ro:Iuliana Pușchilă|Iuliana Pușchilă"Tattoo"Krisztina Koszorús
Marius Moga7Sebastian Muntean"Broken Strings"Irina Gorga

Episode 7 (8 November)

The seventh episode aired on November 8, 2011.
CoachOrderWinnerSongLoser
Marius Moga1Aldo Blaga"I Want It That Way"Andrei Ciobanu
Horia Brenciu2:ro:Daniel Dragomir|Daniel Dragomir"It Takes Two"Beatrice Vlădan
Marius Moga3:ro:Oana Radu|Oana Radu"Halo":ro:Andreea Crepcia|Andreea Crepcia
Smiley4Maximilian Muntean"Hey Jude"Marian Vasilescu
Marius Moga5Loredana Căvășdan"So What"Teodora Moroșanu
Loredana Groza6Iulian Canaf"Sailing"Andrei Ion
Smiley7*:ro:Anthony Icuagu|Anthony Icuagu"So Sick"Gabriel Tran
Smiley7*Marcel Lovin"So Sick"Gabriel Tran
Loredana Groza8Alexandra Penciu"Why"Alina Toma

Episode 8 (15 November)

The eighth episode aired on November 15, 2011.
CoachOrderWinnerSongLoser
Horia Brenciu1:ro:Cristina Vasiu|Cristina Vasiu"Lady Marmalade":ro:Lucia Dumitrescu|Lucia Dumitrescu
Loredana Groza2Oana Brutaru"Only Girl "Andra Covaleov
Marius Moga3:ro:Liviu Teodorescu|Liviu Teodorescu"You Are Not Alone"Georgiana Mototolea
Horia Brenciu4Robert Patai"All for Love"Vlad Gliga
Loredana Groza5Alexandra Crăescu"I Drove All Night"Ana-Maria Fluturu
Smiley6Mihai Popistașu"Need You Now"Brigitta Szebenyi
Horia Brenciu7Irina Tănase"Easy Lover"Lucian Darie
Loredana Groza8:ro:Dragoș Chircu|Dragoș Chircu"With or Without You":ro:Daniel Lazăr|Daniel Lazăr

* Lavinia Vâlcan withdrew from the contest ; as a result, Anthony Icuagu, Gabriel Tran and Marcel Lovin formed a trio for the battle rounds.

The sing-off

At the end of the battle rounds, each coach advanced four contestants from their team to the live shows, leaving the other two to duel for the fifth and last spot, in an extra round called "the sing-off". The contestants sang their blind audition songs again and the coaches chose one contestant each.
Color key:
Artist won the Sing off and advanced to the Live shows
Artist lost the Sing off and was eliminated

Live shows

;Color key:
Artist was saved by the public vote
Artist was chosen by their coach
Artist went to the sing-off
Artist was eliminated

Week 1 (November 22)

Team Brenciu and Team Smiley competed in the first live show, which aired on November 22. From each team, viewers could save two contestants, while the coach could save one of the remaining three. The other two went on to the sing-off, where they performed their songs for the night once again, after which one was eliminated by their coach.

Week 2 (November 29)

Team Loredana and Team Moga competed in the second live show, which aired on November 29. Public voting commenced at this point. From each team, viewers could save two contestants, while the coach could save one of the remaining three. The other two went on to the sing-off, where they performed their songs for the night once again, after which one was eliminated by their coach.

Week 3 (6 & 9 December)

The third week comprised episodes 11 and 12. Team Brenciu and Team Smiley competed in the first part of this week, which aired on Tuesday, December 6, while Team Loredana and Team Moga competed in the second part of this week, which aired on Friday, December 9. Voting proceeded as before, except the public vote could only save one contestant from each team. Voting proceeded as before, except the public vote could only save one contestant from each team.

Week 4 (13 & 16 December)

The fourth week comprised episodes 13 and 14. All remaining contestants performed in both live shows. Voting proceeded as before, except the third-placed contestant in each team was automatically eliminated, without going through the sing-off round.
CoachOrderArtistSongResult
Loredana Groza1Iulian Canaf"I Got a Woman"Loredana's choice
Marius Moga2:ro:Oana Radu|Oana Radu"I Will Survive"Eliminated
Smiley3:ro:Anthony icuagu|Anthony Icuagu"Man in the Mirror"Eliminated
Horia Brenciu4Irina Tănase"If I Ain't Got You"Brenciu's choice
Smiley5Cătălin Dobre"Sex on Fire"Smiley's choice
Marius Moga6:ro:Liviu Teodorescu|Liviu Teodorescu"Trouble"Moga's choice
Loredana Groza7Alexandra Crăescu"Hot Stuff"Eliminated
Horia Brenciu8:ro:Iuliana Pușchilă|Iuliana Pușchilă"Big Girls Don't Cry"Public's vote
Marius Moga9Cristian Sanda"Ain't No Sunshine"Public's vote
Horia Brenciu10:ro:Daniel Dragomir|Daniel Dragomir"Più bella cosa"Eliminated
Smiley11Ștefan Stan" I Do It for You"Public's vote
Loredana Groza12:ro:Dragoș Chircu|Dragoș Chircu"Careless Whisper"Public's vote

Semi-final (December 16)

All eight remaining contestants performed in the semi-final on Friday, December 16, 2011. Within each team, the coach and the viewers each had a 50/50 say; the contestant with the highest combined score went on to the final.
CoachArtistOrderFirst songOrderSecond songResult
Marius MogaCristian Sanda1"Oameni"9"Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You"Public's vote
SmileyCătălin Dobre2"Bed of Roses"10"Cea mai tare piesă"Eliminated
Loredana GrozaIulian Canaf3"Vagabondul vieții mele"11"What a Wonderful World"Eliminated
Horia Brenciu:ro:Iuliana Pușchilă|Iuliana Pușchilă4"Listen to Your Heart"12"Spune-mi"Public's vote
Marius Moga:ro:Liviu Teodorescu|Liviu Teodorescu5"În lipsa mea"13"Feel"Eliminated
SmileyȘtefan Stan6"Fever"14"Hai acasă"Public's vote
Horia BrenciuIrina Tănase7":ro:Aura Urziceanu|Vreau să vii în viața mea"16"Respect"Eliminated
Loredana Groza:ro:Dragoș Chircu|Dragoș Chircu8"Vorbe care dor"15"You Raise Me Up"Public's vote

Week 5: Final (December 26)

The top 4 contestants performed in the grand final on Monday, December 26, 2011. This week, the four finalists performed a solo song, a duet with a famous singer and a duet with their coach. The public vote determined the winner, and that resulted in a victory for Ștefan Stan, Smiley's first victory as a coach.
CoachArtistOrderSolo songOrderDuet song OrderDuet song Result
Loredana Groza:ro:Dragoș Chircu|Dragoș Chircu1"When a Man Loves a Woman"11"Abrázame" 7"Time To Say Goodbye"Runner-up
Marius MogaCristian Sanda6"Feeling Good"2"Adagio" 9"Tot mai sus"Fourth place
Horia Brenciu:ro:Iuliana Pușchilă|Iuliana Pușchilă5"The Winner Takes It All"10"20 de ani" 3" The Time of My Life"Third place
SmileyȘtefan Stan12"My Way"8"Vivo per lei" 4" Satisfaction"Winner

PlaceCoachArtistResult
1SmileyȘtefan Stan
37.67%
2Loredana GrozaDragoș Chircu
23.01%
3Horia BrenciuIuliana Pușchilă
20.69%
4Marius MogaCristian Sanda
18.63%

Elimination chart

;Color key
;Artist info

Controversies

Lavinia Vâlcan, a contestant in Team Smiley, withdrew from the contest before the battle round, as she considered that the show didn't allow her to express herself as an artist. Vâlcan claimed that, for the battle round, she had been forced to choose between two songs that did not suit her. The artist stated that the producers were uninterested in receiving a third proposal from her.

Ratings