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Nine vows to refresh The Voice

Coaches, songs, rounds, season run -Nine is reviewing changes to The Voice for 2015.

2014-07-23_1628Nine is promising to refresh The Voice for 2015 after expressing disappointment with the finale figures.

Director of Development and Digital Adrian Swift has told Mumbrella everything is up for review.

“We will look at the judging panels, the kind of songs we choose, the kind of artists that appear on the show,” he said.

“When we do it again next year is keep the authenticity, keep the core of the show. We might make it shorter, we might get rid of some of the rounds, we might show more of the nos – where we might show more of the things where (the coaches) didn’t turn (their chairs) for just to give more context on how good the ones where we do for turn are. ”

He also noted X Factor is currently down and that saturation may be at play.

Indeed there are a number of things Nine could do to refresh its show.

One is to stick to traditional timeslots. While a Live show may run overtime, most of The Voice episodes were pre-recorded, yet still didn’t match Guides. As a result many viewers know they can record the show and zap through to the actual performances. The finale itself finished too late for family viewing -evidenced by the lower number for The Winner Announced.

The finale also did a lot for the coaches at the expense of the contestants, including duets in song keys that suited the coaches. Yet for a show that still runs overtime, the contestants only get about 2 minutes to sing solo? Something wrong there.

Having two versions of the show in the same landscape is also too much. Which is a shame because the talent has been good on both. But do I really want to sit down with more Voice right now?

At least the show ended up with the right winner. Anja Nissen was solid with her pitch and delivery, but not all of the finalists were.

X Factor has some amazing talent this season, including some acts better than The Voice, but again it in the same climate as another singing show is hitting its numbers.

You can read the full article with more from Swift here.

23 Responses

  1. When a show needs tweeking, maybe there is something wrong with the format, maybe people are getting tired of the format, a show seems to be about the judges……who really cares.

  2. I posted this comment in the tv lounge a few weeks but it seems more suited to here.

    tvf July 11, 2014 at 7:15 am –

    I was reading an article on news.com.au website called “Why hasn’t the voice produced a superstar?” As part of the article they had youtube clips of top reality singing moments. I watched Guy Sebestian sing Climb Every Mountain and Anthony Callea sing The prayer. I immediately noticed during the song that there wasn’t flashbacks to see the judges reactions. The focus was entirely on the singer while they were singing. In comparison to the voice its all about the judges theatrics when the contestant is actually singing. The performance loses something when its all about the judges. It’s one of the reasons I no longer watch the voice.

  3. I just feel The Voice production whilst ok, is a bit too slick and over produced for Australia. That sort of production seems to work overseas but when copied here, does not go down as well. We like it to be kept more real. Xfactor suffers from this as well but not to the degree that The Voice does.

  4. Such a pity that X factor is suffering.
    It is a much better production than The Voice. The talent is better, the judges are better – the whole thing just feels more authentic.

    The Voice this year felt compleetly contrived.

    I hope X Factor can garner the attention it deserves.

  5. I enjoy the voice far more than x factor. The judges/coaches are far better and they have more experience and are more entertaining. But the level of talent was not as good this year and some of those that were really talented went bay the wayside at the battle rounds, to quite often artists who weren’t as good. And how Zk made it so far I do not know, they were very pitchy and quite often off key. Anna was a deserved winner tho. Had by far the best and strongest voice. They definitely need to make the show a bit simpler tho and not so confusing. And yeah putting voice kids on the same time… Not a good idea. Oh and for the person who said that x factor has more undiscovered talent than the voice… Do u realize Samantha Jade had a record contract and an album already recorded in the US before she went on the show and then went on to win, and last years Taylor Henderson was a finalist…

  6. I don’t watch the show, but I have seen enough to know it is not about the ‘Voice’ and more about the judges. That is one thing they need to change. The focus should always be on the contestant, and a quick shot of a spinning chair, not footage of judges dancing and rudely talking other about who should spin then making a spectacle of their own spin.
    Also, they need to edit it down to the standard 1hr format. Not even Idol ran as late as these current shows.

  7. The talent is definitely better on X Factor this year. With the grand finale of The Voice, it really pointed out how the format failed – the best voices were not in the final 5. It dragged on. And agree that it seemed to be all about the judges – why did they all need to perform live? Firstly at the end of the episodes and secondly during the finale with the contestants? “Professional” singers were taking up more of the air time in the final than the contestants!! It’s “The Voice” not “The Coach” – and Nine need to remember that.

  8. The market is too saturated now .just too many talent shows . The scheduling of the voice has been appauling this year as well nine stuffs about with viewers too much by changing days and playing with times .the voice is too much about the judges not the talent ,talent chosen is not great either .the winner this year was ok but give it three months and no one will remember her name . .Our family chose to watch one talent show this year its X factor love the format better real undiscovered talent.the voice has a lot of people in the industry who want to fast track their careers who audition for the show.on the X factor its about undiscovered talent . . talent is varied and incredible .the times slot and days suit us better .

  9. Does Darren McMullen host the voice: kids? I haven’t seen him since episode 1. Prinnie Stevens does all the back stage interviews, and someone else does the voiceover.

  10. Another fine report David, the key word in it is saturation, there is to much of the same thing out there! Spinning chairs aside, they are all just versions of New Faces, why should there creators be paid a fortune in licensing fees when they are just basic talent shows. Channel Ten could launch “Ten’s Fresh Faces” And not pay a cent in licensing fees.
    I find myself watching dvd’s in primetime now as there is very little on for me, I cannot watch another Big Bang Theory that I’ve already seen ten times, I just can’t! Ncis and The good wife are finished, Masterchef about to finish, with nothing to replace it. And I so miss Ten Late News. Abc Lateline is long winded and boring.

  11. I thought The voice was entertaining enough but Xfactor is getting all the talent. Xfactor seem to be more serious about the artist where as The Voice should be renamed The Judges.

  12. The problem of the show is that the format from the start is weird. Singing Show A (X-factor) is the better of the two singing shows because Singing Show B (Voice) has a very judge oriented format and seams all over the place. While Singing Show A is more straight forward and the Judges have less of a say when it’s at the live show phase.

  13. I’ve always thought The Voice had major problems with its format from the first season. Ratings should build week to week, not drop off.

    I think the rounds following auditions are unfair. The battle rounds are always going to favour one person over another with song choice, and I hate that one person from each coaches group goes home every week – I’ve often found this ensures people go home who do not yet deserve to be. It also doesn’t really give anyone enough time to establish a connection with the contestants.

  14. People may have different opinions about the shows etc but I enjoyed the Voice I think the balance was good it wasn’t all about the coaches. I think were X-factor is going wrong they need to freshen up the show I’m sorry I know I keep saying this they need a new judging panel they’re all outdated I’m sure they’re all nice etc but image is important to a show the judges don’t really give much and I think they may be out of practice where as the Voice coaches are all very talented and give alot to the show. X-factor needs to change and if producers etc can’t see that ratings will drop even more. The Voice is already looking to do something different next year.

  15. 2012 Season: 3 ticks for Format, 3 for Judges and 3 for Talent = 9 ticks and top ratings.
    2013 Season: 2 ticks for format (extended season), 3 for Judges and 2 for talent = 7 ticks and reasonable ratings.
    2014 Season: 1 tick for format ( shows too long and series drawn out), 2 ticks for the judges (too much about them) and 1 for talent = 4 ticks and lacklustre ratings.

    Tighten the format, reign in the judges and find genuine talent. Enough said!

  16. If they need to refresh after only 3 years the novelty has worn off and the show was only a gimmick (spinning chairs was the most popular part at 2 million)!
    Padding out of Reality, over saturation and ego centric judges who reckon the contestants will all be stars is a factor!
    In my opinion they are TV shows with little credibility for music longevity! Just a quick ratings grab by networks and rapidly rising and falling “stars”.

  17. Kylie minogue has traditionally been great at pulling viewers, ratings doubled when she appeared on hey hey (the Wednesday version) if she couldn’t bring viewers to The Voice it’s hard to see who could.

    I think the best way to lift ratings would be to take a long break and not return until feb 2016.

  18. Nine should consider cutting down on the number of episodes/competition rounds after the blind auditions are over. The format felt very padded out this year. Having fewer contestants progress past the blind auditions would also make it easier for viewers to connect with the talent.

    Also consider being more consistent with nights/timeslots. The X Factor has felt more structured with 3 nights during auditions and 2 nights during the finals.

  19. Part of the problem was if The Voice Kids had not come on when it did then The Voice itself would have had the finale around 3 or 4 weeks ago (keeping it on Sunday and Tuesday). To keep invested in the run to the finale with one show a week is not what the people who view it want, as it wasn’t that way in the past.

    Really nine should have finished The Voice then had The Block then the Voice Kids, however it seems they felt they needed to rush it into the schedule to fit Big Brother in (even though they had Australia’s Got Talent last year and still fitted the other shows in to the schedule).

  20. Thought the voice was very poor this year, it was all about the judges, see how good I am, and most acts were average, whereas The X Factor might be down in numbers which is a shame but the talent is far, far superior to the voice.

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