MUMBAI: US broadcaster NBC will use American television’s biggest stage to push the second season of its singing based reality show ‘The Voice’.
Hosted again in its second season by Carson Daly, the show features four musician coaches, Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton, who coach only the most talented vocalists.
Following Super Bowl XLVI on 5 February 2012, it will unveil the second-season premiere of ‘The Voice’. Then on 6 February, it will kick off ‘Smash’.
NBC Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt said, “The Super Bowl represents the biggest television audience of the year and we think that the return of ‘The Voice’ is deserving of this prominent showcase. We also will shine the promotional spotlight throughout Super Bowl Sunday for Monday’s debut of ‘Smash,’ which will give it a powerful launch platform.”
“The Voice”is a vocal competition series modeled after Holland’s vocal talent discovery show, “The Voice of Holland.”
The show’s format features three stages of competition: the first begins with the blind audition, then the competition enters into a battle phase, and finally, the live performance shows.
The show’s casting team is working with the music industry and searching the country for the best singers to bring to the blind audition process. During the blind auditions, the decisions from the coaches are based solely on voice and not on looks. The coaches hear the contestants perform, but they don’t get to see them — thanks to rotating chairs. If a coach is impressed by the contestant’s voice, he/she pushes a button to select the contestant for his/her team.
Once the teams are set, the battle is on. Coaches dedicate themselves to developing their singers, giving them advice, and sharing the secrets of their success. During the battle rounds, the coaches pit two of their own team members against each other to sing the same song together in front of a studio audience. After the vocal face-off, the coach must choose which of his/her singers will advance.
At the end of the battle episodes, only the strongest members of each coach’s roster remain and proceed to the live stage shows. In this final performance phase of the competition, the top contestants from each team compete against each other during a live broadcast. The television audience will vote to save one talent on each team, leaving the coach to decide live who they want to save and who will not move on.
At last, each coach will have his/her best contestant left standing to compete in the finale. From these four, one will be named “The Voice”— and will receive the grand prize of a recording contract and $100,000.
‘The Voice’ is a presentation of Mark Burnett’s One Three Inc., Talpa Content USA, Inc. and Warner Horizon Television.
‘Smash’ is a musical drama that celebrates the beauty and heartbreak of Broadway as it follows a cross-section of dreamers and schemers who all have one common desire — to be a ‘Smash’.
The series centers on a desire to create a Broadway musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe — written by the successful songwriting duo of Tom played by Christian Borle and Julia played by Debra Messing. Julia recently began the process of adopting a child with her husband (Brian d’Arcy James) of many years, but her focus is torn when she has the opportunity to write another Broadway hit.
A rivalry soon forms for the lead role between a youthful, inexperienced Midwestern beauty played by Katharine McPhee who is trying to find fame in the big city against all odds — and stage veteran played by Megan Hilty, who’s determined to leave the chorus line and finally get her big break. A tenacious producer, Eileen (played by Anjelica Huston) discovers the “Marilyn”project and jumps on board with a brilliant director played by Jack Davenport whose talent is matched by his cunning and egocentric amorality. The series stemmed from an idea of executive producer Steven Spielberg.