The Voice of Greece

For the most recent season, see The Voice of Greece (season 1). For international syndication, see The Voice (TV series)

The Voice of Greece
200px
Genre	Talent show
Created by	John de Mol Roel van Velzen
Directed by	Thanos Gomozias
Presented by	Giorgos Liagkas
Judges	Michalis Kouinelis Despina Vandi Antonis Remos Melina Aslanidou
Country of origin	Greece and Cyprus
Original language(s)	Greek
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	18
Production
Executive producer(s)	Anna Aravaniti
Producer(s)	Antonis Matsos
Production location(s)	Spata, Attica
Running time	100–110 minutes
Release
Original network	ANT1
Picture format	576i (16:9)
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	January 10, 2014 (2014-01-10) – present
Chronology
Related shows	The Voice (franchise)
External links
Website

The Voice of Greece is a Greek television talent show with its first season premiering on January 10, 2014 on ANT1 (Cyprus and Greece). Based on the reality singing competition The Voice of Holland, the series was created by Dutch television producer John de Mol. It is part of an international series. The coaches of the show are currently Michalis Kouinelis, Despina Vandi, Antonis Remos and Melina Aslanidou. Giorgos Liagkas is hosting the show while Themis Georgantas is the backstage and social networking corresponding usually referred as the "V Reporter".

There are four different stages to the show: producers' auditions, blind auditions, battle phase and live shows. Producers' auditions take place in Athens and Thesalloniki in Greece and in Nicosia in Cyprus. The rest stages are taking place in the Kapa Studios, in Spata, Attica.

Maria Elena Kiriakou is currently the only winner produced by the series. The show has been renewed for a second season that will premiere during the 2014–2015 season along with a kids version of the show.

A month after the premiere of the show, Mega Channel Cyprus announced the premiere of their talent show, Your Song, that was rumored to be broadcast in the Greek channel also, opposite The Voice of Greece. Even though the show was not broadcast by the Greek channel, in March 2014 the broadcaster confirmed the second season of the reality singing competition Just the Two of Us hosted by Zeta Makripoulia who hosted the first to third seasons of Dancing with the Stars.

Production

The Voice of Greece was often mentioned in July–August 2013 by the media as the new reality show on the Greek television. Even though no broadcaster had officially announce the show, ANT1 and Mega Channel were the possible channels that would host the show. In early September it was announced with a trailer that ANT1 bought the rights for the show. It was revealed the show would be going head-to-head with Mega Channel's series, Klemmena Onira, which was very successful.

Although it was not done for every performance of the contestants, the four original songs of the four finalists were released through iTunes.

Devised by John de Mol, the creator of Big Brother, The Voice is based on the Dutch TV programme The Voice of Holland and is part of the The Voice franchise, being based on the similar British and U.S. format. After securing the show, ANT1 had in their schedule three of the top shows: The Voice, Dancing with the Stars, and Your Face Sounds Familiar with all of them being renewed for the 2014−2015 season.

Scheduling

After speculation in August, the show was expected to start in November 2013. In September, it was speculated that the new series To Spiti tis Emmas starring Katia Dandoulaki, also set to premiere in November 2013. The show's air date was officially confirmed on December 21, 2013 with a trailer. A countdown started on the show's Twitter on 3 January 2014. It was rumored that the Cypriot channel, Mega Channel would start a show alike to The Voice and the Greek same-titled channel would broadcast it opposite The Voice. The show was latter officially confirmed by the broadcaster with a trailer. The show started after the third season of DanSing for You was finished. It was rumored that Zeta Makripoulia, who hosted Dancing with the Stars on ANT1, would host the show. However, it was later confirmed that Makripoulia would be hosting the second season of Mega's reality singing contest, Just the Two of Us.

As more episodes of the show were broadcast, the more audience were following it, making ANT1 more successful. The show was broadcast opposite Mega's popular series, Klemmena Onira which was broadcast from 9:15 to 10:00. On January 10, 2014, it managed to get more viewers than Mega's series, with 1.78 million viewers for the show's premiere and left the series behind with 1.70 million viewers. However, the "war" between the two was tight in the next weeks with The Voice of Greece getting the lead only once, on January 24, 2014 with 1.734 million viewers, almost 1 million viewers more than the series.

The Voice of Greece was not broadcast the same day in ANT1 Cyprus. In Cyprus the blind auditions and the battles were broadcast one day later than in Greece; on Saturday at 9:15. However, as the live shows were broadcast live, the show was moved to Fridays as in the Greek channel.

In February 2014, it was rumored that the air date would change to Sunday with the producers of the show denying the rumor and said that the rest of the blind auditions and the battles will be aired on Fridays as they are recorded. However, they have said that the day of the live shows isn't decided yet as two of the coaches can't be on the show on Fridays due to their schedule. After the battles were completed, it was shown on the trailer for the live shows that they would be airing on Fridays, as the previous stages.

Promotion

The first promotional item for the show was on the TV, with a trailer announcing the auditions of the show in September 2013. It read, "The first show that close the eyes to the appearance and listens only the voice". Several shots from the American version were shown during the trailer. Four twenty-seconds trailers were shown three months later, on 12 December. The official trailer with the premiere date was shown on December 21, 2013. The coaches, who were first seen in that trailer, were coming from the backstage to the stage. As it was done in the American version, a bus showing the coaches of the show as well as the show's logo and premiere date, was travelling around the country in order to promote the show.

Social media

During the live shows, the V Reporter usually showed reports on the trending of the show in the social media such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. The hashtag #thevoicegr was used for the show as well as hashtags with the teams.

Auditions and filming

The producer auditions of the first season started in September 2013. The blind auditions took place in the Kapa Studios in Spata, Attica, where the battle and live shows also take place with the only difference being that the latter is broadcast live and it is not recorded. The places of the audition were not officially announced but Thesalloniki, Athens and Nicosia were some of the cities. Though the blind auditions were not filmed in one day, the coaches wore the same clothes in all the episodes of the blind auditions as it is a rule of the show.

Incidents

On January 25, 2014, it was announced that the production of the original show sued Stamatina Kanta, a contestant of the first season, after breaching the conditions of the contract. Kanta had appeared in a talk show that didn't belong to the channel that broadcasts the show. A few hours later though, it was revealed that the production team didn't sue the contestant, but had simply phoned with a warning.

Format

The Voice is a reality television series that features four coaches looking for a talented new artist, who could become a global superstar. As the title indicates the coaches judge their vocal ability and not their looks, personalities or stage presence. This aspect, differentiates The Voice from other reality television series such as The X Factor, Greek Idol and Greece's Got Talent. The top sixty four artists are split into four teams and are mentored by the four coaches who in turn choose songs for their artists to perform.

Anyone can audition for the show, even artists that have been in the musical industry. After the auditions are held, the blind auditions take place where the coaches determine the top sixty four. During the blind auditions the artists perform with the coaches facing the audience. If the coach likes the artist vocally and hits the button showing that would like to mentor him. If more than one does so, then the artist selects a coach. However, if no coach turns around then the artist is sent home.

There are four different stages: producers' auditions, Blind auditions, Battle phase and live shows.

Selection process

The first stage of the show is not broadcast. The producers of the show audition all the artists that submitted their selves through the form on the website. The selected by the producers artists proceed to the blind auditions where they have to perform for the coaches. However, what differs from the other reality shows and as the stage's name indicates, the coaches do not see the artist performing as they face the audience. If the coaches like the performance, they hit their button which shows that they want to mentor the act. If more than one hits the button, the singer has the opportunity to select the coach of his preference. If only one hits the button, the singer is defaulted to his team. However, if none of the coaches hit the button, the artist is eliminated. While the singer is performing at the blind auditions, his relatives or friends are at a room, known as the "family room" where they watch him performing. Along with the relatives and friends the host, Giorgos Liagkas, is with them. Each coach has a team of sixteen acts selected from the blind auditions and as soon as they have their sixteen acts, they cannot press their button. Sixty four out of the selected by the producers proceed to the next stage, the battle phase.

The second stage, the Battle phase, is where two artists are mentored and then developed by their respective coach. The coaches of the team will "dedicate themselves to developing their artists, giving them advice, and sharing the secrets of their success in the music industry". The two members of each team are fighting against by performing the same song which is selected by their coach. The coach then, decides who will continue to the show and proceed to the live shows. The "steal" twist was not introduced to the show as in the British and American shows. This stage, as the blind auditions, is not live. During the battle phase, the coaches "hire" advisors to help them and give them advices on pairing the contestants and choosing the songs. The advisors of the coaches are known and acclaimed musicians.

The final stage of the show is the live shows. The artists perform in front of the coaches and an audience. Unlike the previous stages, the live shows are broadcast live. Each coach will have eight acts after eight of their sixteen acts have been eliminated in the battle phase. The thirty-two acts compete in the first and second live shows where four acts from each team are eliminated. Each coach has then four acts in the third live and since then each team loses one act in each live until the sixth and final live show where each coach has one act. As it was revealed by the presenter of the first season, during the semi-final week songs are being written and produced for each one of the eight semi-finalists. However, the songs will be used for the final indicating that only four of the songs will be presented by the contestants.

Voting system

As all the music competitions in Greece, the fans could vote through phone calls or text as well as voting through the website of the broadcaster. The viewers from the rest of the world, except Cyprus, were only able to vote through the website. The voting is unlimited; the viewers can vote as many times as they want.

As of the first season, the voting is only available in the final stage of the show; the live shows. Along with the coaches, the viewers decide who will proceed to the next live show. The voting in each live show was divided in four parts; the acts from each team were performing and the viewer were voting one or more acts from the team. In the first and second live shows, the most voted act was through the third live while the coach had to select a second act to send through. The same process was done in all the live shows except the final live show. However from the third to the fifth live show, only one act was eliminated from the competition. For the semi-final there was an additional voting system; the coaches had 100 points to give to the two acts of their team and they could not give equal points to the acts. After the semi-final results, the voting for the final started and stayed open for one week. Also, as it was done in the American version, voting was also available through iTunes, by purchasing the songs of the four finalists.

As the series is broadcast in Cyprus and Cypriot singers are also competing, Cyprus is also allowed to vote. However, the fact that Cypriot contestants managed to get through the contest, which assumed that Cypriots were voting mostly for Cypriots, caused "feuds" between Greeks and Cypriots mainly through the social network. Also, Evridiki replied to those who criticize the Cypriot contestants; "[...] Don't forget that it's a game. Some people should cool off and don't get upset with the Cypriots that are voting. At the end they are not voting random contestants, but contestants that are objectively good singers".

Series overview

The series is part of the The Voice franchise and is based on a similar competition format in the Netherlands entitled The Voice of Holland won by Ben Saunders.

     Team Stavento

     Team Vandi

     Team Remos

     Team Aslanidou

Season	Premiere	Finale	Winner	Runners-up	Fourth place	Winning coach	Hosts
One	January 10, 2014	May 9, 2014	Maria Elena Kyriakou	Areti Kosmidou	Emily Charalambous	Despina Vandi	Giorgos Liagkas Themis Georgantas
				Lefteris Kintatos
Two	February 15, 2015	June 21, 2015	Kostas Ageris	Anna Vilanidi	Katerina Kabanelli	Antonis Remos
				Nektarios Mallas

Season 1 (2014)

Main article: The Voice of Greece (season 1)

The first season of The Voice of Greece premiered on January 10, 2014 (and January 11, 2014 in Cyprus) and concluded on May 8, 2014. The coaches of the first season were Michalis Kouinelis, Despina Vandi, Antonis Remos and Melina Aslanidou while Giorgos Liagkas and Themis Georgantas were the presenter and backstage reporter respectively. Auditions for the season were held in Thesalloniki, Athens (Greece) and Nicosia (Cyprus). The show was broadcast on ANT1 and it was since the first episode a success with rates getting over 50% in both household and adults rating.

Four contestants, one from each team, advanced to the final live show. Each one of the four finalists had their own song written by members of the Universal Music Group. Kiriakou was announced as the winner of the season, while Kosmidou was declared as the runner-up. Third and fourth places were Kintatos and Charalambous.

Season 2 (2015)

Main article: The Voice of Greece (season 2)

The second season of The Voice of Greece premiered on February 15, 2015 and concluded on June 21, 2015. The coaches from the first season, Aslanidou, Remos, Vandi and Kouinelis remained as the coaches while Giorgos Liagkas also stayed as the presenter.

Four contestants, one from each team, advanced to the final live show. Each one of the four finalists had their own song written by members of the Universal Music Group. Ageris was announced as the winner of the season, while Vilanidi was declared as the runner-up. Third and fourth places were Mallas and Kabanelli.

Presenters

Natalia Germanou was unofficially confirmed to be the host of the show. However, it was later revealed that she had a proposition for the judging panel which was later turned down by the broadcaster after it was decided that the judges will be only professional singers. A few days after the unofficial confirmation, Sakis Rouvas, who also hosted the Greek version of The X Factor, was rumored to be the host of the show. On December 5, 2013, the broadcaster revealed that Liagkas will be hosting the show with Georgantas being the V reporter.

Coaches

Several artists were rumored as the coaches for the first season; Anna Vissi, Marinella, Remos Elena Paparizou and Nikos Karvelas were some of them. The official line-up was announced on December 5, 2013. The coaches of the first season are Antonis Remos, Despina Vandi, Melina Aslanidou and Michalis Kouinelis (member of the Greek Hip-Hop band Stavento). The coaches are often described as "the biggest names of the Greek music industry". "[The coaches] are four of the top artists of the Greek music industry representing a wide musical spectrum" said TLife's Nancy Nikolaidou.

Current

Despina Vandi

Main article: Despina Vandi

Despina Vandi

As all the other coaches, Despina Vandi was officially confirmed as a coach on December 5, 2013. A source in November, said "Despina Vandi is in talks with the heads of ANT1 in order to have her place in the panel finalized". She signed the contract for the first season in late November. However, she was rumored several times as a coach of the show since the show's first season was announced in August. ANT1 wanted Vandi to be in the show although Vandi had previously turned down propositions to join the judging panels of several shows such as the broadcaster's The X Factor as well as the Greek Idol and Fame Story. In September 2013, it was reported that Vandi had a proposition along with Anna Vissi, who both are considered as "enemies", with the latter turning down the proposition for unknown reasons. However, it was later rumored that Vissi turned down to proposition due to Vandi being in the panel and said that she would only accept the proposition if the other coach was her ex-husband, Nikos Karvelas, which was impossible as Vandi had already signed her contract for the show. The teasers of the coaches were revealed on January 4, 2014 where the coaches were talked about the show with Vandi saying that she likes the idea of hearing and not seeing and that in the show it's only "the voice" that counts.

In March 2014, Vandi revealed that the main reason of accepting the proposition to join the show was that it is the only talent show for new talents since its concept is different than the other talent shows as she has watched versions of other countries. She also said that she had discussed about the show with the channel's head, Giannis Latsios. Antonis Remos, whom Vandi has known for several years, was another reason for Vandi to join the show and also said that she feels safe and sure with him.

Vandi has received mostly positive feedback for her appearance in the show and she was often named as the "show's favorite coach". Authors from Cosmo gave positive review to Vandi with Kallia Kastani saying that "she has whatever a person who is on television for any reason needs to have" while Ioanna Pahouli said that Vandi was her favorite since the trailer was shown. After appearing in the show's first season and also hosting the Greek national selection Eurosong – a MAD show of 2013 and 2014, it was reported that ANT1 wanted to use her for a different project, in the role of the presenter this time. During the press junket for the show, Vandi said that "hosting is not something that I consider at the moment. I won't turn down anything, because what if there was a project with relation to music [...] I can't imagine myself doing anything than singing".

For the first season's battles, Vandi "hired" the composer and producer Dimitris Kontopoulos as her advisor to help her through the process of the battles.

Antonis Remos

Main article: Antonis Remos

Antonis Remos

Antonis Remos was one of the first singers to be rumored as a coach. He was officially confirmed as a coach by ANT1 on December 5, 2013. He was firstly reported as a coach in September 2013 along with Anna Vissi with whom he has cooperated for their appearance in the musical "Ena I Kanena" since December. Remos accepted the proposition and signed contract with the channel in November, although Vissi turned down the proposition. The teasers of the coaches were revealed on January 4, 2014 where the coaches were talked about the show with Remos saying that he will search to discover the "truth of the voice".

Remos has said that the reason that lead him to accept the proposition for the show was that "the singers who are auditioning for the show, professionals or not [...] are "fighting" for their talent to be recognized". He also said the fact that he is coaching and helping the participants instead of judging is important for him.

About his role in the show, Remos said that "we [the coaches] are not judges but coaches" and that the relief for him is that he is not judging any singer but helping them to choose right. During the press junket in March 2014, Remos said that he is unsure if he would be in the show's second season but said that in case he accepted to be in the second season, it would be only because he likes the process. He said that he has enjoyed being part of the first season but has also exhausted him.

His appearance on the show was not received very positively and received mixed reviews. Kallia Kastani named him as her less favorite from the coaches and said that "though he is amazingly direct and stands in front of the camera like he's been on the TV for years, he's posing a bit like “I've done a career and I know better”" while Niki Hagia named him as her favorite from the coaches.

For the first season's battles, Remos "hired" the composer and music arranger Christos Sumka as his advisor to help him through the process of the battles.

Melina Aslanidou

Main article: Melina Aslanidou

Melina Aslanidou was the third coach to be unofficially confirmed, even though she wasn't rumored as a coach before as Antonis Remos and Despina Vandi. She was officially confirmed as a coach along with the rest on December 5, 2013. It was reported by People Greece that after Vandi and Remos signed their contracts, ANT1 was looking for a female artist from the entechno genre resulting to have Aslanidou as the preponderant for the show. She has said that when she got the proposition for the show, her first thought was negative as she didn't have any relation with the television, but the attracting point of the proposition was the concept of the show, which led her to accept the proposition. The teasers of the coaches were revealed on January 4, 2014 where the coaches were talked about the show with Aslanidou saying that she is trying to find voices that will have technique but most of all will have "soul".

During an interview for her experience at the show, Aslanidou had reported that when she got the proposition she had fear of appearing on the television. She also said about teaching the contestants that it's partly hard as it's not easy as you have to pass experiences, values and ideals that she also got from bigger artists. "Each child has different needs [...] you have to see what the needs to listen so they can stand out", she reportedly said.

Her appearance at the show had rather negative reviews but also had several positive. Ioanna Mami of Cosmo said that she is cute, calm and shows respect to the contestants and named her as her favorite coach. Despina Dima and Elena Bouzala named her as their least favorite coach with the first saying that she's good but the fact that she was somehow "frightened" disappointed her and that she also needs time to adjust. Elena Bouzala said that Aslanidou is making her get bored and when the rest try to make a joke she's turning it to serious.

As Antonis Remos, Aslanidou isn't sure if she will be a part of the second season. She said that she wants to focus on the first season's live shows and then consider if she still wants to be a coach in the second season.

For the first season's battles, Aslanidou "hired" the composer Antonis Mintzelos as her advisor to help her through the process of the battles.

Michalis Kouinelis

Main article: Michalis Kouinelis

Although all the coaches were officially confirmed by the broadcaster on December 5, 2013, Michalis Kouinelis was unofficially confirmed as the last coach in the show on December 2, 2013. It was reported by People Greece that after Vandi and Remos signed their contracts, ANT1 was looking for a male artist with a rock or rap style resulting to have Michalis as the preponderant for the show. The teasers of the coaches were revealed on January 4, 2014 where the coaches were talked about the show with Kouinelis saying that he is searching for the voice that will make him go crazy, that will make him "grow hair up".

Kouinelis has reported that after the ANT1 heads called him to discuss about the show, he did not intend or was fully interested on joining the show but when he understood what the show was really about, he accepted as he would be doing what he does all these years with the only difference that it would be broadcast.

Even though his appearance in the show did not receive positive reviews, he was praised for his humor. Cosmo's Niki Hagia and Ioanna Pahouli named him as their least favorite coach with the first saying that she would imagine him as a friend of her but not as a coach. Ioanna Mami said that the way he was talking, it was not suitable for a television show even though he loves him as a singer.

For the first season's battles, Kouinelis "hired" the singer-songwriter Dimos Anastasiadis as his advisor to help him through the process of the battles.

Coaches' teams

In each season, each coach chooses a number of acts to get through to the live finals. This table shows, for each season, which artists he or she put through to the live finals.

Key:

     – Winning coach and their team. Winners are in bold, eliminated artists in smaller font.

Season	Michalis Kouinelis	Despina Vandi	Antonis Remos	Melina Aslanidou
One	Areti Kosmidou Aris Kambanos Dimitra Dimitrakopoulou Panayiotis Vintzilaios Steven Anderito Tasos Panagiotopoulos Violeta Christina Dagkalou Uri Melikov	Maria Elena Kyriakou Dimitris Fournarakis Eleni Geragidi Elpida Papakosma Katerina Lioliou Nikos Mpaliakos Stelios Mayalios Vasilis Axiotis	Alex Economou Dimitris Tiktopoulos Dimos Mpeke Evelina Nikoliza Fani Tselepi Georgina Karachaliou Lefteris Kintatos Natasa Veneti	Aggeliki Zika Anna Maria Bilida Eirini Kalamaraki Emily Charalambous Ifigenia Atkinson Irwan Easty Mary Doutsi Vasilis Chatzipartalis
Two	Katerina Kabanelli Akis Panagiotidis Eva Tsachra Elena Papapanagiotou Petros Panagoulias Andromachi Dimitropoulou Polykseni Lykoudi Andreas Moyseos Andreas Fox Giorgos Dimitropoulos	Anna Vilanidi Stavros Chaliabalias Panagiota Kapsali Dimitris Liolios Oleg Dergatsiov Andromachi Koktsidi Babis Nikolatos Mario Likafi Angel Karatsami Emily Makis	Kostas Ageris Konstantinos Aggelopoulos Makis Drakos Stelios Karipidis Maria Ioannidou Callia Gelagoti Alexis Prevenas Stavros Pilichos Tasos Vermis Ilektra Barakos	Nektarios Mallas Andreas Elesnitsalis Alexandros Barboutis Despina Zacharitsef Patricia Abrahams Kyriaki Pantelidou Katerina Eugenikou Dafni Tsoulia Anastasia Kakagianni Charianna Meremeti

Reception

Critical reception

People's Ioannis Tsioulis said that the thing that he missed from the show was the extreme reactions from the contestants' relatives and friends and the backstage. He said about the host that was nerveless circumspect just like he should be. He also mentioned that he missed a coach that is competitive, critical or "bad".

Ratings

The first season premiered very successfully with 1.78 million viewers, getting ranked first on the weekly top 20. The finale of the first season was as successful as the premiere with over 1.715 million viewers, getting ranked third on the weekly top 20.

Season	Time slot (EET)	# Ep.	Premiered		Ended		TV season	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
			Date	Viewers (in millions)	Date	Viewers (in millions)
One	Friday 9:15 pm (episodes 1–7, 9–15, 17–18) Sunday 9:15 pm (episode 8, 16)	18	January 10, 2014	1.78	May 9, 2014	1.714	2013–2014
Two	Sunday 9:00 pm	18	February 15, 2015	TBA	TBA	TBA	2014–2015

Note

1. ^ In Cyprus, the first twelve episodes (except the eighth) were broadcast on Saturday 9:15 pm. However, the rest episodes were broadcast the same day as in Greece.

The Voice Kids

Main article: The Voice Kids (Greek TV series)

After the success of the first season and the renewal of The Voice of Greece, it was reported that the channel is considering to start the kids' version. During the final of the first season it was confirmed by the host Giorgos Liagkas that the kids' version of the show would start in the 2014–2015 season. A trailer was first shown on May 12, 2014.

See also

• The Voice Kids (Greece)
• The Voice
• The X Factor
• Greek Idol

External links

• Official website
• The Voice of Greece at IMDb