Vocea României

Vocea României (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈvotʃe̯a romɨˈni.ej]; 'The Voice of Romania') is a Romanian reality singing competition broadcast on PRO TV. Based on the original The Voice of Holland, the concept of the series is to find new singing talent contested by aspiring singers, age 16 or over, drawn from public auditions. The winner is determined by television viewers voting by telephone and he is entitled to a €100,000 prize and a record deal with Universal Records for winning the competition. There have been ten winners of the show to date: Ștefan Stan, Julie Mayaya, Mihai Chițu, Tiberiu Albu, Cristina Bălan, Teodora Buciu, Ana Munteanu, Bogdan Ioan, Dragoș Moldovan, and Iulian Nunucă.

Vocea României
GenreTalent show
Created byJohn de Mol
Roel van Velzen
Directed byPeter Majesky
Melanie Triebel[1]
Bogdan Măciucă
Loredana Petcu
Greta Dan
Eugen Dinu
Daniel Eftimie
Lavinia Boureci
Daniel Iancu
Bogdan Dumitrescu
Presented by
Judges
Narrated byPavel Bartoș
Florin Goldic (4–)
Country of originRomania
Original languageRomanian
No. of seasons12
No. of episodes171
Production
Executive producersDan Alexandrescu (4–)
Robert Lionte (1–3)
ProducersAna Maria Modâlcă (4–)
Melanie Triebel (4–)
Mona Segall (1–3)[2]
Production locationsStudiourile Media Pro, Buftea (1-4)
Studiourile Kentauros, Ștefăneștii de Jos (5-)
Production companiesTalpa (2011–2019)
ITV Studios (2022–present)
Original release
NetworkPro TV
ReleaseSeptember 27, 2011 (2011-09-27) –
present

The Voice of Romania began airing on September 27, 2011, as an autumn TV season program. The series employs a panel of four coaches who critique the artists' performances. Each coach guides their teams of selected artists through the remainder of the season. They also compete to ensure that their act wins the competition, thus making them the winning coach. The original coaching panel consisted of Smiley, Horia Brenciu, Loredana Groza and Marius Moga. In season four, Brenciu was replaced by Tudor Chirilă. In season seven, Moga was replaced by Adrian Despot. In season eight, Loredana and Despot were replaced by Irina Rimes and Andra. In season nine, Brenciu returned as a coach, replacing Andra. In season ten, Brenciu was replaced by The Motans, while Smiley will be in a duo with Theo Rose. In season eleven The Motans gave up at his role as coach. In season eleven, Brenciu returned as a coach in the duo chair with Theo Rose. Smiley became a solo coach again.

Format

One of the important premises of the show is the quality of the singing talent. Four coaches, themselves popular performing artists, train the talents in their group and occasionally perform with them. Talents are selected in blind auditions, where the coaches cannot see, but only hear the auditioner.

The series consists of four phases:

  • Blind audition;
  • Battle round;
  • Knockout stage;
  • Live performance shows.

Blind audition

Four judges/coaches, all famous musicians, will choose teams of 12, 14 or 16 contestants each through a four-episode-long blind audition process. Each judge has the length of the auditionee'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 then the singer gets to choose which coach they want to work with. In the 8th season, a new twist called "Block" is featured, which allows one coach to block another coach from getting a contestant.

Battle round

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 six individual "battles". In the first three seasons, at the end of the battle phase, there is a sing-off between two contestants of each coach, singing their audition songs. The coach chooses which one of them will join the other artists into the first live round. Within that first live round, the surviving acts from each team again compete head-to-head, with a combination of public and jury vote deciding who advances onto the next round. A new element was added in season three; coaches were given two "steals", allowing each coach to select two individuals who were eliminated during a battle round by another coach.

Knockout stage

The third stage of the competition is the 'Knockout stage'. It was first introduced in the sixth series (2016). The four coaches will enter this stage with nine team members each; eight winners of the battle phase, and two stolen members. Artists perform a 'killer song' of their choosing and the coaches each pick three members of their team to go through to the live shows, creating a final 12 for the public vote.

Live performance shows

The final stage, 'Live shows', is where the artists perform in front of the coaches and an audience, broadcast live. Each coach will have four artists in their team to begin with and the artists will go head-to-head in the competition to win the public votes. These will determine which artist advances to the final eight. The remaining three artists' future in the show will be determined by the coaches, choosing who will progress.

The final eight artists will compete in a live broadcast. However, the coaches will have a 50/50 say with the audience and the public in deciding which artists move on to the 'final four' phase. In the latter, each coach will have one member who will continue. In season four, the proportion was changed to 40/60. Season five changed the system completely and introduced "crossed duels": each of the eight contestants battles one from another team. The winner qualifies for the final. This opens the possibility of coaches ending up with 0, 1 or 2 contestants in the final

The final (the winner round) will be decided upon by the public vote.

Host and coaches

Pavel Bartoș

Host

Pavel Bartoș has hosted the series since the inaugural season.[3] Roxana Ionescu[4] was co-host in season one but she was replaced by singer and actress Nicoleta Luciu.[5][6] Vlad Roșca serve as the original "backstage, online and social media correspondent".[7] In seasons four and five, Roșca was replaced by Oana Tache.[8] Tache was replaced by Lili Sandu, starting with season six.[9] In season eight, Irina Fodor replaced Lili Sandu as the social media correspondent, while Laura Giurcanu became the vlogger of the show.[10][11]

Coaches

In August 2011 pop singer and actress Loredana, R'n'B musician and composer Marius Moga, singer and TV host Horia Brenciu and former Simplu member Smiley were confirmed coaches for the Voice of Romania. In season four, Brenciu was replaced with Vama lead member, Tudor Chirilă.[12] In season seven, Moga was replaced with Vița de Vie lead member Adrian Despot.[13] In season eight, Loredana and Despot were replaced by Irina Rimes and Andra.[14] In season nine, Brenciu returned as a coach replacing Andra.[15] In season ten, Brenciu was replaced by The Motans soloist Denis Roabeṣ, while Smiley will form a duo with Theo Rose.

Timeline of coaches

CoachSeasons
123456789101112
Smiley [a]
Loredana Groza
Marius Moga
Horia Brenciu [b]
Tudor Chirilă
Adrian Despot
Irina Rimes
Andra
Denis Roabeș
Theo Rose [c]

Notes

Series overview

Warning: the following table presents a significant amount of different colors.

Vocea României series overview
SeasonAiredWinnerRunner-upThird placeFourth placeWinning coachHostsCoaches (chairs' order)
MainBackstage1234
12011Ștefan StanDragoș ChircuIuliana PușchilăCristian SandaSmileyP. Bartoș, R. IonescuVlad RoșcaBrenciuLoredanaSmileyMoga
22012Julie MayayaImre VíziCristi
Nistor
Tibi ScobiolaHoria
Brenciu
Bartoș, Nicoleta Luciu
32013Mihai ChițuSânziana
Niculae
Adrian NourMarius Marin
42014Tiberiu AlbuAnda DimitriuMaria HojdaAliona
Munteanu
Tudor ChirilăPavel BartoșOana TacheTudor
52015Cristina
Bălan
Tomi WeissbuchTobi IbitoyeMichel Kotcha
62016Teodora BuciuAlexandru
Mușat
Robert BotezanIoana IgnatLili Sandu
72017Ana MunteanuMeriam NdubuisiZsuzsana CerveniAndrada CrețuSmileySmileyLoredanaDespot
82018Bogdan IoanDora
Gaitanovici
Alma BoiangiuCéline M. CocaIrina FodorIrinaAndraSmiley
92019Dragoș MoldovanAndi ȚoleaJasmina
Răsădean
Elena BozianTudor ChirilăSmileyIrinaBrenciu
102022Iulian
Nunucă
Andra BotezTeodor DebuWinaël BaldusIulia PârleaIrinaSmiley & TheoDenis
112023Alexandra CăpitănescuVlad MustaMelisa AntonesiAlex MaximAlina CeuşanTheo & BrenciuSmiley
122024Upcoming
season
SmileyTheoBrenciu

Season synopses

Names in bold type indicate the winner of the season.

Season 1

The first season of The Voice of Romania premiered on September 27, 2011.[16] and concluded on 26 December. The Judges were pop singer and actress Loredana Groza, R'n'B musician and composer Marius Moga, singer and TV host Horia Brenciu and former Simplu member Smiley. Pavel Bartoș with Roxana Ionescu and Vlad Roșca respectively appeared as the hosts and social media correspondent. Contestant auditions were held in Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Iași, Brașov and Bucharest during April and May.

Each coach was allowed to advance five contestants to the live shows:

Team BrenciuTeam LoredanaTeam SmileyTeam Moga
Iuliana PușchilăDragoș ChircuȘtefan StanCristian Sanda
Irina TănaseIulian CanafCătălin DobreLiviu Teodorescu
Daniel DragomirAlexandra CrăescuAnthony IcuaguOana Radu
Robert PataiOana BrutaruMarcel LovinAldo Blaga
Cristina VasiuAmindaMihai PopistașuSebastian Muntean

Four contestants were advanced to the final round. Stan was announced as the winner of the season, while Chircu was declared the runner-up. Third and fourth places were a draw between Pușchilă and Sanda. Stan won by 37.67% of the votes.

Season 2

The Voice of Romania returned to Pro TV for a second season which began on September 25, 2012. All four coaches are returning for season two, while Co-presenter Roxana Ionescu was replaced with singer and actress Nicoleta Luciu.[17] The second season ended on December 26, 2011. Contestant auditions were held in Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Iași, Brașov and Bucharest during 4–29 June.

Each coach was allowed to advance six contestants to the live shows:

Team MogaTeam LoredanaTeam BrenciuTeam Smiley
Imre VíziCristi NistorJulie MayayaTibi Scobiola
Maria CojocaruDaria CorbuLaura GherescuMaria-Mirabela Cismaru
Vlad SimionAna Maria AlexiaLoredana CiubotaruRobert Reamzy
Laurian MantaCiprian TeodorescuSilviu PașcaFely Donose
Dalma KovácsTeodor ManciuleaAndreea OlariuCezar Dometi
Ioana CristeaNicoleta GavrilițăMihail GheorgheDavid Bryan

Four contestants were advanced to the final round. Mayaya was announced as the winner of the season, while Vízi, Nistor, and Scobiola placed second, third, and fourth, respectively.[18]

Season 3

The third season of Vocea României premiered on September 28, 2013,[19] and concluded on December 26. All personnel returned from the previous season. A new element was added in season three; coaches were given two "steals", allowing each coach to select two individuals who were eliminated during a battle round by another coach. Contestant auditions were held in Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Iași, Brașov and Bucharest during April and May.

Each coach was allowed to advance eight contestants to the live shows:

Team BrenciuTeam LoredanaTeam SmileyTeam Moga
Mihai ChițuMarius MarinAdrian NourSânziana Niculae
Ana Maria MiricăMuneer al-ObeidliClaudia IugaJovana Milovanović
Georgia DascăluAlina DorobanțuStella AnițaFelix Burdușă
Denisa MoșincatFlorin MândruIolanda MoldoveanuAndi Grasu
Árpi TörökAndrei ChermeleuNicoleta ȚicalăAngelo Simonică
Florin IlincaKinga FárkásGeorge SecioreanuElena Șalaru
Andrei HanghiucIulia DumitracheLucian FrâncuAndrei Loică
Florin TimbucAurel NiamțuRăzvan AlexaDana Torop

Four contestants were advanced to the final round. Chițu was announced as the winner of the season, while Niculae, Nour, and Marin placed second, third, and fourth, respectively.

Season 4

The fourth season of Vocea României premiered on September 16, 2014, and concluded on December 19. In this season, Brenciu was replaced with Vama lead member, Tudor Chirilă and Roșca was replaced by Oana Tache. Contestant auditions were held in Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Iași, Brașov and Bucharest during June and July.

Each coach was allowed to advance eight contestants to the live shows:

Team TudorTeam LoredanaTeam SmileyTeam Moga
Tiberiu AlbuMaria HojdaAliona MunteanuAnda Dimitriu
Ligia HojdaIlinca BăcilăGelu GraurBrigitta Balogh
Ivana FarcLarisa MihăeșMaria ȘimandiClaudiu Rusu
Andreea AvarvariAndrei CheteleșVladimir PocorschiAlexandru Bunghez
Petra AckerFlorin RăduțăAnca PetcuAlina Dogaru
Tudor ManIoana SatmariFabian SasuFlorian Rus
Iulia FerchiuLucian ColarezaAlina AnușcaIoan Bîgea
Florin TimbucValentin UzunAlin GheorghișanMaria Constantin

Four contestants were advanced to the final round. Albu was announced as the winner of the season, while Dimitriu, Hojda, and Moon placed second, third, and fourth, respectively.

Season 5

The fifth season of Vocea României premiered on September 18, 2015. All personnel returned from the previous season. Contestant auditions were held in Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Iași, Brașov and Bucharest during May and June.

Each coach was allowed to advance eight contestants to the live shows:

Team TudorTeam LoredanaTeam SmileyTeam Moga
Cristina BălanAntonio FabriziTobi IbitoyeTomi Weissbuch
Tincuța FerneaMihai Dragomir RaitMichel KotchaAlex Florea
Cristina LupuFlorentina CiunăLarisa CiortanDelia Pitu
Sabrina StroeCristina VasopolNora DeneșIrina Pelin
Claudia AndasIulian SeleaDiana CazanCristina Stroe
Daniel BălanBogdan VlădăuDiana HeteaAndrei Vitan
Roxana MorarGabriela AmzaruRuxandra AnaniaElvis Silitră
Armand MurzeaAlexandra MitroiSergiu FeratAdrian Tănase

The season finale aired on December 18, 2015. Team Tudor and Team Moga had one finalist each, while Team Smiley had two. Both semi-finalists in Team Loredana had been eliminated. Cristina Bălan, best known as the lead vocalist of the bands Impact and ABCD and mentored by Tudor Chirilă, was declared winner of the season. It was Chirilă's second consecutive victory as a coach.

Season 6

The sixth season of Vocea României premiered on September 9, 2016. All personnel returned from the previous season. Contestant auditions were held in Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Iași, Brașov and Bucharest during March and April.

Each coach was allowed to advance three contestants to the live shows:

Team TudorTeam LoredanaTeam SmileyTeam Moga
Teodora BuciuȘtefan RoșcovanAlexandru MușatIoana Ignat
Robert BotezanAndreea IonceaRamona NerraIonuț Trif
Iuliana DobreHoward DellSebastian SeredinschiAlexandru Baroc

The season finale aired on December 16, 2016. Team Smiley and Team Moga had one finalist each, while Team Tudor had two. For the second consecutive times, Loredana did not have any artist in final show. Teodora Buciu, mentored by Tudor Chirilă, was declared winner of the season. It was Chirilă's third consecutive victory as a coach.

Season 7

The seventh season of Vocea României premiered on September 8, 2017. In this season, Moga was replaced with Vița de Vie lead member, Adrian Despot. Contestant auditions were held in Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Iași and Bucharest during February, May and June.[20]

Team TudorTeam SmileyTeam LoredanaTeam Despot
Meriam Jane NdubuisiAna MunteanuZsuzsana CerveniAndrada Crețu
Ștefan ȘtiucăAmir ArafatDiana BrescanManó Ráduly Botond
Laurențiu MihaiuPaul BătinașAdriana CiobanuAndreea Dragu
Maria RădeanuOctavian CasianAmalia UrucRobert Pița
Daria GrigorașRăzvan MărcuciRufus MartinAlexandru Arnăutu
Lidia IsacIoana VișinescuBogdan StănicăCatarina Sandu
Amedeo ChiriacIoana BarbăTudor BilețchiOana Mirică
Răzvan EncunaOlga RomanMihail TiricăValentin Poienariu

The season finale aired on December 15, 2017. Four contestants were advanced to the final round, one from each team. Munteanu was announced as the winner of the season, while Ndubuisi, Cerveni, and Crețu placed second, third, and fourth, respectively.

Season 8

The eighth season of Vocea României premiered on September 7, 2018. In this season, Groza and Despot was replaced with Rimes and Andra. Contestant auditions were held in Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Iași and Bucharest during March and February.[21]

Team TudorTeam IrinaTeam AndraTeam Smiley
Alma BoiangiuDora GaitanoviciCéline Mădălina CocaBogdan Ioan
Romanița FricosuAlexa DraguRenate GradVitalie Maciunschi
Lavinia RusuAlina StatieSilviu MurariuSorina Bică
Mihai MeiroșEva TimușSara ChiavegatoLetiția Roman

The season finale aired on December 14, 2018. Four contestants were advanced to the final round, one from each team. Ioan was announced as the winner of the season, while Gaitanovici, Boiangiu, and Coca placed second, third, and fourth, respectively.

Season 9

The ninth season of Vocea României premiered in September 2019. In this season, Andra was replaced by Brenciu, who last coached in season 3. Contestant auditions were held in Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Iași and Bucharest during March and April.[22]

Team SmileyTeam TudorTeam IrinaTeam Brenciu
Andi ȚoleaDragoș MoldovanJasmina RăsădeanElena Bozian
Elena IlieMădălina LefterBogdan DumitrașAdriana Simionescu
Renee SantanaGabriel BîscoveanuAmanda AprotosoaeiOana & Răzvan Ailoae

The season finale aired on December 20, 2019. Four contestants were advanced to the final round, one from each team. Moldovan was announced as the winner of the season, while Țolea, Răsădean, and Bozian placed second, third, and fourth, respectively.

"Reuniunea"

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the show did not return in the fall of 2020, as usual. Instead, on Romania's National Day, a reunion special took place. The special featured all of the show's coaches so far (except for Loredana Groza, who is under contract with the rival television, Antena 1) and some of the contestants and winners.[23]

Season 10

The tenth season of Vocea României premiered on September 9, 2022, after 2 years of absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this season, Horia Brenciu was replaced by Denis 'The Motans', while Smiley was joined by Theo Rose, in a duo. Contestant auditions were held in Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Iași and Bucharest during March and April.

Team TudorTeam IrinaTeam Smiley & TheoTeam Denis
Iulian NunucăAndra BotezWinael BaldusTeodor Debu
Ioana VecerdeaRianna RusuEduard StoicaAnastasia Budișteanu
Valeria MarcuTheo RusuVlad NicoliciKam Cahayadi

Season 11

The eleventh season of Vocea României premiered on September 8, 2023. Denis Roabeș announced on 11 June 2023 that he will give up to his role as a coach on the show due his plans for musical career. In July 2023, it was announced that Tudor Chirilă and Irina Rimes would return as coaches. Smiley returned as a solo coach, while Horia Brenciu joined Theo Rose in the duo chair.

Team TudorTeam IrinaTeam Theo & BrenciuTeam Smiley
Alexandra CăpitănescuVlad MustaMelisa AntonesiAlex Maxim
Raluca RaduDelia ConstantinAlexandra SîrghiAna Stănciulescu
Maria ChideanuSandro MachadoGilberta WilsonJohnny Bădulescu

Season 12

Ratings

SeriesEpisodesSeries premiereSeries premiere
viewing figures
Series finaleSeries finale
viewing figures
115September 27, 20111.07December 26, 20111.48[24][25]
215September 25, 20121.70[26]December 26, 20121.83[27]
314September 28, 20132.18[28]December 26, 20131.79[29]
415September 16, 20141.91[30]December 19, 20141.66[31]
515September 18, 20151.57[32]December 18, 20151.53[33]
616September 9, 20161.60[34]December 16, 20161.30[35]
716September 8, 20171.69[36]December 15, 20171.42[37]
818September 7, 20181.40[38]December 14, 20181.56[39]
916September 6, 20191.67[40]December 20, 20191.45[41]
1016September 9, 20221.44[42]December 23, 20221.37[43]
1115September 8, 2023December 16, 2023
12September 13, 2024December 20, 2024

Music

The Voice of Romania Album

Vocea României
Compilation album by
The Voice of Romania All Stars
ReleasedDecember 18, 2014
Genre
Language
LabelUniversal Music România
Compiler

The Voice of Romania album is the first compilation album by the finalists from the first three seasons. It was released digitally on December 18, 2014.[44]

No.TitleContestantArtist
01."În lipsa mea"Liviu TeodorescuSmiley și Uzzi
02."Jump"Silviu PașcaKris Kross
03."Ride It"Muneer al-ObeidliJay Sean
04."Something's Got a Hold on Me"Julie MayayaEtta James
05."Somewhere Over the Rainbow"Imre Vízi
06."Caruso"Mihai ChițuLucio Dalla
07."I Want to Know What Love Is"Anthony IcuaguForeigner
08."Kiss from a Rose"Sebastian MunteanSeal
09."Oameni"Cristian SandaAurelian Andreescu
10."Are You Gonna Be My Girl"Loredana CăvășdanJet
11."Crazy"Robert PataiGnarls Barkley
12."I Want to Break Free"Cătălin DobreQueen
13."Killing Me Softly"Sânziana Niculae
14."Loucura"Adrian NourMariza
15."Papa Was a Rollin' Stone"Angelo SimonicăThe Temptations
16."I'm like a Bird"Oana BrutaruNelly Furtado
17."Unchained Melody"Dragoș Chircu
18."Spune-mi"Iuliana PușchilăMonica Anghel
19."Rhythm of My Heart"Marius MarinRod Stewart
20."Valerie"Aminda
21."Cerul"David BryanProconsul [ro]

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryResultSource
2011TVmania AwardsBest Talent ShowWon[45]
2012Premiile Radar de MediaBest Television ShowWon[46]
TVmania AwardsBest Talent ShowWon[47]
2013Radar de Media AwardsBest Television ShowWon[48]
TVmania AwardsBest Talent ShowWon[49]
2014Radar de Media AwardsBest Entertainment ShowWon[50]
TVmania AwardsBest Talent ShowWon[51]
2015Radar de Media AwardsBest Entertainment ShowNominated[52]
Gala Eva.roBest Talent ShowWon[53]
2016Radar de Media AwardsBest Entertainment ShowNominated[54]
TVmania AwardsBest Talent ShowWon[55]
2017Radar de Media AwardsBest Entertainment ShowNominated[56]
Gala Eva.roBest Talent ShowWon[57]
TVmania AwardsBest Talent ShowWon[58]
2018TVmania AwardsBest Talent ShowWon[59]
Radar de Media AwardsBest Entertainment ShowNominated[60]

See also

References