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With The Voice UK set to return to the BBC for its third season later in January with new coaches, the U.K. public broadcaster on Friday unveiled a new and improved mobile app for the British version of the singing competition.
For the first time, the app will allow British viewers to vote online during the live finals of the show.
The free Voice UK App also features the new HomeCoach Game, which puts audiences in the coaches’ chairs and lets them listen to audio previews of blind auditions of contestants and decide whether they would turn for them. Players earn points if the coaches turn for the same singer.
The game functionality will develop further as the show goes on, according to the producers.
The app, available on iOS and Android mobile devices, will also provide access to online-only spinoff series The Voice Louder. Presented by new hosts Emma Willis and Marvin Humes, known for his work as a member of boy band JLS, it will contain a short show summary and humorous behind-the-scenes material. It also will encourage users to send in pictures, videos and tweets.
Kylie Minogue and Kaiser Chiefs lead singer Ricky Wilson are new coaches on the show, joining will.i.am and Tom Jones, as the producers are looking to change things up after ratings declined following a strong early showing.
“This year, we wanted to put the audience in the coaches’ chairs — make them HomeCoaches, give them a chance to rate performances and say whether they’d turn,” said Sarah Clay, BBC Online commissioning editor, in explaining the rationale behind the new app. “The focus of the game has shifted from prediction to opinion — what would you do? How good a coach would you be?”
The Voice was developed by Dutch media entrepreneur John de Mol‘s Talpa Media and is produced for the BBC by Wall to Wall Media in collaboration with Talpa.
Email: Georg.Szalai@THR.com
Twitter: @georgszalai
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