BBC1's The Voice hits new key for second series

Jessie J, will.i.am, Tom Jones and Danny O'Donoghue to return as judges but producers add twists in bid to boost ratings

BBC1's The Voice: judges Danny O'Donoghue, Tom Jones, Jessie J and will.i.am

Its swivel chair "blind auditions" helped make The Voice BBC1's most successful new Saturday night entertainment show in a decade.

But after ratings fell when The Voice's live programmes began and in the face of competition from ITV rival Britain's Got Talent, changes are being introduced for the forthcoming second series.

There will be just three live shows and new twists that have been used on the US version have been added to make The Voice "bigger and better", according to producers.

The second series will be made up of four different stages – the blind auditions, the battles, a new section called the "knockouts" and the live shows.

A dramatic new feature has been introduced that gives coaches – will.i.am, Jessie J, Tom Jones and Danny O'Donoghue – the chance to compete to "steal" one rejected contestant each.

Another change will be the fact that the live shows will feature all the contestants every week – during the first series each episode focused on one team – and there are also suggestions that the results shows may be aired live this year.

The BBC is confident enough that the changes to the show will be a success to be planning a tour featuring the contestants – despite the last one being cancelled due to poor ticket sales.

Executive producer Moira Ross from The Voice producer Wall to Wall said: "With our four global superstars back on board, an unrivalled standard of vocal talent and the added excitement of the 'steals' and the 'knockouts', it's set to be an extraordinary series."

The Voice launched with 8.4 million viewers last March and gave Britain's Got Talent a run for its money in the ratings.

There was a bout of scheduling brinkmanship between the two shows with Britain's Got Talent moving to avoid a clash after losing out when the two went head to head – one episode last April earned The Voice 9.88 million viewers against BGT's 9.75 million.

However after the audition and battle rounds, The Voice's live shows did not fare as well and by May it had slipped to 5.6 million against the Britain's Got Talent final, which drew 11.9 million.

The Voice creator John de Mol told MediaGuardian last year that he wanted the second series to focus on its unique points of difference and "had to admit" the live shows "have the most resemblance with other talent shows".

The first series was won by Leanne Mitchell, with more than 7 million viewers tuning in, but there was disappointment after her debut single failed to make the official top 40 chart.

However, as so often happens on talent shows, the runner-up, Tyler James, seems to be faring better and he has a new single out later this month.

The blind auditions have already been filmed – among those reportedly trying out were former popstars Danny Foster from Hear'Say and Cleo Higgins from girl group Cleopatra who is "Comin' back atcha".

The BBC has not confirmed officially when The Voice will begin, though there are reports it will be on Easter Saturday, but has confirmed that the live shows will air from 8 June, the rumoured date of the BGT 2013 final.

Already the war of words has begun, with Simon Cowell warning the BBC to avoid a scheduling clash.

Source: The Guardian