The Voice UK ''The Voice UK'' is a British singing competition television series. Created by John de Mol, it premiered on BBC One during the spring television cycle on 24 March 2012. Based on the original ''The Voice of Holland'', and part of ''The Voice ...

'' is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The ninth series began airing on 4 January 2020, presented by

Emma Willis Emma Louise Willis (née Griffiths; born 18 March 1976) is an English broadcaster. She is known for her television and radio work with Channel 5, BBC, ITV, and Heart FM.

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "Will-I-am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is the founding and lead member of the musical group Black Eyed Peas. ...

Sir Tom Jones Sir Thomas Jones Woodward (born 7 June 1940), known professionally as Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer. His career began with a string of top-ten hits in the mid-1960s. He has toured regularly, with appearances in Las Vegas (1967–2011). Jones's ...

and

Olly Murs Oliver Stanley Murs (born 14 May 1984) is an English singer, songwriter, and television presenter. He was runner-up on the sixth series of ''The X Factor'' in 2009 and was subsequently signed to RCA Records and Sony Music in the United Kingdom, ...

returned for their ninth, eighth and third series, respectively, as coaches.

Jennifer Hudson Jennifer Kate Hudson (born September 12, 1981), also known by her nickname J.Hud, is an American singer, actress, and talk show host. Throughout her career, she has received various accolades for her works in recorded music, film, televisio ...

did not return as a coach for this series and was replaced by singer-songwriter

Meghan Trainor Meghan Elizabeth Trainor (born December 22, 1993) is an American singer-songwriter and television personality. She rose to prominence after signing with Epic Records in 2014 and releasing her debut single "All About That Bass", which reached ...

. A promotional trailer was released on 6 December 2019. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the semi-final and final of the competition, originally meant to air on 28 March and 4 April, were postponed until November 2020. In September 2020, ITV revealed that the series would continue in October 2020. However, Trainor digitally coached from the United States because of travel restrictions due to her pregnancy and the ongoing pandemic. On 14 November 2020, Blessing Chitapa was announced the winner of the season, making her the first winner to be born outside of the UK as Chitapa was born in

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. In addition, she became the youngest winner in the show's history, surpassing Molly Hocking the year before. This also marks the second consecutive win of Olly Murs.

Coaches

On 26 September 2019, it was confirmed that

and

would return to the show as coaches for their ninth, eighth and third series, respectively. They are joined by new coach

, an American

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

winning singer-songwriter, who replaces former coach

. Hudson opted not to return for her fourth series due to filming commitments in the US, which is

Cats The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of t ...

and

Respect Respect, also called esteem, is a positive feeling or action shown towards someone or something considered important or held in high esteem or regard. It conveys a sense of admiration for good or valuable qualities. It is also the process of ...

. Trainor expressed her excitement at joining the coaching team and commented, "It's a dream come true and I can't wait to sit in the chair with my own button and listen to some incredible new talent!" Alongside the coaches, the return of presenter

Emma Willis Emma Louise Willis (née Griffiths; born 18 March 1976) is an English broadcaster. She is known for her television and radio work with Channel 5, BBC, ITV, and Heart FM.

was announced; she was excited by Trainor's casting. Trainor later spoke about joining the coaching panel, admitting that she found it "intimidating" and felt "insecure" about what the contestants would think about her, believing she was not as well established in comparison to the rest of the panel. She added that she was nervous about replacing Hudson and asked her for advice on how to approach the show. will.i.am thought it was hard for Trainor to settle into the position because Hudson was well loved on the show, but believed that Trainor would be liked by the audience too. Murs agreed and described Trainor as "a very powerful woman, she's got this great energy about her, she's fun."

Production

Filming for this series commenced on 14 October 2019 at Dock 10 studios with the taping of the blind auditions. A promotional trailer for the series was released on 6 December 2019, featuring the coaching panel. The series premiered on

on 4 January 2020 in the 20:30 timeslot. On 18 March, it was announced by ITV that the live semi-final which was scheduled for Saturday 28 March, would be postponed until later in the year due to the

. The semi-final eventually was aired on 7 November, and the final on 14 November.

Teams

Colour key: * Winner * Runner-up * Third place * Eliminated in the Semi-Final * Eliminated in the Knockouts * Artist was stolen by another coach at the Battles * Eliminated in the Battles

Blind auditions

;Colour key

Episode 1 (4 January)

Episode 2 (11 January)

Episode 3 (18 January)

Episode 4 (25 January)

Episode 5 (1 February)

Episode 6 (8 February)

Episode 7 (15 February)

Battle rounds

;Colour key

Episode 1 (22 February)

Episode 2 (29 February)

Episode 3 (7 March)

Knockouts

Episode 1 (14 March)

Episode 2 (21 March)

Live shows

Results summary

;Team's colour key : Team Will : Team Meghan : Team Tom : Team Olly ;Result's colour key : Artist received the most public votes : Artist received the fewest votes and was eliminated

Week 1: Semi-final (7 November)

*Musical guest: Molly Hocking ("After the Night Before")

Week 2: Final (14 November)

*Musical guest: Celeste (" A Little Love") Group performance: The Voice UK coaches - "

Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" (sometimes written "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)") is a song originally recorded by English musician Elton John. John composed it with his long-time songwriting partner Bernie Taupin. It was ...

" (All coaches except Meghan Trainor) *Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, Trainor was unable to perform with her artist, so

Ella Eyre Ella McMahon (born 1 April 1994), known professionally as Ella Eyre, is a British singer and songwriter. She is known for her collaborations with Rudimental on their UK number-one single "Waiting All Night" (2013), which won the 2014 Brit Awar ...

sang with Brooke Scullion. *The live final was pre-recorded.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Voice UK (series 9) Series 09 2020 British television seasons Television productions suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic