By now, I think you’ve already heard of the singing nun :
I find it extremely amusing seeing the faces of the four judges as they turn to see her, looking completely gobsmacked. By the way, this video has been viewed 31 million times in a span of just 7 days!
This clip was taken from the program, The Voice of Italy. And while I think that Italian TV is quite saturated with singing competitions, there is a little twist that makes the voice of Italy an interesting show.
The big difference between this show and regular singing competitions is that the four judges have their seats turned away from their stage. The seats are big, so they are not able to see the contestants and can only judge by what they hear.
The contestant will sing and while they are singing, the judges decide if they like what they hear. If one judge turns the contestant will automatically be mentored by that judge.
But if two or more turn around, the contestant has the power to choose the judge they want to be mentored by.
To me this format is quite refreshing as the focus would be completely on the voice of the singer – it wouldn’t matter how they look or dress as long as they sound good.
The voice of Italy is presided by four coaches, each of them an icon in their own right :
J-ax is a rapper and rock singer from Milan. He started as a a rap group in 1990 and went solo 2005 on wards. One of his famous song is Piccoli per sempre.
Noemi is probably most recognized as a former contestant of X Factor Italia. The interesting thing is that she didn’t emerge as the winner, not even the runner up, nevertheless she turned out to be the most successful among all of the contestants of that season.
At this point of writing, I hear her song, Bagnati del Sole a lot on the radio.
Wow, she was probably one of Lady Gaga’s inspiration. Rafaella Carra’ was known as a TV host about a show that reunites families around the world live.
I think she’s more well known as a singer and a dancer. Always dressed flamboyantly in shiny outfits when performing, in the 1970s she came out with the songs Tuca Tuca, a far l’amore comincia tu, as well as Tanti Auguri.
The hair swish thing that she does while dancing is her trademark and you’ll see her doing that often in her performance.
Piero Pelu` started as a rock singer from the band Litfiba in early 1980. He produced a solo album in 2000. I’m not familliar with his songs, but I really love the one where he made a duet with Anggun.
The song is gorgeous and the two powerful voices blend so well together.
So far in the program, the auditions are over and the judges will now start to be coach the singers. Would be interesting to see how this develops so I guess I’ll try to remember to tune in the telly next Wednesday.
Whoaaaaa! Groovy nun! She has one amazing singing voice! I love The Voice! In Genève, we get the French version and Mika is one of the judges and he’s great at it! I’m soooooooo addicted to the show!
Mika is a judge for the French version? No kidding! He was a judge for X Factor Italia last year, he should still be one for the next season! Popular guy 🙂
He was the judge for X Factor Italia last year! Wow! What a way to make money! I didn’t know he speaks Italian also. He’s so talented and has a great ear for talents. All of the budding singers he’s coaching now are incredible! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACL9M-fUnZE Check out these two, sadly though the taller girl is out.