The Voice: Ahla Sawt
The Voice: Ahla Sawt is the Arabic version of Dutch show The Voice of Holland created by John de Mol and produced by Talpa Media Group. The first season of MENA's version of The Voice debuted on 14 September 2012 and was broadcast worldwide from Beirut, Lebanon via MBC 1, a pan-Arabian television station.[1] Through an agreement, the show was also simulcast via LBCI's channels. The first two seasons's main host was Egyptian actor Mohammad Kareem [2] and Arwa Gouda. Nadine Njeim hosted from backstage.
| The Voice: Ahla Sawt | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Reality television |
| Created by | John de Mol |
| Presented by |
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| Judges |
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| Country of origin |  Arab world |
| Original language | Arabic |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 56 |
| Production | |
| Production companies | Talpa (2012–2019) ITV Studios (2020–present) |
| Release | |
| Original network | Middle East Broadcasting Center, Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International |
| Original release | 14 September 2012 – present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
The format of The Voice: Ahla Sawt has three stages, which are the blind auditions, the battle rounds, and the live performances. In the blind auditions, each contestant will be allowed to sing for 90 seconds with each of the coaches having their backs to the singer. When a coach wants a singer on their team, the coach presses a red button that results in the chair being turned around to reveal who the singer is to that coach and the singer joining their team. If two or more coaches turn around for that singer, the singer gets to decide which team they want to join. Each coach will have to select 12 singers to form their team from a group of 100 contestants.[3]
Once the blind auditions finish, the battle rounds will begin where the coaches will pair two singers on each team to compete against each other singing the same song on stage. The coaches will then have to decide which contestant will stay and which will be eliminated. After a series of eliminations, live performances will occur where the public can decide which singer will represent the Arab World as "The Voice".
The winner of season 1 of The Voice Ahla Sawt was Murad Bouriki from Team Assi who received the highest number of votes beating out Yousra Mahnouch, Farid Ghannam, and Qusai Hatem.
Due to the high ratings and big popularity the series got in the Arab World, MBC renewed the show for a second season which aired in 2013. All 4 coaches of season 1 came back for season 2. The second season premiered on Saturday, 28 December 2013.
The Voice: Ahla Sawt seasons 1 and 2 were produced by Sony Pictures Television Arabia for MBC and Season 3 was produced by Talpa Middle East.
In season two, during an intense finale which drew millions of viewers across the Middle East & North Africa, guest star Ricky Martin took the stage to perform his new songs "Adrenalina" and "Come With Me". Iraq's Sattar Saad from Team Kadim won the title after receiving the highest number of votes beating out Iraq's Simor Jalal, Egypt's Wahm and Syria's Hala Al Kaseer.[4][5]
All four coaches once again returned for season three of The Voice Ahla Sawt, which started airing on MBC on 26 September 2015. On 26 December 2015, the winner of season three was Jordan's Nedaa Sharara from Team Sherine who beat out Lebanon's Christine Said from Team Kadim, Iraq's Ali Yousef from Team Assi, and Tunisia's Hamza Fadlaoui from Team Saber.
In 2015, a spin-off of the show featuring children as contestants debuted under the title The Voice Kids - Ahla Sawt.
In 2018, there was a change in the judging panel. The season 4 judges were Elissa, Mohamed Hamaki, Assi El Helani (who had not been replaced since season 1) and Ahlam. The title was won by Iraqi contestant Doumou' Tahseen from Team Ahlam.
21 September 2019 was the Broadcast date of the first episode in the 5th season of the show. In addition of the coaches ‘Ahlem’ and ‘Hamaki’, the season saw two new coaches: North Africa’s Diva, the singer ‘Samira Said’, and the great Lebanese popstar ‘Ragheb Alama’ who had the winner team this season.
The Voice coaches
Kadim Al Sahir - Iraqi composer-musician, singer and poet
Sherine - Egyptian pop star and actress
Assi El Helani - Lebanese singer
Saber Rebaï - Tunisian composer-musician[6]- Elissa - Lebanese singer
Ahlam - Emirati singer- Mohamed Hamaki - Egyptian singer
- Ragheb Alama - Lebanese singer
Samira Said - Moroccan pop singer
Series overview
Color key
- Team Kadim
- Team Sherine
- Team Saber
- Team Assi
- Team Mohamed
- Team Ahlam
- Team Elissa
- Team Ragheb
- Team Samira
| Season | Premiere | Finale | Winner | Runner-up | Other finalists | Winning coach | Host(s) | Coaches (chair's order) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||||
| 1 | September 14, 2012 | December 14, 2012 | Mourad Bouriki | Fareed Ghanam | Qusai Hatem | Yousra Mahnouch | Assi El Helani | Mohammed Kareem | Nadine Wilson Njeim | Arwa Goudeh | Kadim | Sherine | Saber | Assi |
| 2 | December 28, 2013 | March 29, 2014 | Sattar Saad | Hala Alina Quasser | Simour Jalal | Wahm | Kadim Al Sahir | Aimée Sayah | ||||||
| 3 | September 27, 2015 | December 26, 2015 | Nedaa Sharara | Christine Saïd | Ali Youssef | Hamza Fadlaoui | Sherine | Moemen Nur | ||||||
| 4 | February 10, 2018 | May 12, 2018 | Doumouh Tahsin | Issam Sarhan | Yusuf Sultan | Hela Melki | Ahlam | Nardine Farag | Badr Zaidan | Moemen Nur | Mohamed | Ahlam | Elissa | |
| 5 | September 21, 2019 | December 21, 2019 | Mehdi Ayachi | Iman Ghani | Fahd Mouftakhi | Radwan Al Asmar | Ragheb Alama | Yaser Al Sakkaf | Samira | Ragheb | ||||
| 6 | 2021? | 2021? | ||||||||||||
| Season | Period | Winner | Other Finalists | Winning Coach | Other Coaches | Channel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
14 December 2012 |
Mourad Bouriki |
Farid Ghannam Qusai Hatem Yousra Mahnouch |
Assi El Helani |
Kadim Al-Saher Saber Rebaï Sherine |
LBCI MBC1 | |
29 March 2014 |
Sattar Saad |
 Hala Al Qasser Simour Jalal Wahm |
Kadim Al Sahir |
Assi El Helani Saber Rebaï Sherine | ||
26 December 2015 |
 Nedaa Sharara |
Ali Yousef Christine Said Hamza Al Fadlaoui |
Sherine |
Assi El Helani Kadim Al-Saher Saber Rebaï |
MBC1 MBC Masr | |
12 May 2018 |
Doumouh Tahsin |
Issam Sarhan Yusuf Sultan Hela Melki |
Ahlam |
Assi El Helani Mohamed Hamaki Elissa |
MBC1
MBC Masr | |
21 December 2019 |
Mehdi Ayachi |
Fahad Mouftakhir Iman Ghani Redwan Al-Asmar |
Ragheb Alama |
Ahlam Mohamed Hamaki Samira Said |
MBC 1
MBC 5 MBC Masr | |
The Voice finalists
- Color key
- – Winning coach and their team.
- Winners are in bold, finalists in finale listed first, eliminated artists are in small font.
| Season | Coaches and their finalists | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Assi El Helani | Saber Rebaï | Sherine | Kadim Al-Saher |
Mourad Bouriki Mory Hatem Hassan Amarah Elie Asmar Marina Chebel Inas Lattouf |
Qusai Hatem Lamia Zaïdi Samer Abu Taleb Lamia Jamal Christian Abu Anni Mona Roukhachi |
Farid Ghannam Mohammad Adli Enji Amin Abdel Azeem Zahabi Alaa Ahmad Yousra Mansour |
Yousra Mahnouch Nour Ereksousi Xriss Jor Rouba Khouri Roni Shemali Rawdan Katrish | |
| 2 | Assi El Helani | Saber Rebaï | Sherine | Kadim Al-Saher |
| Hala Al Qasser Adnan Bresim Ghazi Al-Amir Reem Mehrat Amer Tawfik Sahar Seddiki Rabih Jaber Nadia Khaless |
Simour Jalal Mohammed Fares Marwa Nagy Samer Al-Saeed Eyad al-Quassam Nancy Nasrallah Aïda Mohammed Hossam Hosny |
Wahm Nile Karar Salah Khaled El-Khayat Mohamed Dahleb Mahmoud Tourabi Wael Al Muallem Alaa Fouad |
Sattar Saad Khaoula Moujahid Ammar Khattab Ahmad Hussein Ghazi Khattab Ingrid Bawab Sanae Abdel-HamidMehvan Saleh | |
| 3 | Assi El Helani | Saber Rebaï | Sherine | Kadim Al-Saher |
| Ali Yousef Omar Dean Nayress Ben Gaga Rehab Saleh Ahmed Nasser Hossam Al Shami |
Hamza Al Fadlaoui Aboud Barmada Mahrazia Al Tawil Jad Abi Haydar Ranine Al Shaar Abdulsamad Jabran |
Nedaa Sharara Ghassan Ben Brahim Eyad Baha'a Abdulmajeed Ibrahim Mohamed Al Tayeb Reham Mustafa |
Christine Said Najat Rajoui Radwan Sadek Tamer Najm Amjad Shaker Nasser Atoui | |
| 4 | Assi El Helani | Ahlam | Elissa | Mohamed Hamaki |
| Yusuf Sultan Eya Daghnouj Maryse Ferzly Safa Saad Rita Camilos Batoul Bani |
Doumouh Tahsin Faisal Al-Ansari Olga El Kadi Souha El Masri Abdelrahman Al Mofarij Fouad El Jaritly |
Hela Melki Khaled Helmi Hassan El Attar Ahmed El Hellak Giana Ghantous Rabih Hajjar |
Issam Sarhan Houcine Ben Haj Chaima Abdelaziz Rana Atiq Elyas Mabrouk Ali Rasheed | |
| 5 | Ragheb Alama | Ahlam | Samira Said | Mohamed Hamaki |
| Mehdi Ayachi Michel Chalhoub Dua Lahyaoui Youssef Hennad Nouha Rhaiem Charaf Ahmed |
Eman Abdelghani Rabab Najid Aida Oulmou Ibrahim Machwali Nourhan El Morshdi Ali al-Shareefi |
Redwan El Asmar Cindy Latty Maher Sami Clara Atallah Omar Al Attas Toufic Al Kalash |
Fahd Mouftakhir Yamane El Haj Hafida Falkou Bahaa Khalil Ahmed Abdelaziz Wiam Redouane | |
| Stolen contestants italicized | ||||