While there’s been a lot of media attention on Mariah Carey, it seems Channel 7 has already filled two of the judging seats for its new season of THE VOICE
The Seven Network is on a mission to make sure its most recent acquisition reinvigorates the musical talent show.
The network surprised the market by snatching The Voice from channel 9, who say the format was costing them $40-million a season (although that figure did include marketing costs). Channel 7 are openly saying they will do it for half the price.
The program hit the news last week after it was revealed singer Mariah Carey is in discussion to be one of the four judges. No one at Seven has denied this claim.
Sources tell TV Blackbox the network intends to spend almost half its budget on a big name like Carey and the rest on the remaining judges and production costs.
And word is Aussie singer Tones and I will be filling one of those chairs alongside Ricki-Lee Coulter.
Sources are adamant the deal has been done but Seven declined to comment when approached.
The two would add a nice local touch to the judging panel, with both appealing to somewhat different audiences. Tones and I shot to fame recently with a string of hits including Dance Monkey and Ricki-Lee remains a favourite with audiences.
Both have much-needed credibility in music circles.
Coulter was due to host Australia’s Got Talent this year with Sonia Kruger as a judge. The show was put on hiatus due to COVID-19 but insiders tell us the network has canned plans, which is why Coulter has been moved across to The Voice. The move will see her pair swap roles with Kruger already announced as host.
Now attention turns back to Carey to see if Seven’s executives can pull off the casting stunt of the year.
Nuh, they’ve stuffed this already. This ‘Tones and I’ is the definition of a one-hit wonder and Ricki-Lee, good lord, her time has come and gone. People will take one look at this C-grade line up, compared to what The Voice formerly offered, and will just laugh. Don’t even film it Seven. Save the money.
wtf tones and i had 1 hit and ricki lee has she ever been on the charts before :/ no one will tune in at all lol