Entertainment

The Prize For 'The Voice' Is SO Much More Meaningful Than Cold Hard Cash

by Emma Madden
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About to reboot for another year, The Voice UK is the one of the only shows across the reality TV circuit where the talent precedes the look. This year, the judges are returning and another marathon of auditions, head to heads, and nervewracking live shows are about to commence. It's a lot to go through to prove yourself a supreme singing talent, but these contestants are hungry, and know what they're signing up for it. But is all the hard work worth it for the payoff? At the end of it all, what's the prize for The Voice UK?

As well as getting to boast about being the winner of The Voice 2019, the last singer standing will also get their own record deal with Polydor, alongside the release of their debut single, Heart reported on Jul. 13, 2018. While they don't get the £100,000 that winners were treated to before the show's move from BBC1 to ITV1 in 2017, as the Daily Mail reports, the winner should still be raking it in with their debut single. Last year's winner, Ruti Olajugbagbe scaled up to the top of the iTunes bestseller list, according to the Express, and this year's winner could expect a similar fortune.

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There's a possibility that 2019's winner could be on the series' first episode, which is set to air on Sat, Jan. 5 at 8 p.m. on ITV1, The Sun reports. However, for the first time in the show's history, it's possible that a trio might take home the recording contract. The show's reportedly limited competitors to solo acts and duos in the past, but now it's time for the triple threats (actually a great girl group name — feel free to take it) to take centre stage.

Presenter Emma Willis let Digital Spy know what she thought of the change on Dec. 28, 2018, saying: "It adds another layer, doesn’t it? Trios." What she wasn't so sure about were the battle rounds, and how the show would "make that work." She spotted some potential problems with the format, like, "what happens if there’s a trio against a trio?" There's also the question of how "the coaches make that work in a battle yet set them aside from each other enough for it to be a battle against each other?"

There's already an early teaser of the show: in it, you can see the judges — Tom. Jones, will.i.am, Olly Murs, and Jennifer Hudson — performing the classic Eurthymics banger "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)." In classic Hudson style, the song's rounded off with a belter of a note which seems to go on for actual minutes. These Voice judges definitely don't play around (and they probably don't have asthma).

So far, Tom's currently the reigning judge, after he mentored last year's winner, but this year is anyone's game — including the trios. Remember, you can play along at home and argue over your favourites with your friends with the official Voice UK app.