CARSON DALY WILL HOST 'THE VOICE'

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. - February 1, 2010 - Carson Daly, host of NBC's "Last Call with Carson Daly," will host NBC's compelling new vocal competition series "The Voice," from the hit-making reality show pioneers John de Mol, Mark Burnett and Warner Horizon Television. The announcement was made by Paul Telegdy, Executive Vice President, Alternative Programming and Production.

"Carson is the perfect choice to host this exciting new series owing to his credibility, popularity and relevance in both the music world and social media," said Telegdy. "As he has demonstrated on his late-night show, Carson has the knack of recognizing new talent, which is a key component in 'The Voice.'"

"I have a true appreciation for authentic, raw talent and 'The Voice' is all about finding that," said Daly. "Having worked in the music industry for many years, I am looking forward to hosting 'The Voice.' This is a show based strictly on vocal performance -- giving all kinds of talented singers the opportunity to reach millions across the country."

"The Voice," modeled after Holland's top-rated vocal talent discovery show, "The Voice of Holland," will be brought to America in spring 2011.

With music always the focus, Daly's career has spanned a multitude of media, including network television, radio, the recording industry and digital. Daly began his career in radio in the early 1990s and quickly moved up the ranks and landed one of the most coveted positions in the radio business--that of the early evening voice of Los Angeles' influential and top-rated KROQ-FM. MTV soon recognized his talent and brought him to New York City.

It was at MTV that Daly's popularity exploded. In the era of young pop stars and rock stars, Daly solidified his roots as a pioneer of pop culture by introducing us to icons: Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Kid Rock, Eminem and many more. As host and executive producer of MTV's "Total Request Live" (TRL), he transformed an afternoon music video program into a must-stop on the publicity circuit for musicians, movie stars and entertainers alike.

In January 2002, Daly began his late-night television show "Last Call with Carson Daly" (Monday-Friday, 1:35-2:05 a.m. ET), which is currently entering its 10th season as a part of the network's top-rated, late-night lineup. Re-writing the rulebook for late-night television, Daly has taken his show out of the studio and on location every night. The new format dubbed "Talk-Doc" for its documentary feel, has been widely considered groundbreaking.

While "Last Call" boasts diverse bookings in the worlds of entertainment, politics and sports, it is the progressive music bookings that have earned Daly his bragging rights among the late-night crowd. Since day one, "Last Call" has been the show that gives many of the hottest bands their first break on U.S. television including The Killers, Jack Johnson, Maroon 5, Ray LaMontagne, Modest Mouse, 30 Seconds to Mars, B.o.B and many more.

In addition to "Last Call," Daly and Universal Media Studios produced the annual New Year's Eve primetime special "NBC's New Year's Eve with Carson Daly" for its seventh year, ringing in 2011 live from Times Square.

In January 2010, Daly returned to his radio roots and currently hosts the morning drive from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday on KAMP (AMP Radio 97.1) in Southern California.

"The Voice" is a show about real talent. Four famous musicians search for the best voices in America and will mentor these singers to become artists. America will decide which singer will be worthy of the grand prize.

The show's innovative format features three stages of competition. The first begins with the blind audition, then the competition enters into a battle phase, and finally, the live performance shows. During the blind auditions the decisions from the coaches are based solely on voice and not on looks. The coaches hear the contestants perform but they don't get to see them thanks to rotating chairs. If a coach is impressed by the contestant's voice, he/she pushes a button to select the contestant for his/her team. At this point, the coach's chair will swivel so that he/she can face the contestant he/she has selected. If more than one coach selects the talent, the power shifts to the contestant, who may choose which coach he/she wants to work with throughout the competition.

Once the teams are set, the battle is on. Coaches will mentor the contestants and dedicate themselves to developing their singers, giving them advice, and sharing the secrets of their success. During the battle rounds the coaches will pit two of their own team members against each other to sing the same song together in front of a studio audience. After the vocal face-off, the coach must choose which of his/her singers will advance.

At the end of the battle episodes, only the strongest members of each coach's roster remain and proceed to the live stage shows. In this final performance phase of the competition, the top contestants from each team will compete against each other during a live broadcast. The television audience will vote to save one talent on each team, leaving the coach to decide LIVE who they want to save and who will not move on. At last, each coach will have their best contestant left standing to compete in the finale. From these four, one will be named "The Voice" and will receive the grand prize of a recording contract and 100,000 dollars.

"The Voice" is a presentation of Talpa Productions, Mark Burnett and Warner Horizon Television. Created by De Mol, he will executive produce along with Burnett and Audrey Morrissey.

Source: NBC