The Voice of Finland (season 1)
The Voice of Finland was the first season of the Finnish reality singing competition based on the international The Voice format. The season premiered on Nelonen on December 30, 2011, and concluded on April 20, 2012.
The coaches were legendary singer Paula Koivuniemi, glam rock singer Michael Monroe, former Lauri Tähkä & Elonkerjuu frontman Lauri Tähkä, and rapper Elastinen. Axl Smith hosted the program, with Kristiina Komulainen serving as the backstage and social networking correspondent.
The winner of the first season was Mikko Sipola, mentored by Elastinen. The runner-up was Saara Aalto.
Overview
The series consists of three phases: a blind audition, a battle phase, and live performance shows. Four judges/coaches, all noteworthy recording artists, choose teams of contestants through a blind audition process where the coaches cannot see, but only hear the auditioner. Each judge has the length of the auditioner's performance to decide if he or she wants that singer on his or her team; if two or more judges want the same singer, the singer has the final choice of coach.At the end of the blind auditions only Lauri Tähkä had full team of twelve singers. In the following additional auditions broadcast on Radio Aalto, all coaches added one more singer to their teams, leaving Tähkä with one extra.
Each team of contestants is mentored and developed by its respective coach. In the second stage, called the battle phase, coaches have two of their team members battle against each other directly by singing the same song together, with the coach choosing which team member to advance from each of four individual "battles" into the first live round. At this stage the coaches were assisted by songwriter and producer Jukka Immonen, the vocalist of Reckless Love Olli Herman, singer-songwriter and producer Lasse Kurki, and producer Riku Mattila.
In the final phase, the remaining contestants compete against each other in live broadcasts. Within the first live round, the surviving six acts from each team again compete head-to-head, with public votes determining one of two acts from each team that will advance to the final eight, while the coach chooses which of the remaining acts comprises the other performer remaining on the team. The television audience and the coaches have equal say 50/50 in deciding who moves on to the semi-final. In the semi-final the results are based on a mix of public vote, Spotify listening of the previous week's performances, and voting of coaches. Each carries equal weight of 100 points for a total of 300 points. With one team member remaining for each coach, the contestants compete against each other in the finale with the outcome decided by Spotify vote and public vote, both with equal weight of 100 points for a total of 200 points.
All four finalists released a single and the winner received a record deal with Universal.
Episodes
The Blind Auditions
Episode 1: December 30, 2011
Episode 2: January 6, 2012
Episode 3: January 13, 2012
Episode 4: January 20, 2012
Episode 5: January 27, 2012
Episode 6: February 6, 2012
The Wildcards
The Battle Rounds
Aired from February 10 to March 2, 2012.| Week/Order | Coach | Contestant | Contestant | Song |
| 1.1 | Lauri Tähkä | Nelli Järvelä | Selja Felin | "Sun särkyä anna mä en" |
| 1.2 | Michael Monroe | Ilmo Ylinärä | Kimmo Härmä | "Hard to Handle" |
| 1.3 | Elastinen | Lauri Mikkola | Henrika Ignatius | "Moves Like Jagger" |
| 1.4 | Paula Koivuniemi | Tanja Vähäsarja | Johanna Mäkelä | "Hölmö Rakkaus" |
| 1.5 | Lauri Tähkä | Heidi Akselin | Valerie Nyholm | "Only Girl " |
| 1.6 | Elastinen | Bettina Hammarsten | Isabella Hammarsten | "Lady Marmalade" |
| 2.1 | Elastinen | Mikko Sipola | Laura Malmberg | "Wonderwall" |
| 2.2 | Michael Monroe | Tony Romeo | Mikko Herranen | "The Flame" |
| 2.3 | Lauri Tähkä | Jelena Knief | Sanna Säntti | "Katujen Kuningatar" |
| 2.4 | Paula Koivuniemi | Nelli Petro | Minna Eskola | "Crazy" |
| 2.5 | Michael Monroe | Anna Inginmaa | Saara Aalto | "True Colors" |
| 2.6 | Paula Koivuniemi | Jesse Kaikuranta | Juho Räisänen | "Minä ja Hän" |
| 3.1 | Lauri Tähkä | Antti Matikainen | Markku Kirves | "Hetki Lyö" |
| 3.2 | Elastinen | Pihla Knaapila | Eveliina Tammenlaakso | "Set Fire to the Rain" |
| 3.3 | Michael Monroe | Krista Siegfrids | Mya Rydman | "Because the Night" |
| 3.4 | Paula Koivuniemi | Sophie Aittola | Mia Renwall | "Rakkauden Haudalla" |
| 3.5 | Lauri Tähkä | Minna Lasanen | Amanda Löfman | "Stop!" |
| 3.6 | Elastinen | Taru Ratilainen | Siiri Nojonen | "Just the Way You Are" |
| 4.1 | Michael Monroe | Toni Hiltunen | Toni Eurasto | "Feel" |
| 4.2 | Paula Koivuniemi | Anfisa Proskuryakova | Hanna Silander | "Hiljaisuus" |
| 4.4 | Michael Monroe | J-P Salo | Heini Särmäkari | "Run to You" |
| 4.5 | Paula Koivuniemi | Aki Louhela | Oskari Salovaara | "Maybe I'm Amazed" |
| 4.6 | Elastinen | Lotta Lené | Karoliina Kallio | "The Power of Love" |
| Week/Order | Coach | Contestant | Contestant | Contestant | Song |
| 4.3 | Lauri Tähkä | Mari Rautanen | Ella Tukia | Kim Koskinen | "Wicked Game" |
The Live Rounds
Episode 1: March 9, 2012
Episode 2: March 16, 2012
Episode 3: March 23, 2012
Episode 4: March 30, 2012
Episode 5: April 6, 2012
| Performance Order | Coach | Contestant | Song | Result |
| 1 | Michael Monroe | Saara Aalto | "Je Suis Malade" | Public vote |
| 2 | Michael Monroe | Mikko Herranen | "Rakkaudesta" | Michael Monroe's vote |
| 3 | Michael Monroe | Kimmo Härmä | "Only Women Bleed" | Eliminated |
| 4 | Elastinen | Mikko Sipola | "How You Remind Me" | Public Vote |
| 5 | Elastinen | Lauri Mikkola | "Kiss from a Rose" | Elastinen's vote |
| 6 | Elastinen | Eveliina Tammenlaakso | "Super Bass" | Eliminated |
| 7 | Paula Koivuniemi | Tanja Vähäsarja | "Exodus" | Eliminated |
| 8 | Paula Koivuniemi | Jesse Kaikuranta | "Sininen Sointu" | Paula Koivuniemi's vote |
| 9 | Paula Koivuniemi | Aki Louhela | "Can't Get Enough" | Public vote |
| 10 | Lauri Tähkä | Antti Matikainen | "Koneeseen kadonnut" | Eliminated |
| 11 | Lauri Tähkä | Amanda Löfman | "Nothing Else Matters" | Lauri Tähkä's vote |
| 12 | Lauri Tähkä | Kim Koskinen | "Live and Let Die" | Public vote |
Semi-Final: April 13, 2012
;Competition performances| Performance Order | Coach | Contestant | Song | Result |
| 1 | Lauri Tähkä | Amanda Löfman | "Can't Hurry Love" | Eliminated |
| 2 | Paula Koivuniemi | Jesse Kaikuranta | "Hetken tie on kevyt" | Advancing |
| 3 | Elastinen | Lauri Mikkola | "Living for the City" | Eliminated |
| 4 | Lauri Tähkä | Kim Koskinen | "I Don't Want to Talk About It" | Advancing |
| 5 | Michael Monroe | Saara Aalto | "Over the Rainbow" | Advancing |
| 6 | Elastinen | Mikko Sipola | "Livin' on a Prayer" | Advancing |
| 7 | Michael Monroe | Mikko Herranen | "The Pretender" | Eliminated |
| 8 | Paula Koivuniemi | Aki Louhela | "When a Man Loves a Woman" | Eliminated |
;Semi-Final results
| Team | Artist | Coach points | Spotify points | Public points | Total points | Result |
| Michael Monroe | Saara Aalto | 70 | 44 | 46 | 160 | Advancing to final |
| Michael Monroe | Mikko Herranen | 30 | 56 | 54 | 140 | Eliminated |
| Paula Koivuniemi | Jesse Kaikuranta | 60 | 61 | 55 | 176 | Advancing to final |
| Paula Koivuniemi | Aki Louhela | 40 | 39 | 45 | 124 | Eliminated |
| Lauri Tähkä | Kim Koskinen | 55 | 60 | 82 | 197 | Advancing to final |
| Lauri Tähkä | Amanda Löfman | 45 | 40 | 18 | 103 | Eliminated |
| Elastinen | Mikko Sipola | 55 | 45 | 61 | 161 | Advancing to final |
| Elastinen | Lauri Mikkola | 45 | 55 | 39 | 139 | Eliminated |
Finale: April 20, 2012
The four finalists each performed a cover song and an original song.;Competition performances
| Performance Order | Coach | Contestant | Type | Song |
| 1 | Lauri Tähkä | Kim Koskinen | Cover | "Final Countdown" |
| 2 | Michael Monroe | Saara Aalto | Cover | "I'm Gonna Be Strong" |
| 3 | Elastinen | Mikko Sipola | Cover | "With or Without You" |
| 4 | Paula Koivuniemi | Jesse Kaikuranta | Cover | "Äiti" |
| 5 | Lauri Tähkä | Kim Koskinen | Original song | "Särkyneiden tie" |
| 6 | Michael Monroe | Saara Aalto | Original song | "My Love" |
| 7 | Elastinen | Mikko Sipola | Original song | "Stuck Inside My Head" |
| 8 | Paula Koivuniemi | Jesse Kaikuranta | Original song | "Vie mut kotiin" |
;Final results
| Artist | Team | Spotify points | Public points | Total points | Result |
| Mikko Sipola | Elastinen | 28 | 32 | 60 | Winner |
| Saara Aalto | Michael Monroe | 26 | 29 | 55 | First runner-up |
| Jesse Kaikuranta | Paula Koivuniemi | Second/Third runner-up | |||
| Kim Koskinen | Lauri Tähkä | Second/Third runner-up |