[Jack_]

BATTLES:

The BBC talent contest - which again features will.i.am, Jessie J, Sir Tom Jones and Danny O'Donoghue as coaches - has introduced a 'steal' twist to the battle rounds and a new 'knockout' stage prior to the live shows.

The 'steal' will give judges the option to recruit losers of the head-to-head battles to their teams after being snubbed by the coach they sided with in the blind auditions.

Following each battle round, the losing act will be given the chance to pitch to the coaches why they deserve to stay in the competition. Coaches will then have an allotted period of time to decide whether to press the buttons on their spinning red chairs and 'steal' the singer.

As with the blind auditions, if more than one coach attempts to 'steal', the power will shift back to the artist to decide whose team they want to join.

Each coach can only steal one artist during the entirety of the battle rounds, meaning they will have to choose wisely.

KNOCKOUTS:d

The coaches will then head into the 'knockout' stage with seven team members each - the six winners of the battles between the 12 they recruited at the blind auditions, plus their one stolen contestant.

In this round, artists will perform a 'killer song' of their choosing and the coaches will each pick three members of their team to go through to the live shows, creating a final 12 for the public vote.

Digital Spy

So essentially:

Blinds: 12 acts each
Battles: Down to 6 acts each (adding 1 steal to make 7)
Knockouts: 7 down to 3 each, for a final 12 (this is essentially Judges' Houses let's be honest)

I like the sound of them but I'm still not convinced 3 live shows (if that's true) is the way forward. Guess it'll be four acts leaving in each live show (ridiculous). Should be one per week a la X Factor, or even two per week.

[BBfanUSA]

So they are sort of copying the US format with way less live shows, LOL

[Black Dagger]

It's not copying... it's the same show

I'd have had 5 live shows personally. Probably even 6.

Live show 1 - 12 become 10
Live show 2 - 10 become 8
Live show 3 - 8 become 6
Live show 4 - 6 become 4
Live show 5 - 4 become 2
Live show 6 - Final

[Jack_]

Originally Posted by Black Dagger

It's not copying... it's the same show

I'd have had 5 live shows personally. Probably even 6.

Live show 1 - 12 become 10
Live show 2 - 10 become 8
Live show 3 - 8 become 6
Live show 4 - 6 become 4
Live show 5 - 4 become 2
Live show 6 - Final

I agree, I like the idea of 5 with two acts leaving in each. Could announce the bottom three and the lines open again for the public to save one (excluding the semi-final), with or without a three-way sing off in the middle.

I quite liked four acts in the final but they ruined it last year by not announcing third. All four should sing once, announce fourth, three sing again, announce third, two sing again, announce winner. They best not ruin the final again.

[BBfanUSA]

Originally Posted by Black Dagger

It's not copying... it's the same show

I'm not saying it in a bad way, I don't mind it. Still technically copying it.

I do like your idea of the liveshows though, BD.

I think the American Version was planning on doing that, up until the top 6, where they realized that it would be just Team Blake with Cassadee and Terry in the final, so they called an audible to eliminate one act in the semi.

[MusicXian]

I think the pre lives format is good and very interesting. The problem is that there is only 3 live shows. Not enough time clearly. The public normally need time to gain huge support for an act. yes sometimes its immediate, but using XF as an example, look at LM and James Arthur in the past couple years. Didn;t reach number 1 in the ranking until week 7 or 8.

Leanne Mitchell won it last year most likely due to quite low voting figures, and I fear it can be the same again and that a surprise act could win. As said above, there should be 6 live shows minimum. 3 live shows is just not a sufficient amount of time for people to find a deserved winner, or for an act to show of their true capability.