The Seven network took a clever punt in benching Home And Away on Monday night to launch The Voice’s 11th season at 7pm, giving it a strong lead-in from the news.It reverts to its usual prime time slot of 7.30pm on Tuesday and Wednesday.With coaches Keith Urban, Rita Ora, Guy Sebastian and Jess Mauboy back in the red hot seats for the Blind Auditions, The Voice drew 843,000 viewers in the capital cities, with Nine’s Lego Masters scoring 672,000 viewers and MasterChef just managed to scrape over the half million mark with 545,000 viewers.All three shows appeared to suffer a ratings dip by launching on Easter Monday as families continued to enjoy Easter and school holiday breaks. The Voice scored 1.4 million viewers for its premiere show in August last year when many States were still in lockdown.But The Voice’s haul of 1.33 million viewers nationally at its peak, including regional fans, made it the biggest new season or show launch so far in 2022.The Voice pumped up the family feelgood vibe with relatives of the contestants quietly supporting from the wings. Except for the adorable Charlie, the toddler daughter of Victorian singer Thando Sikwila, who yelled at her mum in the silence before she sang I’m every Woman and then tearfully stage invaded at its end.The new Battle Pass – a new button allowing coaches to bypass the brutal The Cut round to advance straight to the Battles – came into play in the first episode. For the final contestant.Julie Goodwin is back in the MasterChef kitchen after 13 years, but viewers watching along at home were puzzled by one aspect of her return.After weeks of teasing the performance of Faith Sosene, who is a full-time carer for her mum, the amateur singer’s emotional rendition of Celine Dion’s Because You Loved Me, turned all four chairs with a sobbing Mauboy desperate to get her for her team after losing all her previous pitches.The Glow singer rewarded Sosene’s decision by punching the new button and making her the first artist to score the Battle Pass.The opening show also featured the first Block, with Ora shutting Sebastian out of contention for the pitch to land 23-year-old singer Lachie Gill.The Voice wasn’t the only show pulling the heartstrings and getting the eye juice flowing with judges Mel Leong, Andy Allen and Jock Zonfrillo amping up the emotions.The new Fan V Favourites season of MasterChef was overly focused on the return of season one winner Julie Goodwin who got off to a shaky, nervous start.
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