Seven million tune into Voice final

Seven million tune into Voice final
Seven million tune into Voice final

Around 7.1 million viewers tuned into Saturday's final of The Voice, which saw Leanne Mitchell triumph over Bo Bruce, Tyler James and Vince Kidd to win a recording contract. The figures were an improvement upon ratings in previous weeks, which slumped to just 4.5m for last weekend's semi-final despite performances from Cheryl Cole and Kylie Minogue. However the audience was still five million fewer than tuned in to the final of Britain's Got Talent last month. Viewing figures for the show started off around the 10m mark during the 'blind' audition stages, and it beat BGT in the ratings for three weeks in a row - but audiences tailed off during the later stages of the show, featuring the battle rounds and live finals. BBC bosses have said the show will return next year, but have admitted that the format needs changes - with speculation that all four judges could be facing the chop. "We've already paid £22m for two years so there is no question of it being axed," a source told the Mirror on Saturday. "But it seems unlikely any of the current coaches will be back. The audience haven't connected with them." Leanne Mitchell, who won the series, was the remaining member of Tom Jones' team. Her debut single, a cover of Whitney Houston's Run To You, was made available to buy just hours after her victory.

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.