Children in tears and angry parents: what happens behind the scenes of the TV show "The Voice"

Irina Mishina

The show "Voice. Children" began to grow overgrown with scandals after the victory in the sixth season was won by the daughter of the singer Alsu Mikella Abramova. Later it turned out that the voting results were falsified. As a result, all the finalists of the season were recognized as winners. Recently, well-known Russian music critic Oleg Karmunin called the behind-the-scenes show "Voice. Children" "the most terrible place on Earth". According to the expert, those who worked on the show for a long time and ran away cannot sleep at night - "they see crying children in their nightmares". "Crying children are a common thing behind the scenes of the "Voice. Children", - assures Karmunin.

The so-called "mentors" were also criticized. Actor, blogger Stanislav Sadalsky accused the jury of unprofessionalism: "Mediocrity in the armchairs are deprived of musical ear and knowledge, absolute laymen. Only Nagiyev saves the situation." Many viewers agreed with the actor's opinion. In the comments to the post, they note that the new season of children's "Voice" has disappointed them. “Poor children get lost and don't know how to react to the antics of adults. And why did the adults come there? They flaunt themselves in front of themselves, admire themselves. This behavior is not for a children's show”, - write social media users.

In "Otzovik" dozens of indignant comments about the incompetence of the jury collected the post named “Ashamed for Channel One".

“How can you put people as mentors... who can't put two words together? Therefore, they do not choose strong children. What can they teach them?.. They are afraid of strong children and their teachers. That's the whole secret”, - the author writes.

The choice of mentors is sometimes questionable. To reach the final for the holder of academic vocal with the correct breathing and a well-trained voice, performing works in his native Russian language is an almost impossible mission.

Some time ago, the subjectivity of the judging of the show “Voice. Children ”has already provoked a scandal that went far beyond the scope of this project. Its echoes are still heard. This story happened to the owner of a unique vocal Yaroslav Yakubchuk. The vocalist was born in Moscow, he is a Russian, but now he lives in London, his parents work there. Yaroslav considers himself Russian and decided to perform on the Russian "Voice", in front of our audience. The editors asked him to perform the aria "Nessun dorma" from Puccini's opera "Turandot". But, as you guessed correctly, not a single mentor turned to Yaroslav. Moreover, the boy's performance was not shown on the air. Then the 11-year-old singer went to a similar show in the UK, where he caused a sensation among stage professionals who are not opera singers, and made the audience applaud him standing. The comic of the situation is that Yaroslav performed in London the same work as on the Russian "Voice" - "Nessun dorma" by Puccini. The members of the British jury were endlessly surprised when they learned about Yaroslav's failure on the Voice of the Children project. In Moscow, Yaroslav was not simply not taken into the project - one of the "mentors" said that he had no place here, since "the competition is not an opera one".

We contacted Yaroslav's parents. Initially, they planned to simply find out about the boy's creative plans and solo career, but the details of what happened and the details of the backstage side of the country's main children's show seemed to us no less interesting. Olga Ellanskaya, mother of Yaroslav Yakubchuk, shared with us her impressions of two projects of the children's "Voice" - in Moscow and in London:

- Yaroslav never studied at a music school. He sang in the church choir. The choir director noticed that he was getting out of the choir, and advised to pay attention to the boy's musical inclinations. So Yaroslav began to study privately with a graduate of Gnesinka. About the show “Voice. Children ”we, of course, heard and once decided to apply there for good luck, attaching recordings of works performed by Yaroslav. A positive answer came very quickly. We were invited to Moscow for a preliminary casting. As a rule, it can be successfully passed by those with whom vocal teachers come. The fact is that on the project “Voice. Children ”there is no normal“ chanting ”before the performance, that is, there is no preparation. There are no teachers who could rehearse with children. Participants and their parents organize everything themselves. If the child aroused interest, he was shown to the head of the directorate of music and entertainment programs, Yuri Aksyuta. Thus, before getting on the blind auditions, the child went through, in fact, 2 castings. Before the performance, the children all chant together. There is such a collective "warming up". Nobody personally worked with Yaroslav. He, a ten-year-old child, practically without rehearsal, began for the first time in his life to sing with an orchestra and a microphone at blind auditions.

- And who pays the expenses for accommodation and meals for children during the period of recording programs?

- Accommodation, transport - all at their own expense, and these are significant expenses. For example, we had to take a taxi every day at our own expense to Krasnogorsk, where there were records, although a special minibus was circulating. Food, water for children - all this was to be provided by the parents for their children. At least that was the case on the project in which Yaroslav participated.

- How did the atmosphere on the Russian show seem to you? In life, everything was as friendly and positive as it looks on the air?

- Filming of blind auditions of all participants went on for only 3 days in a row. They lasted from morning to late evening. The surprises began when we first arrived at the shooting. It turned out that about 20 people were left from last year's "Voice", we had to wait until they were listened to. These are children who passed the casting, but did not get to the blind auditions, because the mentors have already formed their teams. Those younger, children 6-7 years old, were asked to pass ahead. Because of this, we ended up under number 100 with 45 mentors' places. Because of this, the atmosphere seemed to us rather nervous. There was also confusion due to overcrowding. There was one more unpleasant moment: everyone sees their competitors and begins to wish them "well", although outwardly they rejoice for those who passed on. Children experience discomfort in such an environment. However, this did not stop them from playing football behind the scenes.

- As far as I understand, blind auditions are preceded by a fairly serious casting, which does not appear on TV. How objective is it?

- Already at blind auditions, the mentors almost openly say: "We select the voices for the songs that should be performed on the show at the next stages and in the final." Under these songs, the voices of children are selected. Since this is mainly a modern stage, children with academic vocals and operatic voices are outside the scope of the project.

The "mentors" in the year of our participation were Nyusha (daughter of the former soloist of "Tender May" Vladimir Shurochkin - editor's note), Valery Meladze and Dima Bilan. Bilan, the only one ready to experiment, had a team already recruited. We did not expect anything from Nyusha. And in the case of Valery Meladze, it became clear that Yaroslav did not fit the pre-selected repertoire. Although all the specialists who were at the auditions, all the editors were shocked that no one turned to him. Dmitry Nagiyev immediately ran to the mentors shouting: "Bastards, what are you doing ?!" But soon he came back with the words: "Someone will lose their job." Who exactly he had in mind, we still did not understand: either ourselves, or mentors. An editor also came up to us, she had tears in her eyes. She began to calm us down. It was obvious that she was uncomfortable with her mentors.

- Do the mentors know who they are turning to? Simply put, are there favorites on the show that "should" make it onto the next rounds?

- I think the mentors don't know who sings.

- Do the contestants sing live at the show, or is a recording or phonogram used?

- All children sing live.

- Did you give Yaroslav any advice after the Russian "Voice"? Something suggested? In short, what did this show give him?

- Nobody advised or suggested anything. Moreover, Channel One never sent us a CD with a recording of his performance. And this was the second, perhaps the most unpleasant shock for Yaroslav. The fact is that the school in which he studies is small. Everyone there knew about his trip to Moscow and about his performance on the show. They were preparing to meet him, almost a wall newspaper was released. But then the screenings begin, but Yaroslav is not shown! And among friends at school there was talk: "Was he there at all?" Ridicule, speculation ... All this could not but hit the child. And we had almost no evidence of Yaroslav's participation in The Voice. We were strictly forbidden to shoot - both during the recording and during rehearsals. By some miracle, I "secretly" filmed Yaroslav at the dress rehearsal. After the show went on the air, I called Channel One many times and asked to send the promised CD. They promised to search me for a long time, but in the end they said that all the records were destroyed.

- How did Yaroslav get into the English children's "Voice"?

- In order to somehow distract the child after the Russian "Voice", I invited him to take part in a competition of classical music performers in North London. There he was told that he must be shown in public. At this time in London just announced a new season of children's "Voice". Everyone knows very well that the Voice show is a Dutch franchise that goes all over the world. But each country has its own national characteristics. We decided to try our hand again and sent the recording there. Very quickly we received a positive answer, we were invited to a casting on the ITV TV channel. It was there that Yaroslav was destined to become a finalist and receive a lot of flattering reviews. In English "Voice" all 3 mentors turned to him. They were immensely surprised when they learned that Yaroslav had not been noticed at the Russian children's "Voice" and had not been invited to the next rounds.

- Is the Russian “Voice” very different from the English one?

- The format of this show in England and in Russia is the same, but the competitions are organized in completely different ways. In London, the organization is more comprehensible, transparent and clear. Before the blind auditions, it was necessary to pass an interview with a psychologist and the producers of the project. There was no psychological accompaniment for the children on the Russian "Voice". After interviews and casting, Yaroslav was again asked to sing the classics, and they were very glad that it was not in English. Everything in the organization is fast and clear, there is no confusion, the participants and their parents do not collide with each other and do not hear what and how other children are performing. It is more comfortable for children and parents, there are no intrigues, quarrels, manifestations of envy, because there are fewer human contacts. The organizers of the competition pay the selected participants for a taxi or compensate for the cost of gasoline and hotel accommodation, in contrast to the Russian "Voice", where absolutely everything is at the expense of the parents. For each child, a form had to be filled out, which was then sent to the education department, and there they issued a license for the right to record on television. Recordings in London did not go as lightning fast as in Russia, they lasted from February to April. A maximum of 8-10 blind auditions were made per day. In Moscow, blind auditions were recorded in just 3 days ...

- How do you communicate with a mentor? Does he work with the charges?

- The mentor reviews the rehearsal records, gives instructions. A professional teacher personally and for a long time works with each participant. In our case, he was from the Royal Academy of Music. The "chanting" takes place before the preliminary casting and before the television tours, and each participant is worked with personally, and not collectively, as in the Russian "Voice". It is longer, about an hour. After all, the better a person “sings”, the better he will sound and will not break his voice. Great attention was paid to this in the English children's "Voice". As for the mentor, he may be adjusting the repertoire, but he does not impose anything. The choice of a song for the second stage (battles) is not subject to discussion with the participant, but a joint choice is made for the semifinals and finals. And another important point: after blind listening, when Yaroslav chose a mentor - the singer William Adams, or Will.i.am - became him - he immediately approached us, our parents, said kind parting words, and in Russian. There is no such thing on the Russian "Voice". On the English show, the mentor rehearsed with Yaroslav for about an hour before the performances. During this time, he gave direct advice.

- In London on the children's "Voice" Yaroslav was limited in the repertoire, talked about which works are preferable?

- In addition to the classics, Yaroslav suggested Freddie Mercury, but the producers and music advisors asked him to sing the classics because other children sing it a little. Children with academic vocals sing there on a par with the "pop musicians", they are not weeded out, as in Russia. Moreover, in the final, Yaroslav was given Figaro's aria from the opera The Barber of Seville. By the way, it is interesting that after Yaroslav was shown on English television, Russian journalists immediately found us and began literally "bombarding" with requests for interviews. LiveNews, RIA Novosti, Moscow-24, Starhit ...

Post scriptum. After the triumph. Many probably think that after the resounding success on the English Voice, Yaroslav Yakubchuk began a solo career. This is not true. Now his voice is breaking and he is not singing. At least for now. Yaroslav became interested in technology, filming clips, Internet technologies, and went headlong into his studies.

Perhaps an indirect reaction to the scandal with Yaroslav Yakubchuk was an interview with the head of the music programs directorate Yuri Aksyuta on the RT TV channel. “Firstly, it seems to me that young talent should not be limited by anything or anyone. Therefore, to protect it or create special complex or insurmountable "fences" around the talent, so long as it is not touched by external life, in no way is it possible. It is impossible to create greenhouse conditions for human development”, - says Aksyuta.

Spartan conditions, you will not say anything. However, Russian show business is primarily a business. Apparently, he has nothing to do with the support and development of young talents.