The Voice of Arab Lebanon

2012-2015

Pivot / LedGo / MBC

Set Design Associate / Supervision

Intro

In 2010, The Voice of Holland was the first series within The Voice-franchise. In 2012 we were invited to design the very first Voice of Arab. Little did we know about the challenges ahead, little did we know about the great ride to come.

The voice of Holland is the first series within The Voice-franchise. The talent show was conceived after RTL 4 boss Erland Galjaard was enthusiastic about the second season of X-Factor. Galjaard asked De Mol if he could come up with a program formula that went a step further than X-Factor. De Mol came up with the idea of the Blind Audition. He also wanted to emphasize quality. For example, the coaches had to be top artists in the music world. The rotating chairs were invented by Roel van Velzen. Furthermore, it would be the first big talent show in which social media would be actively involved. The talent show was presented to the general public on March 31 2010. The title The voice is a tribute to the father of John de Mol, who was a singer and was called the Dutch Frank Sinatra. Sinatra's nickname was The Voice. The format was eventually sold worldwide.

In 2012 Pivot was invited to design The Voice of Arab. Decor, graphics, light and video were all part of the deal. Country and culture are, to say the least, a challenge for a production like this, but that didn't make it any less fun. The cooperation with the local companies was intense at times. Availability of materials and technology often played tricks on us, but to come up with alternative solutions, with a similar result, eventually resulted in great appreciation from both sides. I remember that in 2015 we were regularly invited to the Lebanese set builders team at home for a typical Lebanese bbq. Despite the local poverty, no effort was spared to make that happen. First and foremost, a sheep had to be brought in from Syria, because they tasted the best, and then, as it turned out, the welders had cut a piece out of the set of The Voice to turn it into a bbq. Hilarious, unforgettable, and above all, loads of mutual respect and friendship.