Tour of BBC Voice show cancelled (From Epsom Guardian)

Tour of BBC Voice show cancelled

5:58pm Monday 18th June 2012 in National News © Press Association 2013

Sir Tom Jones was one of the judges on BBC TV show The Voice

The Voice tour has been cancelled after poor ticket sales.

The 11-date tour, which was to have featured performances from the BBC1 talent show's eight finalists, included concerts in Cardiff, Glasgow and Manchester.

A spokeswoman for the tour said: "Unfortunately, The Voice UK Live has been cancelled due to lack of ticket sales - customers are advised to contact their point of purchase for ticket refunds."

Other planned venues intended for the tour included Brighton, Aberdeen and Sheffield.

It is another blow for the show which saw a spectacular drop in viewers after its early stages. The winner, Leanne Mitchell, landed a deal with music giant Universal, but a download version of her debut single failed to make much of an impression on the charts.

The BBC has defended the show, saying it pulled in an average of 9.2 million viewers - the best entertainment launch since research methods changed in 2001.

BBC1 boss Danny Cohen said programme chiefs would "learn" from the experiences of the first series.

He said: "The Voice has broken all records for a new entertainment show on the BBC. There are also inevitably things you learn in the first series of a big new show, and we are confident that The Voice will return even stronger next year."

He said he was proud of the contestants and the coaches - Sir Tom Jones, Danny O'Donoghue, Jessie J and Will.i.am - although it is not clear who will return next year.

Show bosses are now looking for potential contestants for the next series, to be aired in 2013.