Golos

The Voice / Голос

Published: February 13, 2017

Golos (The Voice, Russian: Голос) is a Russian reality talent competition. Running since October 2012, the show is one of Channel One’s most popular programs. Golos is the Russian version of the international talent competition The Voice, which began as The Voice of Holland and now has versions in various countries. The winners of the first five seasons were Dina Garipova (Дина Гарипова), Sergey Volchkov (Сергей Волчков), Alexandra Vorobvova (Александра Воробвова), Hieromonk Fotiy (Хиромонк Фатий), and Darya Antonyuk (Дария Антонюк), each of whom has continued on to a musical career of their own.

The format of the show is a bit different than that of other reality talent competitions. First off, many contestants are already professional vocalists, unlike in, for example, American Idol, and they represent a wide range of styles and genres. Each contestant is put into a group with a professional coach, who guides them through the contest and works with the contestant on equal terms. There is almost as much honor conferred upon the winning coach as the winning contestant, and as such the coaches work as hard as the contestants. The coaches for the first five seasons have included actor and singer-songwriter Dima Bilan (Дима Билан, seasons 1–3), folk singer Pelageya (Пелагея, seasons 1–3), rock singer, bard, and composer Aleksandr Gradsky (Александр Градский, seasons 1–4), pop singer Leonid Agutin (Леонид Агутин, seasons 1–3, 5), rapper Basta (Баста, season 4), singer-songwriter, actress, and model Polina Gagarina (Полина Гагарина, seasons 4–5), and Russian-Georgian singer-songwriter Grigory Leps (Григорий Лепс, seasons 4–5).

The show consists of a blind audition in which coaches choose their contestants, a “battle phase,” and a number of live performances.

 

The official website for Golos.

 

Here is recent winner Darya Antonyuk performing “The Long Road” (“Дорогой длинною”):

 

 

Lyrics for “Дорогой длинною”:

Ехали на тройке с бубенцами,
А вдали мелькали огоньки.
Эх, когда бы мне теперь за вами,
Душу бы развеять от тоски…

Дорогой длинною, да ночью лунною,
Да с песней той, что вдаль летит, звеня.
И с той старинною, да с семиструнною,
Что по ночам так мучила меня.
Дорогой длинною, да ночью лунною,
Да с песней той, что вдаль летит, звеня.
И с той старинною, да с семиструнною,
Что по ночам так мучила меня.

Да, выходит пели мы задаром,
Понапрасну ночь за ночью жгли.
Если мы покончили со старым,
Так и ночи эти отошли.

Дорогой длинною, да ночью лунною,
Да с песней той, что вдаль летит, звеня.
И с той старинною, да с семиструнною,
Что по ночам так мучила меня.

Ехали на тройке с бубенцами,
А вдали мелькали огоньки.
Эх, когда бы мне теперь за вами,
Душу бы развеять от тоски…

Дорогой длинною, да ночью лунною,
Да с песней той, что вдаль летит, звеня.
И с той старинною, да с семиструнною,
Что по ночам так мучила меня.
Дорогой длинною, да ночью лунною,
Да с песней той, что вдаль летит, звеня.
И с той старинною, да с семиструнною,
Что по ночам так мучила меня.
И с той старинною, да с семиструнною,
Что по ночам так мучила меня.

About the author

Zachary Hicks

Zach Hicks is a PhD student in Comparative Literature at the University of Oregon. He is currently participating in SRAS's Home and Abroad scholarship program. His main areas of interest are twentieth-century Russian and Soviet literature, socialist modernism, and critical theory. Outside of academics his major interests are martial arts, the outdoors, and music. In Russia, he plans to continue to increase his language proficiency, to learn as much as possible about the Russian underground music scene, its tattoo culture, and to become a student of Russia’s native martial art, SAMBO.

Program attended: Art and Museums in Russia

View all posts by: Zachary Hicks