Yesterday, broadcaster RTL announced the long-anticipated return of The Voice franchise to its origin country in January 2026, after having been off-air for 4 years, with several Eurovision alumni taking to the famous red chairs for the new series.

Ilse DeLange, who duetted with Waylon as part of The Common Linnets, himself also a former coach, finished second at Eurovision 2014 with the song Calm After The Storm. She will return to the coaching role she had in Series 4 and 5 for the return of The Voice of Holland, alongside rapper Willie Waartal, duo Suzan & Freek and rock singer Dinand Woesthoff.

Meanwhile, in the Kids version, the Dutch 2025 representative Claude will take a coach role for the first time, alongside DeLange and new pop singers Flemming and Emma Heesters. Claude wrote on Instagram:

“When I was fourteen, I auditioned for The Voice Kids…now I can sit in the red chair myself! A full circle moment! Really looking forward to this adventure.”

The new series will also be co-hosted by Chantal Janzen, a mainstay on Dutch TV who hosted Eurovision 2021 in Rotterdam alongside Jan Smit, Edsilia Rombley and Nikkie de Jager. She’ll host with Edson de Graça.

While The Voice has been a hugely influential franchise for the Eurovision Song Contest across Europe, with many auditionees, winners and coaches going on to represent their countries, it’s the original Dutch version that has seen the largest pedigree of participants from its coaching history. Dutch coaches who’ve gone on to represent the Netherlands, or became coaches after the fact, include Anouk, Douwe Bob, Gerard Joling, Glennis Grace and Trijntje Oosterhuis.

Possibly the most famous person to come out of this version was Duncan Laurence, who participated in the fifth series of the show and was coached by Ilse DeLange, before going on to win Eurovision 2019 with the song Arcade, his country’s first victory for 44 years. He’s since served as a coach on The Voice Kids in Flanders.

In January 2022, The Voice was axed in the Netherlands following the release of a report into widespread sexual misconduct behind the scenes. As a result, the broadcaster has implemented extra rules to protect contestants and crew members. “Together with our producer, we have done everything we can to bring back The Voice in a safe way”, said RTL director Peter van der Vorst. “We have not only worked intensively on the quality of the content, but also on the quality of the process.”

The Netherlands will be hoping for a good result this year at Eurovision to make up for the disappointment of being disqualified from the grand final last year. Claude, who won rival talent show Beste Zangers last year, represents them with the song C’est la vie.

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