The Norwegian version of talent contest The Voice premiered on TV2 last night, with Magne as one of the four mentors.

The whole thing opened with the mentors performing Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida”, and there’s a video clip of the performance on TV2.no.

Magne ended up with one talent for his team in the first episode; Martin Halla, who sang Keane’s “Somewhere Only We Know”.

The premiere was well-received by both the viewers and the press, with ‘5 out of 6’ ratings from VG and Dagbladet and a lot of positive feedback in social media.

Update: The whole 1 hour 10 minute show now seems to be available for free on TV2.no here.

In an interview with Dagbladet on Thursday, Magne said that he doesn’t regret taking part in the show:

“Many people around me have felt that I didn’t need to take the chance of doing this [show]. But if I hadn’t, someone else – potentially less suited – would have done it instead.”

“I have more experience than most people when it comes to this business and operating on an international level. Why shouldn’t I be able to share of that experience?”

“I hope I’ll encounter someone that I’ll want to nurture musically, and in a longer perspective than just this TV project.”

“If we’re able to create an international success, that would be the absolute coolest thing that could happen in my life at the moment”, Magne says.

In connection with The Voice, Magne has also set up an official Twitter account (@mfuruholmen), which he will use mainly in connection with the show and the talents he’ll choose. During the show, messages written in advance will appear on the TV-screen and on Twitter simultanously.

In his first message, he wrote (translated):

“help, now I’ve also joined twitter! i’m mainly intending to use it to promote my talents. all the weird stuff is elsewhere.”

So expect most of his messages to be in Norwegian, for the time being.

There will be 18 episodes of The Voice in total; blind auditions (7 episodes), battle rounds (6 episodes) and live shows (5 episodes). The final show takes place on May 25th.

Magne says:
“My goal is to find an artist with international potential, a super talent. But if that doesn’t work out, I’ll settle for just winning the contest”.

This promo clip appeared on the official The Voice Facebook page.

The four mentors on the Norwegian version of The Voice: Sondre Lerche, Magne Furuholmen, Hanne Sørvaag and Yosef Wolde-Mariam.

TV2 has now announced the premiere date of The Voice – Norges Beste Stemme, which is Friday 27 January 2012.

Another four taping dates have also been announced:

Wednesday 25 January
Thursday 26 January
Monday 30 January
Tuesday 31 January

The first episodes, focusing on the initial blind auditions, were taped earlier this month. Apparently, the audience also got to see an “exclusive mentor performance”.

The episodes taping at the end of January will feature duels between the contestants.

If you live in the Oslo area, info on how to get tickets can be found at TV2.no.