NBC TO FEATURE SPECIAL ONE-MINUTE SNEAK PEEK OF NEXT WEEK'S "BATTLE" ROUND BETWEEN CONTESTANTS NIKI DAWSON AND VICCI MARTINEZ DURING COVERAGE OF KENTUCKY DERBY ON MAY 7

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. - May 4, 2011 - NBC announced that it will feature a special one-minute sneak peek of a "battle" round from its new hit series "The Voice" during the network's coverage of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 7 (4-7 p.m. ET).

Viewers of the Derby will see an early version of a faceoff duet between contestants Niki Dawson and Vicci Martinez - both members of Cee Lo Green's team - from next Tuesday's (May 10, 10-11 p.m. ET) episode of "The Voice." The show moves into the nerve-wracking battle rounds on May 10 when two members of each of the coaches' teams will sing duets with each other and then one team member will be eliminated from each team by their respective coaches themselves. Four contestants will leave the show on Tuesday's episode.

The announcement was made by Bob Greenblatt, Chairman, NBC Entertainment.

"The Voice" (Tuesdays, 10-11 p.m. ET) debuted April 26 with the highest adult 18-49 rating (a 5.1) for any series premiere on ABC, CBS, NBC or Fox this season, then this week became the first new series of the season on those networks to grow from its first week to its second in adult 18-49 rating or total viewers. This week's Tuesday 9-11 p.m. ET telecast averaged a 5.6 rating, 14 share in adults 18-49 and attracted 12.4 million viewers overall, according to preliminary "fast affiliate" results from Nielsen Media Research. Excluding sports, the 5.6 rating is NBC's highest in the time period since November 29, 2005 (7.1 for the second hour of the "Biggest Loser" finale and "SVU"). In total viewers, it's NBC's top non-sports result in the time period since September 1, 2009 (12.8 million for "America's Got Talent").

"The Voice" is a vocal competition series modeled after Holland's top-rated vocal talent discovery show, "The Voice of Holland." Hosted by Carson Daly, the show features four musician coaches, Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton, who will coach only the most talented vocalists.

The series is a presentation of Mark Burnett's One Three Inc., Talpa Content USA, Inc. and Warner Horizon Television. The series is created by John de Mol, who will executive-produce along with Burnett, Audrey Morrissey and Stijn Bakkers.

For contestant blogs, embeddable clips and full episodes of "The Voice" please visit NBC.com's official show site: http://www.nbc.com/TheVoice.

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