'The Voice' Winner Single Bombs; Show's Worst Single Yet

The grand final episode of The Voice may have posted some huge figures in the TV ratings last week, but they certainly haven't translated to sales, as Alfie Arcuri has set a new record for the show's worst performing winner's single with Cruel which debuted on the ARIA Chart this past weekend.

Despite nearly 1.3 million people tuning in for the singing competition's grand final last Sunday, Arcuri's new song debuted on the Singles chart at #89 and, as news.com.au reports, sold just 1458 copies.

The figure trumps the record previously set by The Voice 2014 winner Anja Nissen, who sold 3023 copies with her winning single, I'm So Excited.

Ancuri's song didn't perform well on the iTunes chart either as it dropped out of the top 50 just days after it debuted. 

Though it's already been announced The Voice will return in 2017, the news has led to talk that the Channel Nine show's future is bleak, especially when compared to rival show, Seven's The X Factor.

The winning single of the 2015 The X Factor series, Cyrus' Stone, peaked on the Singles chart at #4 last November and was also certified gold with over 35,000 units. 

Speaking to theMusic, TV Tonight editor David Knox believes The Voice is more about ratings than it is about finding talent.

"The most recent season of The Voice did good business for Nine with around 1.4 million for its Blind Auditions and scoring well where it counts in the Demos," Knox says.

"As with The Block, Nine's primary focus is on its 'on-air' returns for advertisers, not add-ons like auctions or record sales. Hence they have already announced a new season for 2017. 

"But The Voice is yet to deliver a 'star' in the same way that The X Factor or Australian Idol have done repeatedly," he continues.

"Alfie Arcuri won with his solid vocals and nice guy image. But you have to wonder after a season of Sam Smith-style ballads, who thought it was a good idea to launch him with an R&B up tempo track?"

The Music has contacted Channel Nine for comment.