The 19th season of “The Voice” premiered on Oct. 19 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
Kelly Clarkson, Blake Shelton, and John Legend return as coaches this season, as well as Carson Daly as host. Gwen Stefani also joined the coaches this year after she was replaced by Nick Jonas last year.
“I’m sad Nick Jonas isn’t coming back to ‘The Voice’ this season,” said sophomore Mia Ditizi.
There will be no studio audience this season in any round of the competition due to COVID-19. There is also a likely chance there will be no live audience for the shows later this season.
According to Newsweek, “With staff and crew members reduced by 60 percent for Season 19, showrunners are taking many precautions to keep contestants and judges safe. That means refraining from inviting spectators into the studio, having coaches and contestants take routine coronavirus tests, enforcing facial covering mandates for crew members and seating coaches far apart on set.”
There will also be only 10 contestants per team this season.
“I’m super excited about the new season of ‘The Voice’ because it makes me feel somewhat normal again. The pandemic has taken over our lives for so long, and it’s really refreshing to watch one of my favorite shows,” said sophomore Anastasia Colagreco.
“The Voice” consists of many different rounds. First, there is the blind audition, which is based solely on the contestants’ voices. The coaches hear the artists perform, but they do not get to see them. If a coach is impressed by the artist’s voice, they push a button to select the artist for their team. Then, the coach’s chair will swivel so that they can see the artist they have selected.
If more than one coach pushes their button, the power then shifts to the artist to choose which coach they want to work with. If no coach pushes their button, the artist is eliminated from the competition.
After the blind audition is the battle round. Once the teams are set, coaches will dedicate themselves to developing their team of artists, giving them advice and sharing the secrets of their success.
During the battle rounds, the coaches will also pit two of their own team members against each other to sing the same song in front of a studio audience.
Then, only who the coaches think are the best on each of their rosters remain and proceed to the knockout rounds. The artists will be paired again with a member of their team, but this time, they find out only minutes before performing who their competitor is.
The artists then each select their own song to perform individually while their direct competitor watches. At this point, the artists try to influence the judge’s decision to choose them to move on to the live shows.
Lastly, during the live shows, the top artists from each team will compete each week against each other during a weekly live broadcast. The television audience will then vote to save their favorite artists and the two artists with the lowest number of votes will be sent home each week.
In the end, one contestant will be named “The Voice” and will receive the grand prize of a recording contract.
“‘The Voice’ is by far the best singing competition on TV,” said junior Liv Chaponis.
