“The Voice” returns to the NBC lineup on February 25 with the two-hour premiere of season 16. This will be first of six episodes showcasing the first stage — the blind auditions — of this singing competition. There will be an hour-long episode of “The Voice” on Feb. 26 with that same schedule for the two weeks following.
EGOT winner John Legend joins as a coach to compete against reigning two-time champ Kelly Clarkson as well as the two veterans of the show: Adam Levine and Blake Shelton. Clarkson is coming off back-to-back wins in her first two seasons as a coach. She knows first-hand the pressures of appearing on a reality-competition series having won the first season of “American Idol” back in 2002. Levine and Shelton have been with the show from the start. Shelton has coached six of the 15 winners of “The Voice to date while Levine has seen just three of his team come out on top.
SEE ‘The Voice’ winners: Where are they now (Season 1 – 15)?
In the blind auditions, the audience gets to see the contestants but the four judges must make their decisions based solely on the quality of the singing. Only if they are won over by the voice do they hit their button so that their chair turns and they can see the singer. If more than one judge turns, the contestant gets to hear each make their case before deciding on whose team they wish to be.
For those contestants that do not inspire even one judge to hit their button, their time on “The Voice” is over. For those that make it through they must then survive the battle rounds to move on to the live shows. New this year will the cross battles followed by the finals.
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