As you as excited as we are for the return of “The Voice” to NBC on February 25? Season 16 kicks off with a two-hour premiere that showcases the addition to the coaches panel: John Legend. He joins reigning two-time champ Kelly Clarkson and the two veterans of the show — Adam Levine and Blake Shelton — in this quest for a new musical talent. Watch the video above for a sneak preview of all the fun to come as these four musical giants compete for bragging rights as the best coach.
Legend is one of just 15 people to win all four top show business awards. He completed his EGOT last year when he picked up an Emmy for “Jesus Christ Superstar: Live.” He won the first of his 10 Grammys in 2006, when he was named Best New Artist in addition to two other prizes that year. He had to wait almost a decade before adding an Oscar to his tally: Best Original Song for “Glory” from “Selma” (2014). In 2017 he won a Tony Award as a producer of the revival of “Jitney.”
Clarkson is coming off back-to-back wins in her first two seasons as a coach. She knows all too well the pressures of appearing on a reality-competition series as the winner of season 1 of “American Idol” in 2002. Levine and Shelton have been with “The Voice” from the start. Shelton has coached six of the 15 winners while Levine has seen just three of his artists take the title.
In the blind auditions, the audience sees the contestants but the four judges must decide 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 then 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.
SEE ‘The Voice’ winners: Where are they now (Season 1 – 15)?
“The Voice is hosted by Carson Daly. The four stages in the competition are the blind auditions, which will be shown over the course of the first six episodes, followed by the battle rounds, cross battles and finals.
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