Some people wait a lifetime for a moment on The Voice.
As Kelly Clarkson, Adam Levine and John Legend make their return as coaches on the NBC singing show’s upcoming 29th season, new rules are also being put in place to spice up what has been dubbed The Voice: Battle of Champions, premiering on Feb. 23, 2026.
For the first time ever, the coaches will compete against each other in a “Triple Turn Competition” during the blind auditions, during which they’ll attempt to score the most three-chair turns. The winning coach will earn a “Super Steal” for the battles round, allowing them to veto other coaches’ attempt to recruit an artist.
If that wasn’t enough of a change-up already, each coach will also bring back two artists from their former teams during the knockouts for head-to-head sing-offs. The coach with the most sing-off wins is guaranteed a second season 29 finalist.
In addition, there’ll be a new “voting block” made up of past The Voice artists, as well as super-fans of the show. They’ll have the opportunity to join the in-studio audience and vote for their season 29 competitors in real-time during the semi-finals and finale.
The change in show format comes after host Carson Daly introduced the Carson Callback Card in the ongoing season 28. The brand-new power allowed the longtime emcee—who has anchored the show since its debut in 2011—to give artist Ryan Mitchell a second chance at auditioning for the coaches, with Reba McEntire ultimately recruiting him onto her team.
The current season also saw the debut of the Mic Drop button, allowing coaches to select one artist from their respective teams to vie for the opportunity to perform at The Rose Parade on Jan. 1.
So far, Michael Bublé used the button on his team member Max Chambers, while Niall Horan recently selected trio DEK of Hearts.
For more behind-the-scenes secrets about The Voice, keep reading…
Does the winner of The Voice get any money?
The winner of The Voice is promised a recording contract with Universal Music Group, the monetary value of which is technically unknown.
But while NBC and series producers have never confirmed any amount, the last singer standing at the end of the competition reportedly gets $100,000.
Past winners have acknowledged getting paid, season 18 champ Todd Tilghman telling People in 2020, “I don’t have any immediate plans to make any drastic changes tomorrow. I don’t know for sure the direction my life will go in. There’s a possibility that that money might pay the bills for a little while.”
But, he added, since his wife had promised their kids a trip to Disney World, he guessed he’d be splurging on that too.
Not that the value of the music opportunities that open up for the winners should be discounted.
“I’ve got a catalog of songs. I have a lot of writer friends I want to collaborate with,” season 27 winner Adam David of Team Bublé told Parade in May 2025. “The plan is to put out some music and go on to work. We’re going to put out some music, and we’re going to hit the road.”
How does an aspiring contestant get to The Voice‘s Blind Auditions?
In addition to individual recruiting (such as when producers reached out to Frenchie Davis eight years after she was on American Idol), The Voice traditionally held in-person auditions around the U.S. Lately, however, the talent search is online, judges holding virtual open calls and weeding through video submissions to find singers who then may get a chance to sing for the coaches in hopes that at least one of them turns around.
Contestants must be at least 13 years old when they embark on their audition journey. The hopefuls have 90 seconds to introduce themselves and sing. They can sing anything they want but, per the show’s FAQ page, they’re encouraged to pick a tune “that best suits your voice and represents you as an artist.”
Judges listen to auditions for “five or six days with approximately 18 to 20 auditions per day,” executive producer Audrey Morrissey told SheKnows in 2018. Once they’re selected for the blind round, she explained, “Artists are with us for several days prior to [their audition] to rehearse with our band, work with wardrobe/styling and camera block on the audition stage.”
Then there’s the filming to put together the packages introducing some of the hopefuls and their families, all of which came as a surprise to season six alum Ddendyl Hoyt. “I had no idea that reality TV was filmed kind of like a drama,” she told the Washington Post in 2014, “So everything is filmed in segments and that’s kind of the longest process of it all.”
How many times can you audition for The Voice?
If at first you don’t make it out of the untelevised rounds—or onto a team if you do make it to the blind auditions—you’re free to try out as many times as you want, albeit only once per season.
“I can’t be a mean judge,” coach Reba McEntire, who won season 25 with Asher HaVon, told Newsweek in 2023. “It’s good just to say, ‘If you want to come back again, try it again next season, maybe a song that suits you, one that you’re really comfortable with and that really shows your talent,’ give them advice and encourage them to come back.”
As of season 28, there’s also the Carson Callback card to be played, in which longtime host Carson Daly grants an aspiring artist who didn’t get any takers
Do The Voice contestants get to pick out their own clothing?
The show has a massive wardrobe department that ensures the contestants take the stage in elevated fashion—once they’ve made it onto a team.
“We shop for each artist to come up with great looks,” Morrissey told SheKnows. “Once we get to the live shows, looks are customized for each specific performance.”
How much time do the coaches really spend working with The Voice artists?
The celebrity coaches might not be pulling all-nighters, but they’re invested in getting their teams ready for the battle rounds and beyond.
“The coaching sessions take place over four days,” Morrissey said, “and the actual battle performances take two days.”
Meanwhile, she added, how involved a coach gets with each artist “depends on the coach. Some love a big production and like working out all the details…Other coaches mainly focus on the music and arrangement for the performance.”
Some coaches “are avid texters while others email,” Morrissey added. “All off-camera interactions intensify as the artists move through the competition and the stakes get higher.”
But it takes a village, former contestant Hoyt telling the Post, “What they don’t show is all the coaching that comes from the staff: The vocal coaches, the band director, the producers, everyone has notes for you.”
Snoop Dogg told Access Hollywood in September 2025, “The behind-the-scenes people don’t get the credit that they deserve. It’s a lot of people, moving things, making it happen…All of these people back here that make our job easy, all we gotta do is walk onstage and do what we do.”
Who picks the songs the contestants sing on The Voice?
Between coaches and artists, Morrissey said, “The No. 1 communication is about song choice.”
The artists can theoretically offer their two cents when it comes to picking their songs, but usually the coaches rule on that front.
Season one’s Frenchie—who competed under O.G. coach Christina Aguilera‘s tutelage—told Cosmopolitan in 2021 it was “always hysterical when the judges say, ‘I don’t think that was a good song choice for you,’ and I’m thinking, you picked that song.”
On the flip side, season 24 winner Huntley credited coach Niall Horan with helping him find his way, telling NBC Insider the One Direction alum “knows how to pick songs, I’ll tell you that.”
Each coach has their own style—some are avid texters, while others email,” she told SheKnows. “All off-camera interactions intensify as the artists move through the competition and the stakes get higher. The number one communication is about song choice.”
What sort of resources are available to help The Voice artists tend to their mental health?
Aspiring contestants are screened beforehand to see if they seem emotionally ready for the pressure that lies ahead, and then the show employs mental health professionals to help the artists both during and at the end of their journey.
“We had to start visiting to check on our well-being,” season six alum Kat Perkins told Cosmopolitan of the counselors on staff. “The minute you are eliminated, you walk from that stage and into the psychiatrist’s office for a debriefing. They make sure that you talk about it. It’s very needed because you’ll never go through anything like it again. It’s traumatic and you’re not really emotionally set up to do something that big that quickly.”
How do the chairs on The Voice really work?
The coaches are masters of their own domains, the big red chairs evolving over the years but always boasting the ability to turn around at the push of a button. In 2018 they received a sleek upgrade, including the addition of three more buttons—giving each coach the chance to block a fellow coach, once per round, from getting a chance at claiming the contestant behind the voice.
Not unlike a luxury car seat, in addition to an automobile-caliber aluminum frame and shiny paint job, each chair has self-adjusting heaters (“Me and Reba, we’re the butt-warming kings,” Snoop quipped to Access Hollywood) and dual cupholders (as requested by former coach Blake Shelton).
But, according to Perkins, the dramatic whoosh sound the chairs make when they turn around is added in post-production.
“You almost don’t notice it,” she told Cosmo, “especially when you’re focusing and singing to the crowd that’s in the studio.”
Do the coaches on The Voice get along?
While congenial ribbing between coaches is part of the show’s DNA, it was unclear at times over the course of the 16 seasons they were on The Voice together if Blake and Adam Levine were as exasperated with each other as they seemed.
“We are constantly at each other’s throats, and sometimes we really do get mad at each other,” Blake told The Tennessean in 2017. “We’re those two guys you knew in high school where we have this bond that is unexplainable. It brings out the best and worst in both of us. It truly is an explosive relationship. And I know every trick to get under his skin.”
Translation: “He’s one of the best friends that I have, but I still want to kill him sometimes.”
And even though they haven’t competed against each other since 2019, Adam knows what the fans want.
“The Voice season 1 after party, at my house with dips–t @blakeshelton,” the O.G. coach captioned a throwback pic ahead of his return to the show in February 2025 for season 27.
Meanwhile, the latest crop of coaches are far less likely to tweet out each other’s private phone numbers.
“You spend so much time together,” Niall said during an NBC sit-down, “and I was hoping it wasn’t going to be like this TV relationship where the cameras go around and we’re like [feigning enthusiasm], ‘Hey, Snoop Dogg!’ I was always nervous about that, doing the show in the first place. I just didn’t want it to be like a forced relationship, and it hasn’t been that at all.”
