I’m Pumped That The Voice Is Returning For Season 26, But There’s One Big Change I Hope They Make

The Voice is just one week away from crowning its Season 25 winner and seeing if Reba McEntire, Chance the Rapper or Dan + Shay can notch their first victory on the competition, or if John Legend will finally earn that second crown. As the artists take the stage for the live Semifinals, fans can rest assured that they won’t have to wait too long for the next batch of singers to start choosing their teams, as The Voice has officially been renewed for Season 26. After what we’ve seen this season, however, I’m hoping there’s one big change they make when the show returns.

What We Know About The Voice Season 26

Not only has NBC confirmed that the singing competition will return for a 26th season, but it announced its new panel of expert coaches. When The Voice hits the 2024 TV schedule this fall, fans will see the return of Gwen Stefani for an eighth season and Reba McEntire for her third cycle. The show will also welcome newcomers Snoop Dogg and Michael Bublé.

I am so pumped about the new season, especially with the new coaching announcement, although I actually loved the energy Dan + Shay brought to the show, and I still think guest mentor Anthony Ramos would make a great addition to the panel, especially considering his history with the show.

Along with swapping out its coaches, The Voice has also been known to play around with its format, changing the number of artists on each team, adding Steals, Saves, Blocks, Playoff Passes, etc. No game mechanics have been announced yet, but there’s one specific change I hope to see in Season 26.

The Voice Needs To Go Back To Live Playoffs

The Playoffs used to be my favorite round of the competition, because it traditionally was the first time America got to weigh in on the teams. However, in the past few seasons that power has been taken away from us. The way it used to work was that members of the same team would perform back to back, allowing us to see each superstar coach’s strongest singers. Two artists would advance from America’s vote, and the coach would get to save a third. The elimination was brutal, but it felt right for that stage of the competition headed into the Top 12.

The last time the Playoffs were live was in Season 22, and with the coaches alone now choosing which three artists should move forward, it just feels like another round of Knockouts. Season 25 also saw the teams alternating, with Night 1 featuring a Team Legend singer, followed by a Team Dan + Shay singer, then back to John Legend’s team (Night 2 did the same thing with Team Reba and Team Chance). However, not seeing the teammates in succession really took away from being able to best determine the artists who most deserved to move forward.

The other downside of not having Live Playoffs is that viewers are robbed of a live show, as the past few seasons have featured only two or three weeks of live competition. By comparison, Season 22 had five weeks of live shows. There’s a lot of buildup for the artists to reach that stage of the competition, but by the time they get there, the season is practically over.

I’ve been a fan of The Voice since the beginning, so I’m so happy to know we’ll be seeing four big names in music take to the Big Red Chairs again. Hopefully they can make it an even better experience for the fans by allowing viewers to get involved earlier in the process. In the meantime, tune in to see how Season 25 plays out, with new episodes at 8 p.m. ET Mondays and Tuesdays on NBC and streaming the next day with a Peacock subscription.