Spoiler alert! This story discusses the final night of Blind Auditions on The Voice Season 24, which aired October 16.
The contestants for Season 24 of The Voice have been chosen, with Gwen Stefani, Reba McEntire, John Legend and Niall Horan each completing their 14-member teams on the final night of Blind Auditions. The talent this season is off the charts, with an astounding 20 of the 56 singers turning the chairs of all four superstar coaches. Legend — who, in his eighth season on the show, is now the most tenured member of the Blake Shelton-less panel — proved to be the winner in more than his fair share of those four-way fights, but it’s actually Team Reba that I’m most intrigued by, for the opposite reason.
John Legend Is The Undisputed King Of The Four-Chair Turn
The “All of Me” singer was not shy about pointing out how many of the highly coveted artists he was able to win, and for good reason. The Voice makes a big deal about Four-Chair Turns, which happen when all four coaches hit their button for an auditioner, putting the power back in the singer’s hands to choose which superstar they want to work with. The assumption is that if an artist appeals to the multiple genres and demographics represented on the coaching panel, they’ll also strike a chord with the most voters.
I’m not sure The Voice has ever seen 20 Four-Chair Turns in one season before. For comparison, Season 23 had just six, Season 22 had 10 and Season 21 featured seven. That means John Legend alone has more Four-Chair Turns this season than there were in the whole competition two out of the last three seasons. The EGOT winner’s eight make up more than half of his team and doubles that of The Voice’s other coaches, as Reba McEntire, Niall Horan and Gwen Stefani each won four of the Four-Chair Turn battles.
That brings me to why I’m excited about the Queen of Country’s first-ever team.
Reba McEntire Is The Undisputed Queen Of The One-Chair Turn
Six of the country legend’s 14 team members are on The Voice because Reba McEntire and Reba McEntire alone saw potential in them. One-Chair Turns theoretically face a harder road, as their audition only impressed one out of four coaches. They also get no say in which team they join, as they’re automatically placed with the mentor who turned for them.
However, it wasn’t the number of One-Chair Turns on the “Fancy” singer’s team that caught my eye. Up until the final night of Blind Auditions, Reba McEntire was the only coach of the four to have ANY One-Chair Turns. (Gwen Stefani got two as the teams began to fill up, but that was a technicality, as other coaches said they would have turned if they could have.) To me, that signals that while the three veterans were looking for largely the same type of artist, McEntire had her ear out for something different.
This is especially noteworthy given the high number of Four-Chair Turns, and I am really looking forward to seeing what she saw in her artists that the other coaches didn’t. It feels like she’s got an opportunity to show us something truly unique and unexpected in the later rounds of the competition.
The Voice is set to kick off the Battles when Season 24 resumes at 9 p.m. ET Tuesday, October 17 on NBC, and be sure to keep up with all of the upcoming premieres with our 2023 TV schedule.