Spoilers ahead for the March 9 episode of The Voice.
The Voice Season 18 is well underway at NBC, and the competition is about as strong as it has ever been. This season has also had a sweet surprise in Nick Jonas seamlessly meshing with the other coaches, and quickly establishing himself as a threat in the game. Overall, I can say I've been satisfied with most everything I've seen this season, save one element. The Voice has gotten out of control with its skits involving coaches, and it needs to chill.
The moment of realization came to me in the midst of Round 4 of the blind auditions, in which the competition was interrupted by a game of billiards between Kelly Clarkson and Nick Jonas. Jonas was in the process of setting up the game, when Clarkson appeared out of nowhere and informed him that playing pool was kind of her thing. The Voice coach then brandished a trophy she'd won because of this, so clearly the two had to play pool.
It was a cutesy way of setting up an actual game between Nick Jonas and Kelly Clarkson, but that's not what The Voice did. Instead, the skit continued, and we saw a rehearsed bit in which Kelly's break only knocked the cue ball into a hole. The skit came to an end eventually, but the lingering question I had of why it needed to happen remained long after the episode aired.
At this stage, The Voice is 10 hours into Blind Auditions with one more episode of auditions to go before the Battle Rounds. That's quite a bit of content to keep an audience engaged for, and I can't help but think that a couple of these random skits like Nick Jonas (but obviously not) parachuting down to the show's set could be dropped in order to show more competitors and cut that time down a bit.
Or, seeing as the skits are likely meant to help push the episodes' runtimes, why not replace them with some more constructive commentary from the coaches? I'd love to hear more about what each coach is trying to accomplish with their competitors this season, or what they think of the other coaches' contestants so far. There has to be something The Voice can replace these skits with that, at the very least, gives an audience something more to get through.
I already get a ton of banter between the coaches during the singing rounds, and I appreciate that. I prefer to see genuine ribbing between the coaches and real interactions as opposed to these skits that makes any bond between these musicians appear hokey at best. This is a genuine competition with real stakes for competitors, and the show should reflect that. I'm not saying The Voice can't have fun every once in a while, but I'd like to see the show take a step back from doing quite so many sketches and focus more on the singing and competition going forward.
The Voice airs on NBC Mondays at 8:00 p.m. ET. Continue to stick with CinemaBlend for more on Season 18, and for the latest news happening in television and movies.
