Warning! The following contains spoilers for The Voice's second night of Season 19 blind auditions that aired Tuesday, October 20. Read at your own risk!
The Voice Season 19 was touted to be a season with some really exceptional vocal talent, and so far, it's lived up to the hype. With this stronger-than-usual crop of singers comes some tough decisions from the coaches, and I've certainly noticed fewer Four-Chair Turns in tonight's episode than I thought were deserving.
In fact, I couldn't help but feel a little angry when Carson Daly called Sid Kingsley's Three-Chair Turn "pretty good." To me, it was worthy of the fourth chair turning, but also, aren't three chairs plenty good enough? It got me wondering why The Voice so frequently puts such emphasis on the Four-Chair Turn. Is there something magical about that prestigious honor? Because getting through regardless of coach interest seems to be good enough.
I've discovered that Four-Chair Turns have resulted in 50% of The Voice's winners. This includes Season 18 winner Todd Tilghman, who seemed to be a pretty clear favorite in the competition last year from the time he first performed. So if we're speaking strictly from a numbers perspective, singers that get all the coaches to turn around have a better shot at winning compared to all other advancing contestants.
Of course, a 50% chance of winning is essentially a coin flip. The truth of the matter is that a contestant can win any amount of chair turns and have a shot. Before Todd Tilghman got his win in Season 18, we had Jake Hoot in Season 17. Hoot made The Voice history as the singing competition's first One-Chair Turn winner, which may be indicative of the fact that the numbers don't really matter if your voice is good.
Of course, there are other distinct advantages to being someone as loved as a Four-Chair Turn. When it comes to the knockout rounds and saves, competitors like newly advanced Cami Clune will have more chances to be saved by another coach should they come up short in the next round. That doesn't feel incredibly likely with her voice in particular, but hey, crazier things have happened on this show.
There's also a chance that if a group as diverse in musical taste as Gwen Stefani, Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, and Blake Shelton all like you, there's a good chance a bulk of America will as well. Eventually, every competitor in this game is at the mercy of public opinion, so being universally liked is always a plus in the late stages. This is a long way of saying why now I and hopefully other fans who have wondered why a Four-Chair Turn is such a big deal understand why Carson Daly made that remark.
The Voice airs on NBC Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. Continue to stick with CinemaBlend for all the latest happening in the season, and for more news in television and movies.
