The Blind Auditions are rolling on Season 27 of The Voice, currently airing on the 2025 TV schedule, and fans are loving Adam Levine’s big return. It’s been six years since the Maroon 5 singer contributed to some of the singing competition’s wildest moments, but in a way, Adam Levine has been back longer than we may have realized. That’s because NBC has changed the way seasons of The Voice are filmed, and John Legend’s explanation is pretty fascinating.
John Legend visited his old friend and former coach of The Voice Kelly Clarkson on her talk show to talk about the new crop of singers who he, Adam Levine, Kelsea Ballerini and Michael Bublé are fighting over. When she asked if he missed the show when he took Season 26 off, Legend made a surprising revelation about the filming schedule, saying:
The way we’re taping these days, we do two seasons per, like, summer and early fall. So even when you’re away, you’re really not away. So they were taping Season 26, and then I would go tape Season 27 the next week. Back to back, so Michael was doing both, but the rest of us were only doing one or the other.
John Legend coached on Seasons 24 and 25, so even though he took 26 off, he said on The Kelly Clarkson Show that he (and Adam Levine) basically returned to set last summer at the same time as Reba McEntire, Snoop Dogg, Gwen Stefani and Michael Bublé. The Canadian crooner, meanwhile, is the only coach to appear on both seasons, so Bublé just stayed put while the other coaches traded out their chairs.
The EGOT winner didn’t specify if they filmed all of Season 26’s pre-recorded rounds before starting Season 27, or if they did the Blind Auditions for each season before moving on to the Battles for each season, etc., and that leaves me with so many questions.
For instance, 19-year-old Iris Herrera didn’t turn a chair in Season 26 but came back to audition for 27 and got to join Kelsea Ballerini’s team. Were her performances mere days apart from each other? Weeks? Was this schedule part of the reason Reba McEntire was able to tape The Voice and Happy’s Place at the same time, or was it part of what complicated that process?
Also, how grueling was that schedule for Michael Bublé, Carson Daly, the band and the rest of the crew? John Legend admitted it was “crazy for producers,” but I guess taking a bigger chunk of time to tape two seasons at once frees up some time over the rest of the year. I’d also imagine it’s pretty strange for the Season 27 contestants to just now get to watch the auditions that happened months ago. How long will have passed between when they auditioned and when the semifinalists return for live episodes?
Clearly I’m just looking for a “Making of The Voice” documentary, but I really do think this is all so interesting. Until I get that doc, I shall simply quiet my mind with the tunes of the current contestants, the gentle comedy of Michael Bublé and the excitement of Adam Levine bringing back something The Voice has been lacking since Blake Shelton and Kelly Clarkson left.
New episodes air at 8 p.m. ET Mondays on NBC and streaming the next day with a Peacock subscription.
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