The eighteenth season of the American

reality television series Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

'' The Voice'' ran from February 24 to May 19, 2020, on NBC. Blake Shelton,

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. She rose to fame after winning the first season of ''American Idol'' in 2002, which earned her a record deal with RCA. Her debu ...

and John Legend returned as coaches for their eighteenth, fifth, and third season, respectively. Nick Jonas joined the panel for his first season as a new coach, replacing

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs ...

. Meanwhile,

Carson Daly Carson Jones Daly (born June 22, 1973) is an American television host, radio personality, Television producer, producer, and celebrity, television personality. Prior to 2003, Daly was a VJ (media personality), VJ on MTV's ''Total Request Live'', ...

returned for his eighteenth season as host. This is the third season in ''The Voice'' since seasons season 1 and season 3 where the team sizes was not 12, as it was reduced to ten. This is also the first season to have five artists compete in the finale, and the first time each coach would guarantee to have at least one artist representing in the finale since season two. For the first time since season 2, artists are not awarded any multiplier bonuses for streams or iTunes downloads due to the performances being recorded away from the studios (except for the finals) as a measure against the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Todd Tilghman Todd Tilghman (born January 3, 1978) is an American pastor singer. He is the winner of season 18 of American talent competition ''The Voice''. At the age of 42, he became the oldest winner in the series history, a record previously held by Josh ...

was named the winner of the season, marking Blake Shelton's seventh win as a coach, making him the oldest winner to date in the show's history – following

Josh Kaufman Josh Kaufman (born November 9, 1976) is an American soul singer and singer-songwriter. A native of the Tampa Bay area in Florida, Kaufman is based out of and resides in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is best known for winning the season 6 of NBC's '' ...

in the 6th season. For the first time, the first artist in the Blind Auditions went on to win the entire season. During the finale, Daly foregoes the announcement of third place but instead proceeding to announce Tilghman winning the season, without revealing the final placements for Thunderstorm Artis or Toneisha Harris. However, through ''The Voice'' Twitter page, Harris was revealed to finish as runner-up, making her currently the highest-placed African American female singer in ''Voice'' history.

Coaches and hosts

In October 2019, it was announced that Nick Jonas would join the show as a coach for this season replacing

who left the panel due to her Just a Girl Las Vegas Residency. This is his second appearance, as he was the Battle Advisor for the 8th season for Team Christina. Blake Shelton returned for his eighteenth season as a coach, John Legend for his third, and Kelly Clarkson for her fifth. This is the twelfth season to feature three male coaches on the panel. This season's advisors for the Battles are:

Dua Lipa Dua Lipa ( , ; born ) is an English and Albanian singer and songwriter. Possessing a mezzo-soprano vocal range, she is known for her signature disco- pop sound. Lipa has received numerous accolades, including six Brit Awards, three Gramm ...

for Team Kelly,

Joe Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

and Kevin Jonas (

Jonas Brothers The Jonas Brothers () are an American pop rock band. Formed in 2005, they gained popularity from their appearances on the Disney Channel television network. They consist of three brothers: Kevin Jonas, Joe Jonas, and Nick Jonas. Raised in W ...

) for Team Nick,

Ella Mai Ella Mai Howell (born 3 November 1994) is an English singer-songwriter. Her musical career began at London's British and Irish Modern Music Institute in 2014, during which time she auditioned as part of a trio on the 11th season of ''The X Fa ...

for Team Legend, and Bebe Rexha (who was the coach for 16th season's Comeback Stage) for Team Blake.

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...

served as a mega-mentor for all teams during the Knockouts.

Teams

Color key

Blind auditions

Episode 1 (Feb. 24)

Episode 2 (Feb. 25)

Episode 3 (March 2)

Episode 4 (March 9)

Episode 5 (March 16)

The Coaches performed "

Jealous Jealousy generally refers to the thoughts or feelings of insecurity, fear, and concern over a relative lack of possessions or safety. Jealousy can consist of one or more emotions such as anger, resentment, inadequacy, helplessness or disgust. ...

" at the start of the show.

Battles

The battles started on March 23. The advisors for this round were

for Team Kelly,

and Kevin Jonas for Team Nick,

for Team Legend, and Bebe Rexha for Team Blake. The coaches can steal one losing artist from other coaches and save one losing artist on their team. However, the team coach may only hit their button to save an artist after it is clear that no other coach is going to steal the artist. Artists who win their battle or are stolen by another coach advance to the knockouts.

Knockouts

In the knockouts, each coach can steal one losing artist from another team. Artists who win their knockout or are stolen by another coach advance to the live playoffs.

served as a mega mentor for all teams in this round. New this season, each saved artist from the battles will go head-to-head in the first-ever four-way knockout. Results for the four-way knockout are decided by a public vote, with the winner announced during the first week of live shows.

Live remote shows

This season, the number of weeks of live shows was reduced to three, consisting of the playoffs, semi-final, and the finale. As a result of the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

outbreak in the United States, the live shows were changed to remote shows with performances aired pre-recorded performances at the contestants' and coaches' homes. The instant save is done via ''The Voice Official App'' in the playoffs and semi-final, continuing the shift from Twitter to the official app that took place in

season 17 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pola ...

. Additionally, the artists did not have studio versions of their covers released on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...

, meaning that for the first time since the introduction in season 3, there were no streaming votes or bonuses awarded. However, the finalists did have studio versions of their original song and coach duet from the finale released, although they did not contribute to the artists' vote tally.

Week 1: Playoffs (May 4–5)

The live playoffs round constituted episodes 12 and 13. For the first time there is a Top 17. On Monday,

opened the show with a performance with the remaining knockouts artists, followed by the announcement of the four-way knockout's winner. The winner joined the Top 17, who all performed live from their homes using a production kit sent to them. Coaches mentored and gave feedback from their homes: Kelly from Montana, Blake from Oklahoma, and both John and Nick from Los Angeles. On Tuesday's live episode, one artist from each team advanced based on the country's vote, and each coach got to save one of their own artists. The remaining artists from each team with the highest votes will have a chance to compete for the wild card as seen on

. These nine artists advanced to the semi-final.

Week 2: Semi-final (May 11–12)

The semi-final comprised episodes 14 and 15. On Monday, the Top 9 artists performed to the theme of "Dedication Week" with the public vote results being announced on Tuesday. Four artists are eliminated in a new elimination format: one artist from a team with a higher vote will immediately advance to the Top 5, leaving the remaining five artists to compete for the final spot in the finale via instant save. With the advancement of Thunderstorm Artis to the finale, Nick Jonas became the fifth new coach to successfully coach an artist on his team to the finale on his first attempt as a coach, after

Usher Usher may refer to: Several jobs which originally involved directing people and ensuring people are in the correct place: * Usher (occupation) ** Church usher ** Wedding usher, one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony ** Fiel ...

(

Michelle Chamuel Michelle Jacqueline Chamuel (born 1986) is an American singer, songwriter and music producer. She has released several works as a solo artist and in partnership with others. She was the lead singer of the band Ella Riot and the runner-up on seaso ...

season 4 Season 4 may refer to: * "Season 4" (''30 Rock'' episode), an episode of ''30 Rock'' See also * * Season One (disambiguation) Season One may refer to: Albums * ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004 * ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughte ...

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

(Wé McDonald in

season 11 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

), Kelly Clarkson (

Brynn Cartelli Brynn Cartelli (born April 16, 2003) is an American pop singer. She is the winner of season 14 of the American talent competition ''The Voice''. At the age of 15, she became the youngest person in the show's history to win the competition. She ...

in season 14), and John Legend (

Maelyn Jarmon Maelyn Jarmon (born December 8, 1992) is an American folk singer. She is the winner of season 16 of the American talent competition ''The Voice'' at the age of 26. After winning the show, she was signed to Republic Records. Career In 2019, Mae ...

in season 16).

Week 3: Finale (May 18–19)

The finale comprised episodes 16 to 18. The final 5 performed on episode 16, with the final results following on episode 18; meanwhile, episode 17 was a cutdown show. On Monday, each artist performed an original song and a cover, and then performed a duet with their respective coach on Tuesday. For the first time this season, artists had studio versions of their performances released on iTunes and Apple Music, with each artist's original song and coach duet being released. However, unlike previous seasons, a purchase or stream of these performances did not factor into voting. Todd Tilghman from Team Blake became the first and the only vocalist of the season to reach top 10 on iTunes. His original song's studio recording hit #1 on iTunes Overall Chart and iTunes Country Chart. With both Tilghman and Harris finishing in top two, this marked the second time in which Shelton's artists have finished in the top two since season 3 ( Cassadee Pope and

Terry McDermott Terence McDermott (born 8 December 1951) is an English former football midfielder who was a member of the Liverpool team of the 1970s and early 1980s, in which he won three European Cups and five First Division titles. He was capped 25 times ...

Elimination chart

Color key

;Artist's info * Team Kelly * Team Nick * Team Legend * Team Blake ;Result details * Winner * Runner-up * Third place * Fourth place * Fifth place * Saved by the instant save (via ''The Voice App'') * Saved by the public * Saved by their coach * Saved by Wild card (via ''The Voice App'') * Eliminated *

Number of performances reached Top 10 on iTunes

Overall

Teams

Artists who appeared on other shows or in previous seasons

* Emily Bass auditioned for season seventeen, but did not get a chair turn. She is the fourth contestant, after Sonia Rao, Odiseas Georgiadis, and Luna Searles to be rejected twice, the third to be rejected twice in different seasons, and the first to be rejected in back-to-back seasons. * Zach Day auditioned for season thirteen of ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

'' but was cut in the Hollywood Rounds. * Brittney Allen appeared on season ten of ''

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is a televised American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distribut ...

'' but was eliminated in the Judge Cuts Round. * Arei Moon & Kailey Abel auditioned for season fifteen of ''

'', but were both cut in Hollywood. * Samantha Howell auditioned for season seventeen of ''

'' but was cut in the Hollywood Rounds. Unfortunately, her audition did not air. * Toneisha Harris appeared on the 46th season of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'', she performed with Nick Jonas' " Spaceman" and "

This Is Heaven ''This Is Heaven'' is a 1929 American pre-Code romantic comedy film directed by Alfred Santell and starring Vilma Bánky. It was produced by Samuel Goldwyn and released through United Artists. The film concerns a newly arrived Hungarian immigr ...

". * Allegra Miles appeared in season twenty of

and made the Top 14. * Megan Danielle and Michael Williams later appeared in season twenty one of

. Michael made into the Top 20, while Megan became the runner-up of that season

Ratings

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Voice (U.S. season 18) 2020 American television seasons Season 18 Television series impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic