The eighth season of the American

reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, r ...

talent show A talent show is an event in which participants perform the arts of singing, dancing, lip-syncing, acting, martial arts, playing an instrument, poetry, comedy or other activities to showcase skills. Many talent shows are performances rather ...

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

'' premiered on February 23, 2015 on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

Adam Levine Adam Noah Levine (; born March 18, 1979) is an American singer and songwriter. He serves as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the pop rock band Maroon 5. Levine began his musical career in 1994 with the band Kara's Flowers, of which ...

Blake Shelton Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music singer and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single " Austin". The lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" spent five weeks at ...

, &

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...

returned as coaches.

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera (; ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been referred to as the " Voice of ...

returned for her fifth season as coach after a two-season absence, 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 ...

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 as host for the eighth season.

Sawyer Fredericks Sawyer Christopher Fredericks (born March 31, 1999) is an American blues singer–songwriter who won the 8th season of ''The Voice'' in 2015. Choosing Pharrell Williams as his coach, Fredericks set series iTunes sales records and became the you ...

was announced as the winner of the season, marking Pharrell Williams' first and only win as a coach.

Coaches and hosts

re-joined the show after two seasons of absence, joining

, and

. The advisors for this season included

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and recordi ...

for Team Pharrell,

Meghan Trainor Meghan Elizabeth Trainor (born December 22, 1993) is an American singer-songwriter and television personality. She rose to prominence after signing with Epic Records in 2014 and releasing her debut single "All About That Bass", which reached ...

for Team Blake,

Nick Jonas Nicholas Jerry Jonas (born September 16, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Jonas began acting on Broadway at the age of seven, and released his debut single in 2002; this caught the attention of Columbia Records, where Jonas ...

for Team Christina, and

Ellie Goulding Elena Jane Goulding ( ; born 30 December 1986) is an English singer and songwriter. Her career began when she met record producers Starsmith and Frankmusik, and she was later spotted by Jamie Lillywhite, who became her manager and Artists and ...

for Team Adam.

Nate Ruess Nate Ruess is an American singer and songwriter. He is best known as the founder and lead singer of the indie pop band Fun, and of The Format. As of 2015, he also performs as a solo musician. Early life Ruess was born the second child of Larry ...

served as an advisor for all teams during the Knockouts.

Teams

; Color key

Blind auditions

The first phase of the competition, the Blind Auditions began airing when the season premiered on February 23, 2015. Adam Levine auditioned as a joke in episode three with the song "

Tiny Dancer "Tiny Dancer" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It was originally released on John's 1971 album ''Madman Across the Water,'' and was later released as a single in 1972. It was ...

", with all four chairs turning (Pharrell turned Adam's chair). He "chose" Christina. ;Color key

Episode 1 (Feb. 23)

The four coaches performed "

Are You Gonna Go My Way ''Are You Gonna Go My Way'' is the third studio album by American singer Lenny Kravitz, released on March 9, 1993, by Virgin Records. It was recorded at Waterfront Studios, Hoboken, New Jersey, by Henry Hirsch. It became Kravitz's first top 20 ...

Episode 2 (Feb. 24)

Episode 3 (March 2)

Episode 4 (March 3)

Episode 5 (March 4)

The fifth episode, titled "Best of the Blinds", was a recap of all the Blind Auditions broadcast up to that point.

Episode 6 (March 9)

The sixth episode included the last of the Blind Auditions as well as the first Battles.

The Battles

The Battles (from the second half of episode 6 to episode 9) consisted of two 2-hour episodes, one 1-hour and one special episodes each on March 9, 10, 16 and 17, 2015. Season eight's advisors are

for Team Adam,

for Team Pharrell,

for Team Christina and

for Team Blake. Color key:

The Knockouts

For the Knockouts,

was assigned as a mentor for contestants in all four teams. After announcing Anthony Riley's withdrawal from the competition, Pharrell grouped three of his team members into one knockout, in which two contestants from the trio advanced and one being declared loser. Just like

season five 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 ...

, the coaches can steal one losing artist. The top 20 contestants will then move on to the "Live Shows". Color key:

Live shows

The live shows is the final phase of the competition, consisting of seven weeks starting on the playoffs and concluding on the season finale. Color key:

Week 1: Live playoffs (April 6, 7 & 8)

The Live Playoffs comprised episodes 14, 15, and 16 (the results show). The top twenty artists perform for the votes, and the two artists per each team advances via public vote, while the bottom three artists compete for the coaches' save in the results show. Monday's performance featured Teams Blake and Pharrell, and Teams Adam and Christina for the Tuesday's performance.

Week 2: Top 12 (April 13 & 14)

The Top 12 performed on Monday, April 13, 2015, with the results following on Tuesday, April 14, 2015. The Instant Save returned once again this season, with the bottom three artists performing for a spot on the next round via the viewers' votes from Twitter, and is in play until the semifinals. Oklahoma country music star

Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire (born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music singer and actress. Dubbed " the Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Since the 1970s, McEntire has placed over 100 single ...

, last seen on the show's first season as an advisor for Team Blake, returned to serve as a mentor for the top 12 contestants. This week's iTunes multiplier bonuses were awarded for Sawyer Fredericks (#2), Kimberly Nichole (#3) and Meghan Linsey (#5).

Week 3: Top 10 (April 20 & 21)

The Top 10 performed on Monday, April 20, 2015, with the results following on Tuesday, April 21, 2015. Adam, Blake, Christina and Pharrell brought in Dave Stewart,

Scott Hendricks Scott Hendricks (born July 26, 1956) is an American record producer who has produced over 30 country music artists. His productions have garnered 121 Top 10s, and 78 Number One hits. Between 1995 and 1997, he was President and Chief Executive Off ...

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbi ...

and

Ryan Tedder Ryan Tedder (born June 26, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. As well as being the lead vocalist of the pop rock band OneRepublic, he has an independent career as a songwriter and producer for various artists since th ...

respectively to help in this week's coaching. This week's recipients of the iTunes multiplier bonuses were Koryn Hawthorne (#3) and Fredericks (#4).

Week 4: Top 8 (April 27 & 28)

The Top 8 performed on Monday, April 27, 2015, with the results following on Tuesday, April 28, 2015. Most of the previous coaches from past seasons returned to advise the remaining artists:

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 ...

was the Advisor for Team Adam,

advised both Teams Pharrell and Christina, and

Cee Lo Green Cee or CEE may refer to: * C, third letter of the Latin alphabet * Cee, Spain, A Coruña, Galicia * Center for Excellence in Education, US * Central and Eastern Europe * Centre for Environment Education * Centre for the Economics of Education, Lon ...

advised Team Blake.

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977), professionally known by the mononym Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she has been referred to as the " Queen of Latin Music" and is ...

was the only previous coach not to return, due to the recent birth of her second child, but she did record a video message that was aired during the live show. iTunes bonus multipliers were awarded to Fredericks and (#2) and Joshua Davis (#4). This week's Instant Save was the closest in the show's history, with Carney being saved by only two votes behind runner-up Kent White.

Week 5: Top 6 (May 4 & 5)

The Top 6 performed on Monday, May 4, 2015, with the results following on Tuesday, May 5, 2015. In honor of Mother's Day, each artist performed one song on Monday celebrating "the mothers in their lives". This week eliminations is a single elimination and the bottom two artists faced the Instant Save. iTunes multiplier bonuses were awarded to Fredericks (#3 and #10) and Linsey (#5).

Week 6: Semifinals (May 11 & 12)

The Top 5 performed on Monday, May 11, 2015, with the results following on Tuesday, May 12, 2015. Similar to the Quarterfinals, the bottom two artists compete for the Instant Save and one artist was eliminated. iTunes multiplier bonuses were awarded to Fredericks (#2 and #3) and Linsey (#5). Special guests in the audience included

Anna Kendrick Anna Cooke Kendrick (born August 9, 1985) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including a Satellite Award, five Teen Choice Awards, three MTV Movie Awards, and nominations for an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award a ...

Brittany Snow Brittany Anne Snow (born March 9, 1986) is an American actress. She rose to prominence after appearing in the CBS soap opera ''Guiding Light'' (1998–2001), for which she won a Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress and was nominated for two ...

and

Hailee Steinfeld Hailee Steinfeld (born December 11, 1996) is an American actress and singer. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Hailee Steinfeld, various accolades, including a Peabody Award, and nominations for an Academy Award ...

from ''

Pitch Perfect 2 ''Pitch Perfect 2'' is a 2015 American musical comedy film directed and produced by Elizabeth Banks (in her feature directorial debut) and written by Kay Cannon. It is a sequel to the 2012 film ''Pitch Perfect'' and the second installment in the ...

''. With the elimination of Carney, Aguilera no longer has any remaining artists on her team.

Week 7: Finale (May 18 & 19)

The Top four performed on Monday, May 18, 2015, with the final results following on Tuesday, May 19, 2015. Finalists performed an original song, a duet with the coach, and a solo song. As with previous seasons, there was no iTunes bonus multiplier applied to songs performed in the finale episodes; all iTunes votes received for the six weeks leading to the finale were cumulatively added to online, phone and app finale votes for each finalist. By the time voting ended, Fredericks charted at #2, #3, Linsey at #5, and Davis at #9 on iTunes.

Elimination chart

Overall

;Color key ;Artist's info ;Result details

Team

;Color key ;Artist's info ;Result details

Performances by guests/coaches

Artists' appearances in other media

*DeAnna Johnson sang in the blind auditions for

, her audition was not televised and she failed to turn any chairs. She has since been crowned

Miss Georgia USA The Miss Georgia USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Georgia in the Miss USA pageant. This pageant is directed Greenwood Productions under the ownership of Miss Tennessee USA 1989 Kim Greenwood and ...

and appeared in the

Miss USA Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020, ...

pageant on Fox. *Meghan Linsey and her then fiancé, Joshua Scott Jones, won season two of the television talent show ''

Can You Duet ''Can You Duet'' is an American reality-competition show on CMT. The show was produced by FremantleMedia, the same company that produces ''American Idol''. The show premiered on April 14, 2008, and the first season ended on June 13, 2008. Six ...

'' as the duo

Steel Magnolia Steel Magnolia was an American country music duo that won season two of the television talent show ''Can You Duet''. The duo consisted of Meghan Linsey and her fiance, Joshua Scott Jones. After becoming the top winner on the show, the duo signe ...

. *

Koryn Hawthorne Koryn Mattanah Hawthorne (born December 26, 1997) is an American contemporary Christian music and gospel singer. Hawthorne was a finalist in season 8 of NBC's singing competition ''The Voice'', at the age of 17, as a member on Pharrell Willia ...

would go on to be nominated at the 61st Grammy Award for

Best Gospel Performance/Song The Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance/Song is category at the annual Grammy Awards. It was first awarded in 2015. It combines two previously separate categories in the Gospel/ Contemporary Christian Music field, Best Gospel Song (for son ...

. *Sarah Potenza competed on sixteenth season 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 ...

''. She was among the contestants who were not chosen to be in the Quarter-Finals.

Ratings

The season eight premiere was watched by 13.97 million viewers with a 4.1 rating in the 18–49 demographic. It was up from last season's premiere by 1.02 million viewers. The season eight premiere was up 21% from the previous season's finale. The second episode retained 95% of viewers in P18-49 from the premiere episode, compared to just 79%, from the previous season.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Voice (American season 8), The Season 08 2015 American television seasons