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 American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

. Adam Levine,

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 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. Carson Daly returned as host for the eighth season. Sawyer Fredericks 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

, Adam Levine, and Pharrell Williams. The advisors for this season included Lionel Richie 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 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".

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 Ellie Goulding for Team Adam, Lionel Richie 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, 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, 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,

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, R ...

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 was the Advisor for Team Adam, Gwen Stefani advised both Teams Pharrell and Christina, and Cee Lo Green 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 n ...

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,

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 from '' Pitch Perfect 2''. 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 season five, 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. *

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. *Sarah Potenza competed on sixteenth season of '' America's Got Talent''. 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