Spoiler alert! This story discusses the second night of Blind Auditions for The Voice’s 24th season, which aired September 26.
We are officially two episodes into the post-Blake Shelton era of The Voice, and so far Reba McEntire and the rest of the coaches seem to be holding their own without him. Sure, Season 24 lacks a bit of the feistiness that the cowboy provided, but overall we’ve already seen some amazing talent and plenty of Four-Chair Turns. However, there’s one thing I noticed was missing from the first week of Blind Auditions, and I’m not talking about Shelton. I’m talking about the Blocks.
That’s right, after two nights and 20 auditions, none of the coaches has blocked another from working with one of the singers, which has never happened before since the Blocks were introduced to the show in Season 14. In fact, after the first night of Blind Auditions came and went, I wondered if maybe The Voice had gotten rid of the Blocks (something I’ve hoped they’d do for a long time). However, Gwen Stefani advised Reba McEntire at the beginning of Tuesday’s episode that “anytime you can block somebody, block [John Legend],” so I guess they’re still in play.
Reba McEntire didn’t take the No Doubt singer’s advice, but the preview for next week teased a new rivalry between John Legend and Niall Horan, which appears to show the EGOT winner getting blocked by the Heartbreak Weather artist.
It’s hard to know whether or not Blake Shelton’s absence has anything to do with nobody using their Block this early in the competition, because it’s literally never happened before. In every one of the 10 previous seasons that it’s been a part of the show, the first episode of Blind Auditions has included at least one coach being blocked by another. Before Season 24 the longest it ever took to see a Block was in Season 19, when John Legend blocked Kelly Clarkson on the final artist of the first night.
Last season Blake Shelton even used his Block on the Chemistry artist right out of the gate on the very first Blind Audition as a way of throwing down the gauntlet on their ongoing rivalry, and I actually expected somebody to take the same approach with Reba McEntire as an initiation of sorts!
That said, I’m not disappointed that no Blocks have been used. I feel like the artists work so hard to make it to the stage in front of The Voice’s superstar coaches that they should be able to pick whoever they want from those who turn for them, without that opportunity being taken away by another coach. Hitting the Block has also been known to backfire sometimes, when an artist chooses to go with someone other than the coach who used the Block.
We’ll have to see how it all plays out, because it definitely looks like the Blocks are back when the Blind Auditions continue on Season 24 of The Voice at 8 p.m. ET next Monday, October 2, on NBC. In the meantime, check out our 2023 TV schedule to see what premieres are coming soon.