Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Gwen Stefani, Blake Shelton and the rest of The Voice cast will return for Season 19 on Oct. 19

The show typically begins each new fall season in September, with the blind auditions, battle rounds and knockout rounds already filmed.

The pandemic pushed back that schedule. Virtual blind auditions weren’t wrapped up until earlier this month and battle rounds are now scheduled to film on Sept. 8-9.

The good news is that The Voice will make up for some of the lost time with two-hour blind audition episodes on both Monday, Oct. 19, and Tuesday, Oct. 20.

The good news is that, unlike the spring season, the Tuesday episodes will continue after that, shifting to the 8 to 9 p.m. time slot.

The bad news is likely to be another shortened slate of live shows, with mass eliminations each week and a format similar to Season 16 and Season 18, when The Voice was barely worth watching.

Hopefully, The Voice will announce how many live shows there will be prior to the start of Season 19 so viewers will know whether it’s worth investing in Season 19.

Meanwhile, if you’d like to be part of the virtual audience for the Sept. 8 or Sept. 9 battle round tapings, head 1iota.com to sign up.

Gwen Stefani will be returning to the coach’s lineup for Season 19, replacing Nick Jonas and joining Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson and John Legend.