Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Lauren Frihauf and Payge Turner in their separate rings during The Voice Season 19 battle round. (NBC Photo)

The Voice battle round will have a different look when Season 19 resumes Monday night.

And that’s not just because the battles were filmed with a virtual audience rather than a live one.

Thanks to Covid-19 precautions, the battling singers will have their own separate facsimile boxing rings instead of sharing one.

So the on-stage chemistry that normally accompanies these duets will have to be generated at long distance.

That being the case, one wonders why The Voice didn’t just nix the battles in favor of a second knockout round.

After all, I’ve always thought the duets are of dubious value on a show where the goal is to select “the voice.”

The knockouts, where singers select songs singularly suited to their abilities, are far more telling.

But this is The Voice, the battles are tradition and the show seems less and less interested in hosting a serious singing competition with each passing season, so … we have long-distance battles.

Can’t wait to see how the rehearsals were filmed.

See also …
Who has the strongest team entering the battles
The unfair truth about The Voice battle and knockout rounds

The coaches, of course, get advisers this round: Julia Michaels for Gwen Stefani, Kane Brown for Blake Shelton, Miguel for John Legend and Leon Bridges for Kelly Clarkson.

Julia and Kane are favorites on the show. With one Top 40 hit in her career, this marks Julia’s second stint as adviser. She assisted Adam Levine in Season 14; then performed with eventual winner Brynn Cartelli in the season finale.

And I’m pretty certain Kane has more guest appearances on the show to hawk his new music than any past Voice contestant, which tells you much about the show’s priorities, just in case you haven’t been paying attention.

Each coach gets one steal and one save this round. The steals are self-explanatory. The saves sit the stage for another four-way knockout, like the one The Voice debuted in Season 18.

Voice coach Blake Shelton and battle round adviser Kane Brown. (NBC Photo)

Voice battle round adviser Leon Bridges and coach Kelly Clarkson. (NBC Photo)

Voice coach Gwen Stefani and battle round adviser Julia Michaels. (NBC Photo)

Voice battle round adviser Miguel and coach John Legend.