Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Blake Shelton became the first coach on The Voice ever to use a block, but couldn’t reel in Britton Buchanan for his team. (NBC Photo)

We’ve seen it in action. It turned out to be anything but.

What the block turned out to be was what I suspected all along — a gimmick designed to freshen up a show — and an unnecessary distraction.

The Voice introduced its new gimmick for Season 14. Each coach got one block they could use during the blind auditions. Those blocks would prevent another coach from landing a highly coveted singer for his or her team.

Here’s how it wound up working out and why it’s little more than a gimmick.

* Alicia Keys used her block on Justin Kilgore. Blake Shelton used his on Britton Buchanan. Adam Levine used his on Johnny Kilgore. None of them managed to land those artists.

* That means Kelly Clarkson was the only coach to use the block, then lure the artist (Hannah Goebel) to her team. “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad” was a hit for Meatloaf. But “One Out of Four?”

* The blocks aren’t permanent. Should they be cut loose from their original team, there’s nothing to keep Justin, Britton, Johnny or Hannah from being saved by the coach who was blocked in the first place.

None of which are my biggest gripe about the block.

My biggest gripe: It’s unfair to the talented singers who audition for the show.

Look, during The Voice blind auditions the ultimate goal is to turn the chairs of all four celebrity coaches. Your prize for achieving that goal: You get to pick which of the four you want to work with.

Ah, but not with the block in place.

Five contestants — just five — turned all four chairs in Season 14. Three — Johnny, Justin and Hannah — were robbed of one of their options by the block.

Justin, a country artist, couldn’t pick country coach Blake. Hannah, who had praised Alicia as an inspiration during her intro package, couldn’t pick Alicia.

Britton had the distinction of being the only three-chair turn on whom a block was used. Some distinction. Pre-audition, he expressed a preference to join Team Adam. But the block blocked that notion.

Fair?

Hardly.

And while Johnny didn’t seem to lose his number one coaching option, I felt a little bad about how his audition went down.

Look, I still think Kelly Clarkson is a wonderful addition to The Voice. But she seriously needs to tone it down a notch if she returns for a second season. The little temper tantrum she threw at being blocked — while Johnny was still performing — was downright disrespectful.

And it took the focus away from where it should have been — Johnny’s four-chair turn audition.

What do fans think? I asked my Twitter followers to weight in. Here’s some of their feedback.

I say never again with the block it's not fair for the artists

— Dara DiGiovanni (@Dara989512) March 14, 2018

The block is a gimmick that shifts focus from the contestants to the coach. It was humorous though. The Voice is getting long in the tooth and I think producers know that.

— Rick (@konabrew1) March 13, 2018

No! Get rid of it! All it does is prevent a contestant from picking the coach they really wanted that turned for them. Only four contestants have to go through that while all other contestants get to choose ant coach that turns for them.

— Kitty 🐱 (@Kitty_Cat_Momma) March 13, 2018

My plea to The Voice:

Block the block forevermore.