Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Kanard Thomas, L.B. Crew, Comeback Stage coach Bebe Rexha and Voice producer Carson Daly in Season 16. (NBC Photo)

Last week, four singers failed to turn a chair during The Voice Season 17 blind auditions.

And no one said a word about a second chance via the Comeback Stage.

That’s because the Comeback Stage won’t be part of The Voice in Season 17, a p.r. rep working with the show confirmed to Voice Views.

It’s a smart move on the part of the show. The Comeback Stage, which showed up in Season 15, struck me at a needless gimmick from day one.

The idea that a singer who didn’t make the show initially would go to a web-only series, return, and triumph over singers who had been performing for millions of fans on the televised show … well, it just didn’t seem very plausible.

For those who don’t remember, Lynnea Moorer was the first Comeback Stage champ on The Voice. She actually came back and made it to Top 11 night.

But then came Season 16, when Kanard Thomas won the Comeback Stage. Producers decided it would be a good idea to pair him with L.B. Crew, a former four-chair turn who lost in the Cross Battles, for a chance to return to the show.

It wasn’t. A good idea. Or very fair. Kanard, predictably, lost in a landslide vote.

And that, hopefully, will be the last time we see a Comeback Stage artist on The Voice.

But ditching the Comeback Stage does continue a positive trend for Season 17.

Remember, those dreaded Cross Battles from Season 16 are gone. The knockout round will be back in a few weeks.

And The Voice will air every Tuesday this fall, unlike the spring’s haphazard schedule.

So things are looking up in Season 17.