“This is The Voice!”
The rotating chairs. The phenomenal voices. The stiff competition. NBC’s “The Voice” is a standout on the popular network, singing audience praises for it’s newest season. Here, talent reigns supreme. The coaches? Certified.
The four-time Emmy Award-winning series returns with the strongest vocalists from across the country invited to compete in the blockbuster vocal competition show’s 14th season. Superstar singer-songwriter Kelly Clarkson makes her debut as a coach this season, with season 12-winning coach Alicia Keys and season one mainstays Adam Levine and Blake Shelton.
We caught up with Hollywood producing powerhouse Audrey Morrissey, the competition’s show runner, known for StarMaker (2009,) the Teen Choice Awards 2017, among other prominent award shows, as she gives The Source a behind-the-scenes look into the production during the NBC press junket last week.
Describe the show’s new feature, The Block:
Morrissey: “We love the block. It’s shaking things up. We always look for elements that we can add that change up the dynamic of the show. We haven’t ever really had an offensive-defensive move, so we came up with the block. It was incredible to see how it played out: When people used it, how people used it. It really speaks to the real competition. These coaches want these people. If they’re here at “The Voice,” they literally want them for their team. It worked out really well.
We really liken the show to sports; we have coaches, we have artists that are in teams and we have steals and battles, so we look to sports as a muse. We realize we never had this defensive move. We decided to explore that and we really liked it, ran it by the coaches first and they loved it!”
What’s the mood in the boardroom now because you guys are competition to ABC’s “American Idol?”
Morrissey: Here’s the interesting thing; I really just try to keep my eye on the prize and just try to do my job and try to make “The Voice” as great as it can be. And I really don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the others. I don’t even want to put it in my head or think about it; I just want great energy and I think creating that positivity in our world and keeping the focus of the task at hand is smart and feeds into the show. And fortunately, singing competitions have been around and will continue to be around and there seems to be room for everybody. I just want “The Voice” to be a fan favorite.”
In addition to the block the show has new coach’s chairs:
Morrissey: “The new chair was also a big deal in the spirit of trying to keep the show fresh and not look dated. We kept looking at the chair like it’s time to change it. We kept doing little updates but never like a big design. We were really thoughtful about it. We started talking about how car manufacturers redesign a classic model; like how do they update it but not have it be so far field people don’t like it. I think we did a great job- it’s a bit more futuristic. And of course it has three new buttons.”
THE VOICE — Season: 14 — Pictured: (l-r) Adam Levine, Kelly Clarkson, Blake Shelton, Alicia Keys — (Photo by: Art Streiber/NBC)
You guys also have a Save option:
Morrissey: “We do have a save- it’s coming up in the knockouts. We try to be very self-examining every season- what can we do better, what would make sense, what’s naturally the next evolution of the show. And what would happen is coaches would be crushed because they couldn’t keep their best people. So they would say ‘Can’t we have a save or something? Why can’t I just say I can’t call it- I want them both!’ So we finally said let’s try it. But we did want the other coaches to have a crack at that person, too.
We already shot those and I know what happens and it’s full of surprises!”
Tonight the four coaches fight for final spots during the last week of blind auditions.
“The Voice” premieres every Monday and Tuesday 8/7pm central.
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