The Voice (American TV series) season 29
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The twenty-ninth season of the American reality television series The Voice (subtitled as Battle of Champions) premiered on February 23, 2026, on NBC. This season features a panel, for the first time, of three coaches, all having previously been a winning coach. The season is hosted by Carson Daly, who has hosted every season of the show. The coaching panel consists of John Legend, who returns for his eleventh season after a one-season hiatus; Kelly Clarkson, who returns for her tenth season after last coaching in the twenty-third season; and Adam Levine, who returns for his eighteenth season, also after a one-season hiatus.[1]
_29_poster.jpg)
Druski (commentator)
- John Legend
- Kelly Clarkson
- Adam Levine
- Jennifer Hudson (guest)
- CeeLo Green (guest)
| The Voice | |
|---|---|
| Season 29 | |
Promotional poster featuring coaches Legend, Clarkson, and Levine | |
| Hosted by | Carson Daly Druski (commentator) |
| Coaches |
|
| No. of contestants | 30 |
| Winner | Alexia Jayy |
| Winning coach | Adam Levine |
| Runner-up | Liv Ciara |
| No. of episodes | 10 |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | February 23 – April 14, 2026 |
| Season chronology | |
Alexia Jayy was named the winner of the season by the studio audience composed of super-fans and past Voice artists, marking Adam Levine's fourth win as a coach. With Jayy's win, she became the first African-American female to win in the show's history. Additionally, Jayy's win marks Levine's first win as a coach since the ninth season and ties him with Clarkson for the second-most winning coach on The Voice, behind Blake Shelton.
Overview
Coaches and host
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On July 22, 2025, during the filming of the blind auditions, it was announced that the twenty-ninth season would feature only three coaches for the first time in the show's history. Branded as the "Battle of Champions", all coaches are previous winning coaches. Season 16 winning coach John Legend returned for his eleventh season after a one-season hiatus, four-time winning coach Kelly Clarkson returned for her tenth season after last coaching in the twenty-third season, and three-time winning coach Adam Levine returned for his eighteenth season also after a one-season hiatus. The lineup of coaches was revealed on the show's website.[1] Coaches Michael Bublé, Reba McEntire, Niall Horan, and Snoop Dogg all left the panel for this season.
Carson Daly returns for his twenty-ninth consecutive season as host. Druski joined The Voice as the show's first ever commentator.[2]
Battle and knockout advisors
The teams' battle advisors and knockouts mega mentors were revealed simultaneously on March 9, 2026, shortly prior to the end of the blind auditions. The battle advisors for this season are Muni Long for Team Legend, former coach Jennifer Hudson for Team Kelly, and Benji Madden for Team Adam. Hudson served as a guest coach to Team Kelly due to Clarkson missing rehearsals following the death of her ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock, to melanoma. The knockouts mega mentors are former coach and In-Season All Star Competition judge CeeLo Green, who mentored Teams Adam and Legend, and previous season's coach Michael Bublé, who was paired with Team Kelly.[3]
Marketing and promotion
Shortly prior to the season premiere, the blind auditions of Alexia Jayy, performing Carole King's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", and Lucas West, performing Elton John's "Bennie and the Jets", were released online.[4][5][6] Later episodes saw the auditions of Mike Steele, JW Griffin, Hunter Jordan, Houston Kelly, and Syd Millevoi released online as a sneak peek for their respective episode.[7]
Teams
| Winner | Eliminated in the Semifinals | ||||||||
| Runner-up | Eliminated in the Knockouts | ||||||||
| Third place | Stolen in the Battles | ||||||||
| Fourth place | Eliminated in the Battles | ||||||||
| Coach | Top 30 Artists | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Legend | ||||||
| Lucas West | Syd Millevoi | KJ Willis | Natasha Blaine | Moses G. | Grace Humphries | |
| Adi Arora | Ashley Marina | Kendra Remedios | AJ Robinson | |||
| Kelly Clarkson | ||||||
| Liv Ciara | Mikenley Brown | JW Griffin | Houston Kelly | Jonah Mayor | Abigayle Oakley | |
| Tia DuRant | Blaire Elbert | Julia Golden | Aaron LaVigne | |||
| Adam Levine | ||||||
| Alexia Jayy | Jeremy Keith | Jared Shoemaker | Jaali Boyd | Bay Simpson | Mike Steele | |
| Bijou Belle | Aziz Guerra | Hunter Jordan | Drew Russell | |||
| Note: Italicized names are artists stolen from another team during the battles (names struck through within former teams). The bold name is the recipient of the "Super Steal". | ||||||
Blind auditions
The show began with the Blind Auditions on February 23, 2026. In each audition, an artist sings their piece in front of the coaches, whose chairs face the audience. If a coach is interested in working with the artist, they may press their button to face the artist. If only one coach presses the button, the artist automatically becomes part of their team. If multiple coaches turn, they will compete for the artist, who will decide which team they will join. For the first time since the feature was introduced, the "block" buttons were removed this season. This season, each coach ends up with 10 artists by the end of the blind auditions, creating a total of 30 artists advancing to the battles.
| ✔ | Coach hit his/her "I WANT YOU" button |
| Artist defaulted to this coach's team | |
| Artist selected to join this coach's team | |
| Artist was eliminated with no coach pressing their button | |
Episode 1 (February 23)
Among this episode's auditionees was Liv Ciara, who previously auditioned unsuccessfully in season 28.
| Order | Artist | Age | Hometown | Song | Coach's and artist's choices | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John | Kelly | Adam | |||||
| 1 | Lucas West | 20 | Fairport, New York | "Bennie and the Jets" | ✔ | – | ✔ |
| 2 | Alexia Jayy | 31 | Mobile, Alabama | "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| 3 | Julia Golden | 19 | Carthage, North Carolina | "Strawberry Wine" | ✔ | ✔ | – |
| 4 | Abigayle Oakley | 25 | Las Vegas, Nevada | "Call Your Girlfriend" | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| 5 | Landon Price | 17 | Jackson, Mississippi | "Glory" | – | – | – |
| 6 | Jonah Mayor | 31 | Bronx, New York | "Il Mondo" | – | ✔ | ✔ |
| 7 | Bay Simpson | 26 | Muscle Shoals, Alabama | "The Waiting" | – | – | ✔ |
| 8 | Liv Ciara | 16 | St. Peters, Missouri | "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)" | – | ✔ | ✔ |
| 9 | Aaron LaVigne | 43 | Cincinnati, Ohio | "Feels Like the First Time" | ✔ | ✔ | – |
| 10 | AJ Robinson | 14 | Cataula, Georgia | "Watermelon Moonshine" | ✔ | – | – |
| 11 | Jeremy Keith | 40 | Washington, D.C. | "You Are My Lady" | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Episode 2 (March 2)
| Order | Artist | Age | Hometown | Song | Coach's and artist's choices | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John | Kelly | Adam | |||||
| 1 | JW Griffin | 25 | Moultrie, Georgia | "Long Haired Country Boy" | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| 2 | Nicolette Capua | 23 | Staten Island, New York | "You Broke Me First" | – | – | – |
| 3 | Tia DuRant | 32 | Sumter, South Carolina | "Midnight Train to Georgia" | – | ✔ | ✔ |
| 4 | Kendra Remedios | 31 | Arlington, Texas | "Girl Crush" | ✔ | – | – |
| 5 | Mike Steele | 28 | Tutwiler, Mississippi | "For Tonight" | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| 6 | Bijou Belle | 17 | Rapid City, South Dakota | "Wildflower" | – | – | ✔ |
| 7 | Jaali Boyd | 25 | Baltimore, Maryland | "No Air" | – | ✔ | ✔ |
| 8 | Blaire Elbert | 28 | Lubbock, Texas | "Wide Rollin' Plains" | – | ✔ | – |
| 9 | Adi Arora | 21 | Short Hills, New Jersey | "It Will Rain" | ✔ | ✔ | – |
| 10 | Moses G. | 31 | Harlem, New York | "Forever Young" | – | – | ✔ |
| 11 | Chezzarai | 31 | Los Angeles, California | "I'm Every Woman" | – | – | – |
| 12 | Hunter Jordan | 22 | Maysville, Kentucky | "Let Me Down Easy" | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Episode 3 (March 9)
Among this episode's auditionees was Ashley Marina, who previously competed on the fifteenth season of America's Got Talent, Jason Farol, who previously competed on Duets, and Mikenley Brown, who previously competed on the twenty-first season of American Idol.
| Order | Artist | Age | Hometown | Song | Coach's and artist's choices | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John | Kelly | Adam | |||||
| 1 | KJ Willis | 35 | Memphis, Tennessee | "Roni" | ✔ | ✔ | – |
| 2 | Houston Kelly | 20 | Memphis, Tennessee | "Walking in Memphis" | – | ✔ | – |
| 3 | Ashley Marina | 18 | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | "Tonight I Wanna Cry" | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| 4 | Aziz Guerra | 20 | Guadalajara, Mexico / El Paso, Texas | "El Triste" | – | – | ✔ |
| 5 | Mariette Gevorgian | 15 | Burbank, California | "Anyone" | – | – | – |
| 6 | Jason Farol | 36 | Redondo Beach, California | "Saturn" | – | – | – |
| 7 | Mikenley Brown | 19 | New Castle, Indiana | "Teenage Dream" | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| 8 | Grace Humphries | 18 | Austin, Texas | "Both Sides, Now" | ✔ | Team full | – |
| 9 | Natasha Blaine | 27 | Seattle, Washington | "Kiss of Life" | ✔ | – | |
| 10 | Drew Russell | 32 | Los Angeles, California | "Blue Bayou" | – | ✔ | |
| 11 | Syd Millevoi | 23 | Secaucus, New Jersey | "Mamma Knows Best" | ✔ | ✔ | |
| 12 | Daniel Sovich | 28 | Aurora, Ohio | "Just the Way You Are" | Team full | – | |
| 13 | Jared Shoemaker | 32 | Richmond, Kentucky | "I Never Lie" | ✔ | ||
Triple Turn Competition
This season, the coach that gains the most three-chair-turn artists on their team will receive an advantage in the battles: the "Super Steal", allowing the coach to override other steals in the round to acquire the artist.[11] Kelly Clarkson and Adam Levine tied for the most triple-turns at 3–3; thus, the number of two-chairs each coach acquired was the deciding factor, and Kelly won by a score of 6–1.
| Coach | Artist(s) | Total[a] |
|---|---|---|
| John Legend | Ashley Marina, Mike Steele | 2 |
| Kelly Clarkson | Mikenley Brown, JW Griffin, Abigayle Oakley | 3 |
| Adam Levine | Alexia Jayy, Hunter Jordan, Jeremy Keith | 3 |
- Notes
- As both Clarkson and Levine were tied, the number of two-chairs each coach acquired was the deciding factor.
Battles
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The second stage of the show, the battles, aired from March 16, 2026, to March 23, 2026, consisting of episodes 4 and 5. The advisors for this round were Muni Long for Team Legend, Jennifer Hudson for Team Kelly, and Benji Madden for Team Adam. Hudson served as a guest coach to Clarkson's team during rehearsals due to Clarkson being absent following the death of her ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock, to melanoma.[3]
In this round, artists were paired in a singing match and then their coach selected one of them to advance to the next round. Losing artists may be "stolen" by another coach, becoming new members of their team. Multiple coaches can attempt to steal an artist, resulting in a competition for the artist, who will ultimately decide which team they will go to. However, Kelly will have the "Super Steal" after winning the Triple Turn Competition, allowing her to override other steals or save her own artist in this round to acquire the artist. This season there were no saves, which marks the first time since the twenty-fifth season that no saves were in the Battles.
| Artist won the Battle and advanced to the Knockouts | |
| Artist lost the Battle, but advanced to the Knockouts after being stolen by another coach | |
| Artist lost the Battle, but advanced to the Knockouts after being stolen/saved by Kelly Clarkson using the "Super Steal" | |
| Artist lost the Battle and was eliminated | |
| Episode | Coach | Order | Winner | Song | Loser | 'Steal' result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John | Kelly | Adam | ||||||
| Episode 4[12] (Monday, March 16, 2026) |
Kelly | 1 | Mikenley Brown | "Focus" | Liv Ciara | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Adam | 2 | Bay Simpson | "I'm the Problem" | Hunter Jordan | – | Team full | N/A | |
| John | 3 | Lucas West | "Wanted" | AJ Robinson | N/A | – | ||
| Adam | 4 | Jaali Boyd | "Die for You" | Bijou Belle | – | N/A | ||
| Kelly | 5 | JW Griffin | "Never Again, Again" | Blaire Elbert | – | – | ||
| John | 6 | Grace Humphries | "Just Give Me a Reason" | Adi Arora | N/A | – | ||
| Adam | 7 | Alexia Jayy | "Nightshift" | Moses G. | ✔ | N/A | ||
| Episode 5[13] (Monday, March 23, 2026) |
Adam | 1 | Jared Shoemaker | "Leather and Lace" | Drew Russell | Team full | Team full | N/A |
| Kelly | 2 | Houston Kelly | "Either Way" | Tia DuRant | – | |||
| Adam | 3 | Jeremy Keith | "My Cherie Amour" | Aziz Guerra | N/A | |||
| John | 4 | Natasha Blaine | "Walk On By" | Kendra Remedios | – | |||
| Kelly | 5 | Jonah Mayor | "The First Time" | Aaron LaVigne | – | |||
| John | 6 | Syd Millevoi | "Love Takes Time" | Ashley Marina | – | |||
| Kelly | 7 | Abigayle Oakley | "Rhiannon" | Julia Golden | – | |||
| John | 8 | KJ Willis | "Let Me Love You" | Mike Steele | ✔ | |||
Knockouts
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The third stage of the show, the knockouts, aired from March 30, 2026, to April 6, 2026, consisting of episodes 6 and 7. Former coach CeeLo Green served as mega mentor for Teams Adam and Legend, while two-time winning coach Michael Bublé served as mega mentor for Team Kelly.[3] In the round, each coach groups two of their artists in a singing match. The artists themselves selected the song they sang in the round, and then their coach selected one of them to advance to the semifinals. This season, there were no saves or steals.
| Artist won the knockout and advanced to the semifinals | |
| Artist lost the knockout and was eliminated |
| Episode | Coach | Order | Winner | Loser | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song | Artist | Artist | Song | |||
| Episode 6[14] (Monday, March 30, 2026) |
John | 1 | "New York State of Mind" | Lucas West | Moses G. | "Let's Get It On" |
| Kelly | 2 | "If It Hadn't Been for Love" | JW Griffin | Houston Kelly | "Love You Anyway" | |
| Adam | 3 | "You Give Good Love" | Alexia Jayy | Bay Simpson | "One Headlight" | |
| Kelly | 4 | "Breakaway" | Liv Ciara | Abigayle Oakley | "Feather" | |
| John | 5 | "Tell Me You Love Me" | Syd Millevoi | Natasha Blaine | "Another Sad Love Song" | |
| Adam | 6 | "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" | Jeremy Keith | Mike Steele | "How You Gonna Act Like That" | |
| Episode 7[15] (Monday, April 6, 2026) |
Adam | 1 | "Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde" | Jared Shoemaker | Jaali Boyd | "Big Girls Don't Cry" |
| John | 2 | "I'll Make Love to You" | KJ Willis | Grace Humphries | "I Don't Want to Wait" | |
| Kelly | 3 | "Pink Pony Club" | Mikenley Brown | Jonah Mayor | "You'll Be in My Heart" | |
In-Season All-Star Competition
Also in the knockouts round, for the first time in the show's history, two contestants from each coach's former teams competed in a separate round dubbed the "In-Season All-Star Competition", for a total of six former artists. Each artist was paired with an artist from an opposing past team. CeeLo Green decided which artist from the pair wins the matchup. The coach that receives the most All-Star wins in the round was guaranteed a second artist in the finale.[16]
The All-Star artists are season 16 winner Maelyn Jarmon and season 27 third-place finisher Renzo for Team Legend, season 17 winner Jake Hoot and season 21 winner Girl Named Tom for Team Kelly, and season 1 winner Javier Colon and season 9 winner Jordan Smith for Team Adam.[17] The artists and coaches selected the song they sang in the round. Each of the songs were songs that the artist once performed by themselves during the competition of the season they were on.
Kelly Clarkson won by a score of 2–1 to John Legend, earning her an extra artist in the finale.
| Artist won the All-Star competition and their Coach received a point | |
| Artist lost the All-Star competition |
| Episode | Order | Winner | Loser | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coach | Song | Artist | Artist | Song | Coach | ||
| Episode 7[15] (Monday, April 6, 2026) |
1 | Kelly Clarkson | "Dust in the Wind" | Girl Named Tom | Renzo | "Dream On" | John Legend |
| 2 | John Legend | "Fields of Gold" | Maelyn Jarmon | Jordan Smith | "Chandelier" | Adam Levine | |
| 3 | Kelly Clarkson | "Desperado" | Jake Hoot | Javier Colon | "Time After Time" | ||
Semi-finals
The Top 9 performances aired on April 13, 2026, consisting of episode 8. The Top 9 artists, three from each team, performed with the results the same night. For the first time ever, a new voting block was composed of super-fans and past Voice artists.[16] Also for the first time, the semi-finals and finale were pre-recorded and the artists did not perform live. The Top 4 artists (two from Kelly's team and one from Adam and John's respective teams) advanced to the finale.[18]
| Artist was saved by studio audience's vote | |
| Artist was eliminated |
| Episode | Coach | Order | Artist | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episode 8[19] (Monday, April 13, 2026) |
John Legend | 1 | KJ Willis | "Higher Ground" | Eliminated |
| Kelly Clarkson | 2 | Mikenley Brown | "I'm Not the Only One" | Advanced | |
| Adam Levine | 3 | Jeremy Keith | "Whip Appeal" | Eliminated | |
| John Legend | 4 | Syd Millevoi | "Into You" | Eliminated | |
| Adam Levine | 5 | Jared Shoemaker | "Soulshine" | Eliminated | |
| Kelly Clarkson | 6 | Liv Ciara | "Flashdance... What a Feeling" | Advanced | |
| Adam Levine | 7 | Alexia Jayy | "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" | Advanced | |
| Kelly Clarkson | 8 | JW Griffin | "Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground" | Eliminated | |
| John Legend | 9 | Lucas West | "Maybe I'm Amazed" | Advanced |
Finale
The finale aired on April 14, 2026. The Top 4 artists each performed an up-tempo song, ballad, and duet with their coach for the title of The Voice. As with the semi-finals, super-fans and past Voice artists voted from the audience and the performances were not live. Daly revealed the winner at the end of the show.[18]
Alexia Jayy won the season, marking Adam Levine's fourth win as a coach. Jayy became the first African-American female winner in the history of the show. Additionally, Levine became tied with Clarkson for the second-most winning coach on the show, behind Blake Shelton.
| Coach | Artist | Order | Up-tempo song | Order | Ballad | Order | Duet (with coach) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adam Levine | Alexia Jayy | 1 | "Lady Marmalade" | 8 | "One and Only" | 10 | "Sunday Morning" | Winner |
| Kelly Clarkson | Mikenley Brown | 5 | "Man I Need" | 2 | "Almost Is Never Enough" | 12 | "What Was I Made For?" | Fourth place |
| John Legend | Lucas West | 3 | "Cold as Ice" | 6 | "Ordinary People" | 11 | "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" | Third place |
| Kelly Clarkson | Liv Ciara | 7 | "What a Girl Wants" | 4 | "The Greatest" | 9 | "Stay" | Runner-up |
Elimination chart
| Winner | Saved by the studio audience | |||||||
| Runner-up | Eliminated | |||||||
| Third place | ||||||||
| Fourth place | ||||||||
| Team Legend | |
| Team Kelly | |
| Team Adam |
Overall
| Artists | Semifinal | Finale | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexia Jayy | Safe | Winner | |
| Liv Ciara | Safe | Runner-up | |
| Lucas West | Safe | Third place | |
| Mikenley Brown | Safe | Fourth place | |
| JW Griffin | Eliminated | Eliminated (Semi-finals) | |
| Jeremy Keith | Eliminated | ||
| Syd Millevoi | Eliminated | ||
| Jared Shoemaker | Eliminated | ||
| KJ Willis | Eliminated | ||
Per team
| Artists | Semifinal | Finale | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lucas West | Advanced | Third place | |
| Syd Millevoi | Eliminated | ||
| KJ Willis | Eliminated | ||
| Liv Ciara | Advanced | Runner-up | |
| Mikenley Brown | Advanced | Fourth place | |
| JW Griffin | Eliminated | ||
| Alexia Jayy | Advanced | Winner | |
| Jeremy Keith | Eliminated | ||
| Jared Shoemaker | Eliminated | ||
Ratings
| No. | Title | Air date | Timeslot (ET) | Rating (18–49) | Viewers (millions) | DVR (18–49) | DVR viewers (millions) | Total (18–49) | Total viewers (millions) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Blind Auditions Premiere" | February 23, 2026 | Monday 9:00 p.m. | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | [21][22] |
| 2 | "The Blind Auditions Part 2" | March 2, 2026 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | [21][22] | |
| 3 | "The Blind Auditions Part 3" | March 9, 2026 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | [21][22] | |
| 4 | "The Battles Premiere" | March 16, 2026 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | [21][22] | |
| 5 | "The Battles Part 2" | March 23, 2026 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | [21][22] | |
| 6 | "The Knockouts Premiere" | March 30, 2026 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | [21][22] | |
| 7 | "The Knockouts Part 2" | April 6, 2026 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | [21][22] | |
| 8 | "Semi-Finals Top 9" | April 13, 2026 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | [21][22] | |
| 9 | "Recap: Semi-Finals Top 9" | April 14, 2026 | Tuesday 8:00 p.m. | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | [21][22] |
| 10 | "Finale Top 4" | April 14, 2026 | Tuesday 9:00 p.m. | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | [21][22] |