Some people wait a lifetime for a moment on The Voice. As Kelly Clarkson, Adam Levine and John Legend make their return as coaches on the NBC singing show’s upcoming 29th season, new rules are also being put in place to spice up what has been dubbed The Voice: Battle of Champions, premiering on Feb. 23, 2026.
For the first time ever, the coaches will compete against each other in a “Triple Turn Competition” during the blind auditions, during which they’ll attempt to score the most three-chair turns. The winning coach will earn a “Super Steal” for the battles round, allowing them to veto other coaches’ attempt to recruit an artist.
If that wasn’t enough of a change-up already, each coach will also bring back two artists from their former teams during the knockouts for head-to-head sing-offs. The coach with the most sing-off wins is guaranteed a second season 29 finalist.
In addition, there’ll be a new “voting block” made up of past The Voice artists, as well as super-fans of the show. They’ll have the opportunity to join the in-studio audience and vote for their season 29 competitors in real-time during the semi-finals and finale.
The change in show format comes after host Carson Daly introduced the Carson Callback Card in the ongoing season 28. The brand-new power allowed the longtime emcee-who has anchored the show since its debut in 2011-to give artist Ryan Mitchell a second chance at auditioning for the coaches, with Reba McEntire ultimately recruiting him onto her team.
The current season also saw the debut of the Mic Drop button, allowing coaches to select one artist from their respective teams to vie for the opportunity to perform at The Rose Parade on Jan. 1.
So far, Michael Bublé used the button on his team member Max Chambers, while Niall Horan recently selected trio DEK of Hearts.