For those who have been keeping up with The Voice since Season 26 hit the 2024 TV schedule, here’s where the competition really starts heating up. After choosing the 14 artists they want to take into competition, the four celebrity coaches will now be tasked with paring down those teams, pitting their own singers against each other in the Battle Round. Gwen Stefani explained why she thinks Snoop Dogg will struggle with this “2 singers enter, 1 singer leaves” concept, and yikes, I can definitely see her point.
Snoop Dogg is one of two rookie coaches on The Voice, along with Michael Bublé, who has been my favorite part of this season so far. The Blind Auditions saw the mentors adding people to their teams, lifting their spirits by giving them their big shot. The Battles are basically the opposite, and it sounds like the rapper may need to sip on some “Gin and Juice” just to get through it. Gwen Stefani told Access Hollywood:
I think that Snoop is such a nice guy, I think he’s having a hard time with critiquing. He’s just such a spiritual person, like, he’s always trying to bring the good out of whatever the circumstance is. I think that the whole idea of trying to say something bad, it really upsets him.
That definitely tracks with what we saw in the Blind Auditions, where Snoop was always there with a hug and a positive spin, even when artists weren’t able to turn a chair. Michael Bublé spoke to how much of a “beautiful soul” his new colleague was when he told the sweetest story about his 6-year-old daughter being a Snoop fan, and it’s definitely going to be a little wild to watch the singer of the “Affirmation Song” picking off members of his own team.
However, I can’t imagine that he’ll continue to be anything but positive toward the artists, even during the Battles. My bet is he’ll choose to focus on how good the winning artist was instead of why the other may have missed the mark.
Still, if he wants to win The Voice, he’ll probably have to get in there with some constructive criticism at some point. Snoop Dogg said himself that he wasn’t building a team full of singers who are already there; he wanted to help people improve. I mean, he’s a coach outside of The Voice, after all!
New coaches do often struggle with eliminating their artists, but Blake Shelton is one who has set an example by finding ways to continue helping those singers with their careers even after the cameras stop rolling, so that could be an option to help the rapper feel better.
Either way, it’s been an exciting season so far, with a rule change that I’m kind of on the fence about and a history-making contestant that made me throw all my knowledge of the show out the window. So what the hell, bring on the Battles!
The second round of The Voice Season 26 kicks off at 8 p.m. ET Monday, October 21, on NBC, with episodes airing each Monday and Tuesday (except on Election Day). The current season can also be streamed with a Peacock subscription.