NBCUniversal hosts screening of The Voice season 13

The Voice held an early screening on Friday as the  Emmy Award-winning reality singing competition gears up for its 13th season since its debut in 2011.

Without revealing spoilers, viewers can expect one intriguing narrative this season. Jennifer Hudson’s addition to the show as a coach cannot be overstated. Hudson is dynamic; her abundance of experience, wit and humor explodes on screen. While returning judges Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and Miley Cyrus could be considered “veteran” coaches, Hudson is no rookie. Her background as a contestant on American Idol and as a coach on The Voice UK is unique and will give her an edge this season.

In a Q&A hosted by Season 12 winner Chris Blue and executive producer Audrey Morrissey, Morrissey praised Hudson’s expertise and value as a coach due to her experience as a contestant. 

“[Jennifer] is, as you’ve seen, a force to be reckoned with,” Morrissey said. “She goes toe-to-toe with absolutely everybody. She has that extra special knowing, of knowing what they’re feeling, knowing what they’re going through, and I can tell you that carries on through the season.”

Morrissey then expressed her belief that Hudson, despite her tremendous appeal, would not disrupt the balance of teams, pointing out that The Voice has managed to maintain its competitiveness for 12 seasons thus far. However, she did admit that contestants with auditions in the later days of recording are at a disadvantage with fewer spots available on each team.

Morrissey pointed to Blue as evidence of this difficulty, as Alicia Keys chose him to fill the last spot available on any of the four teams. Blue said watching the number of contestants decrease from day to day was difficult, but he remained calm the day of his audition with a shift in perspective.

“I said to myself, ‘If it’s meant to be, it’ll be,’ and it was meant to be,” Blue said.

Blue cited Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” as the first record that truly inspired him to create music. 

“That’s the first record that I listened to that really made me fall in love with the artistry of music,” Blue said. “It drew me in in a way I’d never been drawn in before.”

Blue went on to relate the inspiration gained from this song to his surge over the course of the last season, comparing Jackson’s detail-oriented approach to his own.

“I thought about every little thing, every detail of every song and I wanted to make sure we served the purpose of that,” Blue said.

While Blue is still finding his footing musically, this attention to detail is important to him. He explained that his relationship with Keys as his former coach and current mentor has been instrumental in his focus as an artist, overwhelming him with her depth of knowledge many times.

“I think the biggest thing for me is her ability to really fall in love with every detail of everything,” he said in regard to what he has noticed about her attention to his music after his run on the show ended.

“Even the first time she mentored, she was not only an insane vocalist, but it’s as if you were getting a world-class artist […] musical producer and arranger in one,” Morrissey said.

For many fans, Monday night is a resurgence of this talent and chemistry shared between the contestants and coaches that has been the show’s cornerstone for 12 seasons. Judging from their comments on Saturday, Morrissey, Blue and the entire team at The Voice see no end in sight for the series.

The new season debuted on Monday at 5 p.m. PT.