The Voice Introduced A New Rule For Season 26, And I Have Mixed Feelings After Seeing Reba McEntire Use It

I’m not sure about this twist in the competition.

(Image credit: Trae Patton/NBC)

Spoiler alert! This story contains a minor spoiler for The Voice Season 26 premiere, which aired September 23.

Fans who have been watching The Voice for any significant amount of time are used to different twists being introduced for a new season. The show has added Steals and Saves over the years and experimented with different ways to give artists a second chance. As Season 26 premiered on the 2024 TV schedule, new coaches Snoop Dogg and Michael Bublé will be amongst the first to experiment with the Coach Replay button, but after seeing Reba McEntire use it, I have to admit I’ve got mixed feelings about the new rule.

Every season you have a coach kicking themselves after passing on an artist during the Blind Auditions, saying they wish they had a do-over so they could get that person on their team. Now they have the power to do so. Host Carson Daly explained that the Coach Replay will give all of The Voice coaches one opportunity to hit their button for an artist after the audition has ended. Allow me to get into what this all meant, particularly for Team Reba.

(Image credit: Griffin Nagel/NBC)

I Loved Seeing Reba McEntire Give A Deserving Artist A Second Chance

Kendall Eugene took the stage on the premiere episode of Season 26 with a version of Morgan Wallen’s “Don’t Think Jesus.” However, the Fort Worth, Texas, native failed to pique the interest of any of the coaches despite a nice voice, good range and that highly coveted country sound. After the mentors turned around to discuss the seemingly failed audition, Reba McEntire expressed regret and bewilderment over having not hit her button, telling Eugene:

Your style is totally different than anything we’ve heard today. I liked everything about it. … I don’t understand why I did not turn around. We’ve got this new thing this year that is a Coach Replay button. I’m gonna use mine.

The tears flowed instantly — from Reba McEntire, from Kendall Eugene, even from Snoop Dogg — and I loved seeing how much the moment meant to the aspiring singer.

It really must be so frustrating for the artists who work so hard to get this audition just to have a coach say, “Man, I’m so stupid for not hitting my button. What was I thinking?” That’s not the singer’s fault, and this new rule does give some justice to singers who deserve to be on the show. But there’s a major reason why I can’t fully get behind it.

The Coach Replay Goes Against The Very Premise Of The Voice

The main quality that has always set The Voice apart from other singing competitions like American Idol is that it is a BLIND audition, based solely on the singing. Not the contestant’s story, not their charisma, not their looks. Allowing the coaches to change their mind about a singer after seeing them, talking to them and getting context into their nerves, song choice, circumstances, etc., flies in the face of the show’s concept.

In Reba McEntire’s case, she basically knew right away she’d made a mistake, saying:

I love that song that Kendall was singing, and after the song was over, I felt kind of numb. And I knew in my heart I wanted him on my team. I’m so glad for the very first time we have a Coach Replay button. It’s the second chance for the coaches when we realize we missed this moment. I think he has a lot more to show us, and I’m really anxious to listen to him sing again.

It does seem like she regretted not turning before she even saw him or his reaction to not making the show, but this new rule makes for a pretty slippery slope. It will be interesting to see how Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dogg and Michael Bublé use their Coach Replay as the Blind Auditions progress.

The Voice will return to NBC at 8 p.m. ET next Monday, September 30, as the presidential election is affecting fall TV, and particularly The Voice‘s Tuesday shows. Episodes are available to stream the next day with a Peacock subscription.