Is The Voice about to be canceled after 25 seasons? Some longtime fans think that it should be.
When Gwen Stefani left The Voice, the hottest of the Jonas Brothers stepped into the coach’s chair. One pop singer filled in for another.
But when Niall Horan did his last swivel on the NBC talent conversation, The Voice replaced the One Direction alum with … a Country music duo.
Out the the current coaches, half hail from the same niche music genre. It feels like a different show altogether — and it’s alienating longtime viewers.
The coaches on ‘The Voice’ have some redundancies at present
Chance the Rapper is not a Country singer. Neither is John Legend.
However, Reba McEntire and Dan + Shay (who may be “one” coach, but are certainly two people) are Country singers.
Niall Horan decided to not return for Season 25. That’s when Dan + Shay stepped in … giving Country a 50% stake in the coaching lineup.
Even within hours of Season 25 premiering in late February, fans and viewers of The Voice were expressing their disapproval.
For example, Reddit denizens voiced criticisms ranging from calls for The Voice to be canceled to hoping that Season 26 is wildly different.
“I can’t be the only person annoyed that Country Western (CW) is overshadowing everything. If CW had its own show it would be better,” one redditor prompted.
‘The Voice’ on the verge of being cancelled by fans
“If the music industry picked the winner it would also be better,” the Reddit user continued. “America voting is a train wreck.”
Noting the poor judgment of voters, the redditor pointed out: “Some of the world’s best singers would have been voted off the show. That is ridiculous.”
That same Reddit prompt continued: “I usually watch until the voting starts. This year that double team stunt makes the whole thing unwatchable for me.”
“Who thought it was a good idea to have 3 country judges,” one commenter demanded to know.
“I absolutely hate country music,” another expressed. “Having the country duo instead of someone different from all the rest is what they should have done. I’m not watching this season.”
An additional redditor chimed in: “I haven’t watched it yet maybe today but I have been fearing that. Especially the way the voting went last season.”
Not everyone wants ‘The Voice’ canceled or subjected to changes, however
“Just because others have different music preferences doesn’t make it wrong,” argued one Reddit denizen.
Another pointed out that the show may be pivoting towards what its audience — possibly segments of its audience who aren’t active on social media — wants.
“Several Voice alums have been successful on country radio… so yeah, country artists are going to be featured,” suggested an additional commenter.
Even though music competition shows like The Voice and American Idol have a reputation for more parochial viewers, The Voice has (at least previously) enjoyed a fairly robust viewership.
Perhaps that has changed, and maybe some demographics are tuning out. If so, it’s possible that producers decided to cater to the Country crowd rather than face the music — if you’ll forgive the dreadful pun.
But it sounds like some fans — likely those more likely to sign up for Peacock — are tuning out. NBC is rolling the dice with Season 25, and no one knows where those dice will land.