The Voice recently wrapped its 24th season of competition, with Huntley taking home the big prize of $100,000 and a record deal, and while that seems like good news for the long-haired rocker and his coach Niall Horan — who is now undefeated in his two seasons on the show — rumor has it that there is some frustration behind the scenes amongst producers. The powers that be are reportedly upset that The Voice has yet to launch a breakthrough artist, and it’s hard to deny the NBC series hasn’t seen the same results as American Idol.
The recently wrapped season was the first time none of The Voice’s original coaching panel appeared on the show, after Blake Shelton stepped away following Season 23. However, that’s allegedly not producers’ biggest concern when it comes to the celebrity mentors, as the National Enquirer reported (via Radar):
The Voice honchos tear their hair out trying to figure out why the show can't produce a breakout star. They blame the celebrity coaches for not nurturing the contestants to the point they are prepared to break big.
While NBC’s singing competition has produced some artists who found success after The Voice, it does seem to have a glaring problem in that none of the contestants have become household names like American Idol’s biggest stars, who include Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood and Chris Daughtry, to name a few.
Cassadee Pope from Season 3 is possibly The Voice’s best-known winner, but several other artists have gone on to successful music careers. Country star Morgan Wallen — who performed on CBS’ New Year's Eve Live: Nashville's Big Bash, along with Blake Shelton, who was slammed for his pre-recorded performances — worked with Usher and Adam Levine on Season 6 before being eliminated in the Playoffs.
Melanie Martinez grew in popularity after her stint on Season 3, where she was eliminated from Adam Levine’s team in Week 5 of the live shows, just ahead of the Semifinals. Martinez released her third studio album Portals in 2023. Season 8 artist Koryn Hawthorne, meanwhile, has carved out a space in the gospel genre after placing fourth as part of Team Pharrell in 2015. She’s released two albums and was nominated for Grammy Awards in 2019 and 2020.
Again, however, none of those artists has the household name recognition of American Idol's contestants, but should the blame fall to the coaches for that? If the rumors are true, producers are holding their superstars accountable for not recognizing or breeding the artists’ talent in an effective way, but two former coaches have voiced another possible cause.
Adam Levine and Blake Shelton have spoken out against Universal Music Group in the past, with the Maroon 5 singer saying the label “completely destroys” the incredible platform The Voice winners are given. The country singer, who led nine artists to record deals on the show, said “the ball’s been dropped,” which is frustrating to see time and time again.
Of course, American Idol has proven that you don’t have to win the show to find breakout success, so if the record deal is a contributing factor, that can’t be the sole reason. Perhaps we’ll continue to see The Voice shake up its coaching panel until producers find the mentors with the eye to spot a star.
We’ll have to see if Huntley can be that breakthrough artist they’re looking for, while we watch what happens when Season 25 premieres on NBC on Monday, February 26. You can also check out our 2024 TV schedule to see what other premieres are coming soon.
