The Voice (American TV series) season 23

The twenty-third season of the American reality television series The Voice premiered on March 6, 2023, on NBC. The season is presented by Carson Daly, who returned for his twenty-third season as host. The panel of coaches for the season consists of Blake Shelton, who returned for his twenty-third and final season as a coach; returning coach Kelly Clarkson, who returned for her ninth season after a one-season hiatus; and debuting coaches Chance the Rapper and Niall Horan.

Gina Miles was named the winner of the season, with the closest margin to-date, marking Niall Horan's first win as a coach, with Horan becoming the third new coach, after Kelly Clarkson and John Legend, to win on his debut season, as well as the youngest coach to win a season.

Development
On October 11, 2022, NBC announced that the show would be returning for a twenty-third season to be aired in spring 2023. Previously, it was announced that, beginning with the 2021–22 United States network television schedule, only one season would be produced per cyclical year, though it was reported that this decision was reversed upon the announcement of the season. Later, it was announced that the season would air on March 6.

Coaches and host
Out of the four coaches that appeared in the previous season, only Blake Shelton returned, which marks his twenty-third season as a coach. It was also announced that Shelton would be departing from the show at the end of the season after having been a coach since its inaugural season, though he has not ruled out a return as a guest mentor.

Kelly Clarkson returns to the coaching panel for her ninth season, following her absence in the previous season. The season introduces two debuting coaches for the first time since season 11; the new coaches are rapper and singer-songwriter Chance the Rapper, and singer-songwriter and former One Direction member Niall Horan. The three judges replaced John Legend, Gwen Stefani, and Camila Cabello, all of whom had exited the panel for this season.

Carson Daly returned for his twenty-third season as the host.

Mega mentor
On February 22, 2023, it was announced that Reba McEntire will appear as the season's mega mentor for the Knockouts. McEntire previously appeared in the show as the battle advisor for Team Blake on the show's inaugural season and as an advisor for all teams during the Top 12 live shows on season 8. In the battles, there were no guest battle advisors, which meant the artists were mentored for the battles solely by their coaches for the first time in the show's history.

Additions and changes
The season introduced the "Playoff Pass" in the battles round. A replacement to the "save" from seasons 14 to 22, the "pass" allows each coach to advance further both artists of a battle; while one will still advance to the knockouts, the recipient of the "pass" will bypass the knockouts and go directly to the playoffs, creating a total of twenty contestants advancing to the playoffs. In the playoffs, only two members per team will advance to the Live Top 8 Semi-finals, as chosen by their respective coaches. The round will be prerecorded for the third time since season 6.

Promotion
NBC released its first advert for the season on December 13, 2022. On March 2, 2023, the show, via its online platforms, released the coaches' cover of Frankie Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Off You". To bolster interest in the show, the show premiered the blind audition of Noivas ahead of the season premiere. The auditions of Sheer Element, Ryley Tate Wilson, Cait Martin, and NariYella were also released online ahead of the episodes in which their auditions were aired.

Blind auditions
The show began with the blind auditions that began airing on March 6, and aired through March 21, 2023, comprising episodes one to six. In each audition, an artist sings their piece in front of the coaches whose chairs are facing the audience. If a coach is interested to work with the artist, they will press their button to face the artist. If a singular coach presses the button, the artist automatically becomes part of their team. If multiple coaches turn, they will compete for the artist, who will decide which team they will join.

Each coach has one "block" to prevent another coach from getting an artist. At the end of the round, each coach formed a team of ten artists, creating a total of 40 artists advancing to the battles. Among the 40 contestants, two are trios.

Episode 1 (March 6)
Among the auditionees this episode was Miss Mississippi 2021 Holly Brand, and former two-time American Idol contestant Savion Wright, who auditioned in this season as Noivas (stylized in all caps).

Episode 2 (March 7)
Among the auditionees this episode was Sheer Element, which included season 16 contestant Jej Vinson, who competed as part of Team Kelly until his elimination in the fourth week of that season's live shows. Vinson's reappearance as part of the trio marked the first time that a former contestant, who advanced to the battles, returned to compete in a later season. At the end of the five blind auditions, Jimmy Fallon made a guest appearance singing "I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)".

Episode 3 (March 13)
Among the contestants in this episode was Manasseh Samone, who previously auditioned unsuccessfully in season 22.

Episode 4 (March 14)
Among the contestants in this episode was Tiana Goss, who previously auditioned unsuccessfully in season 22.

Battles
The second stage of the show, the Battles, aired from March 27 through April 4, 2023, comprising episodes seven through ten. In this round, the coaches pitted two of their artists in a singing match and then select one of them to advance to the next round. For the first time in the show's history, there were no guest advisors for the battles, which meant the artists were mentored solely by their coaches.

Losing artists may be "stolen" by another coach, becoming new members of their team, or can receive a playoff pass from their coach, remaining a part of their original team and directly advancing to the playoffs. The four coaches are allowed to either offer a playoff pass or to steal a losing artist in a battle; but, if a coach uses their playoff pass, it overrides the steals.

At the end of this round, seven artists remained on each team; five were the battle winners, one was stolen from another coach; and one received a playoff pass. In total, 24 artists advanced to the knockouts, while four artists directly advanced to the playoffs.

In episode ten, Alex Whalen from Team Blake left the show due to undisclosed personal reasons; his opponent, Neil Salsich, performed alone and advanced to the knockouts by default. This was the first withdrawal on the show during the Battles since Hannah Goebel's withdrawal in the fourteenth season., and the first overall withdrawal from the show since Cody Ray Raymond's withdrawal from the Knockouts in the fifteenth season.

Knockouts
The third stage of the show, the knockouts, aired from April 17 through April 24, comprising episodes 12 and 13. Reba McEntire served as the season's mega mentor for the round.

Each coach paired two of their artists in a singing match. The artists themselves select the song they sing in the round, and the coach then selects one of them to advance to the playoffs. Each coach can steal one losing artist from another team.

At the end of this round, three artists were knockout winners, while four artists were stolen, and four artists were recipients of the "playoff pass" from the battles, creating a total of twenty artists advancing to the playoffs.

Playoffs
The fourth stage of the show, the playoffs, aired from May 1 through May 8, comprising episodes 14 and 15. The top 20 artists performed for the coaches with a song of their choosing, with each coach selecting two of their artists to advance to the top eight semi-finals.

This was the first playoffs to not be contested live since season 13; it was prerecorded and taped at the same stage as the prior two rounds, hence the lack of a interactive viewer voting component or a subsequent results episode. Teams Blake and Chance performed on the first episode, while Teams Kelly and Niall performed in the latter episode.

Week 1: Top 8 – Semi-finals (May 15)
For the first time this season, the Top 8 will perform live on Monday. This season, there are no instant save performances; instead, the public votes to advance five artists to the finale, eliminating the remaining three from the competition.

This is the first time in The Voice history that both first-time coaches have an artist in the finale. With the advancements of Sorelle and Gina Miles, Chance the Rapper and Niall Horan became the seventh and eighth new coaches to bring their team to the finale, the first being Usher (Michelle Chamuel in season 4), the second being Alicia Keys (Wé McDonald in season 11), the third being Kelly Clarkson (Brynn Cartelli in season 14), the fourth being John Legend (Maelyn Jarmon in season 16), the fifth being Nick Jonas (Thunderstorm Artis in season 18), and the sixth being Camila Cabello (Morgan Myles in season 22). Also, with the advancement of Sorelle, this is the second time that a trio advanced to the finale, following Girl Named Tom in season 21.

This was the first time since the twentieth season that all four coaches were represented in the finale.

During the episode, mega mentor Reba McEntire made a guest appearance, where it was revealed that she would replace Blake Shelton as a coach in the next season.

Week 2: Finale (May 22–23)
The season finale ran through two nights, Monday and Tuesday, May 22 through 23, 2023, comprising episodes 17 through 19. The Top 5 performed on Monday, with each artist performing an up-tempo song and a ballad for the title of The Voice. At the episode's conclusion, the overnight voting for the season's winner began. The following night, on Tuesday, the finalists performed a duet with their respective coaches before the results of the public vote were announced, and the winner of the season was named. Before the performances on the second episode, a one-hour episode, titled "Live Cutdown Show", recapping the finalists' performances was aired.

At the end of the show, Gina Miles was named the winner, in the closest margin of victory as noted by Daly. Her victory marks Horan's first victory as a coach, with him becoming the third new coach, after Clarkson with Brynn Cartelli in season 14; and John Legend with Maelyn Jarmon in season 16, to have a winning artist on his first attempt.