The Voice

Created by John de Mol Jr., the Dutch media bigwig who also cooked up the formats for Big Brother, Fear Factor and Deal or No Deal, The Voice is a reality series in which aspiring recording artists vie for a cash prize of $100K and a contract with Universal Music Group.

The NBC mainstay, which boasts a trophy case full of Emmys, premiered in 2011.

Competition is broken up into several rounds. In the Blind Auditions, a panel of celebrity coaches decides whether or not to try to recruit contestants based only on their vocals. Not until the coach in question’s choice is made and button pushed does their red swivel chair turn around so that they can see the performer. If more than one coach wants a contestant, they may play their Block on their rival, thereby preventing them from adding the singer to their team.

In the Battles, teammates are paired up on a duet, after which their coach decides which of them will advance in the competition and which will be leaving. The coach may also elect to use their Save to hold on to both contestants. In addition, other coaches may use their Steal to snap up eliminated competitors that they think are especially promising.

In the Knockouts, two (sometimes three) teammates are grouped by their coach. They each perform a different song, after which, as in the Battles, their coach must decide who to keep and/or Save. Again, other coaches may attempt to steal eliminated artists.

In the Playoffs, all of the contestants perform individual songs, after which their coaches must decide which of them to keep and cut. In the live shows, the remaining singers perform weekly until they are whittled down by the audience’s voting to just the cream of the crop in the finale. The winner is ultimately chosen by viewers.

A veteran of MTV’s Total Request Live, Carson Daly is the host of The Voice. Its longest-running coaches are GOAT Blake Shelton (who departed after 23 seasons), Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine (who departed after 16 seasons), American Idol victor Kelly Clarkson (who departed after nine seasons) and EGOT recipient John Legend (for whom Season 25 was his eighth). Notable winners of The Voice include Cassadee Pope, Sundance Head, Chris Blue and the series’ first group to claim the title, brothers-and-sister act Girl Named Tom.