The Voice hit by unexpected upset ahead of season 28 shake-up

The NBC competition show has fallen behind

Is The Voice losing its appeal?

The beloved NBC music competition has been on the air since 2011 for 27 seasons, when the founding judges were Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, and CeeLo Green.

In that time, it has earned a whopping 86 Emmy nominations across the awards’ many categories, however, that wasn’t the case this year.

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The Voice’s 2024 judges

For the first time since 2012, The Voice didn’t earn any nominations within the Television Academy’s main awards, losing out on its chance to win its fourth Emmy.

It did however earn some Creative Arts nods, the branch of the Emmys that focuses on technical, creative and craft categories, including Outstanding Picture Editing for a Structured Reality or Competition Program, Outstanding Hairstyling for a Variety, Nonfiction, or Reality Program, Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Series, Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Reality Program, Outstanding Technical Direction and Camerawork for a Series.

In place of The Voice, Survivor is back in the game in the Outstanding Reality Competition Program category, after failing to earn a nomination last year.

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Blake met Gwen Stefani on The Voice

Others in the category are RuPaul’s Drag Race, Shark Tank, Top Chef, and fan favorite The Traitors.

What’s next for season 28

The Emmys upset comes amid a major cast change for the upcoming 28th season, as not one, not two, but three of the four judges are not coming back, making Michael Bublé, who first joined for season 26 in 2024, the only judge staying on.

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Nick Jonas was a judge on various seasons of ‘The Voice’

Adam, a founding judge alongside Blake, who has since also left the show, initially departed in 2019, and this season was his first (and apparently only) back on the chair. He confirmed as much during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, declaring: “I am gonna confirm the rumors are true.” He added: “The rumors are correct. There are details. I cannot divulge all the details.”

Meanwhile Kelsea Ballerini, who made her debut as judge this season, is eager to lay low for a while. Speaking with ExtraTV, she confessed: “I’m going to hibernate for a while,” and emphasized she is going to “disappear for a bit.”

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Miley Cyrus also once served as judge

Last but certainly not least, John Legend is also leaving, however he has been more mum about it and what his summer plans are. While he hasn’t opened up much about it this time around, he has taken breaks from The Voice before, and when he didn’t come back for season 26, he told Entertainment Tonight: “We’ve always got so many things going on. I’ll be doing a lot of shows this summer and traveling overseas this summer.”

As for who to expect on the judges panel next season alongside Michael? Well three may be leaving, but expect some familiar faces back on those swivel chairs! Previous judges and fan-favorites Reba McEntire, Niall Horan and Snoop Dogg have all been confirmed to be coming back for season 28.