'The Voice' Wouldn't Let COVID-19 Stop Them From Filming Season 20

It’s hard to believe that The Voice is in its 20th season, but Blake Shelton, John Legend, Kelly Clarkson, and Nick Jonas are back! The singing competition took the world by storm, rivaling American Idol, back in 2011. Since then, 19 hopeful singers have won the competition and went on to have successful singing careers.

With COVID-19 and filming delays, it’s a wonder that the show is still going strong into its 20th season. So, if the season is airing now, when did they actually film?

According to MJSBIGBLOG, the show started filming Season 20 in October 2020. The blog helps hopefuls score tickets to live tapings of different shows and gave the details on the “virtual audience” that The Voice needed for Season 20 due to COVID-19 restrictions. 

“The Voice will begin taping Season 20 aka the Spring 2021 cycle, beginning on October 28. Unlike Season 19, the Season 20 taping schedule for the NBC competition reality show is starting relatively on time. Once again, due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, producers are seating a 'virtual' audience which allows fans to watch from home via digital technology,” the outlet reported.

The show operates on two types of episodes — pre-recorded and live. The blind auditions, battle, and knockout rounds are all pre-recorded (typically while the previous season is airing). Then the show switches to its live format where the singers compete live so that the country can vote on their favorites. 

Since The Voice’s debut in 2011, the competition series has been secretive about its filming locations and details. Contestants and audience members are not allowed to carry cell phones to the recordings in hopes that no spoilers will leak. 

The contestants are not allowed to post about their selections or eliminations on social media until the episode has aired to prevent spoilers or to not ruin the shock element of certain eliminations made by the celebrity judges. Filming of the series primarily takes place on a set in Universal Studios, Universal City, Calif.

While the iconic set is still in Universal City, Season 20 has been formatted differently because there will be no live audience. “The decision was taken to maintain the filming guidelines that are in effect due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The coach chairs were also placed at a distance to follow social distancing guidelines. The show’s fans can still take part in the filming of the season by buying tickets to be a part of the virtual audience,” The Cinemaholic reported.

If you want to be a member of the virtual audience, you may want to keep an eye on 1iota for tickets. At the moment, though, there are none available, but more will likely pop up with we get to Season 20's live rounds. 

The Voice airs on Monday and Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.