‘The Voice’ Teases Upcoming ‘Twist,’ Leaves Fans Guessing

Something big is coming on The Voice Season 16, but fans will have to wait two weeks to find out more. Immediately following Monday evening’s episode, Part Two of the Battle Rounds, NBC aired a teaser for an upcoming twist in the series. The clip implied that the twist will come after the Battle Rounds wrap up next week, which has left eager fans trying to figure out what may be in store.

The teaser on NBC’s The Voice page shows the four coaches’ chairs—labeled Kelly (Clarkson), Adam (Levine), Blake (Shelton), and John (Legend)—in front of a blue-lit stage. Dramatic music plays as the clip teases “a twist no one will see coming” in two weeks.

What could this mean for the singing competition? Fans on Twitter are taking a few guesses.

“BUT WHAT IS THE TWIST?!?!” one user tweeted.

“I’m thinking The Voice‘s twist is going to be some other new format change, like when they introduced the Comeback Stage,” another said.

It is true that The Voice is no stranger to experimenting, having implemented several new big and small features in the last three seasons. In Season 15, the series added a fifth coach for the first time to run “The Comeback Stage” on The Voice‘s official mobile app. The special in-app companion series featured coach Kelsea Ballerini bringing on artists of her choice who did not earn any chair turns in the Blind Auditions, E! News reported. Singers from “The Comeback Stage” duked it out until the live shows, where the remaining artists re-joined The Voice.

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One Twitter user wrote, “I’m almost positive it’s this,” and shared a link to an entertainment blog by MJ Santilli.

Santilli suggested that next round, The Knockouts, will be replaced by something called the Live Cross Battles. The title of the new feature is reportedly given away in the “official rules” section of the mobile app, according to her site, MJ’s Big Blog.

While there is no information on what the Live Cross Battles may have in store, the name could suggest that contestants from each team will go up against one another. This is unlike the current battle round, where contestants on the same team compete by singing a song together.

Alternatively, the singing series may follow in the footsteps of The Voice UK, which recently introduced a new “Lifeline” feature in the Knockouts round. Typically, the Knockouts are similar to the Battles in that artists compete with fellow team members, although they choose their own songs to sing separately. This time, fans get to vote for one of 16 acts being sent home to stay and go straight to the Live shows, Digital Spy reported.

For now, fans can only speculate on the big twist as the artists complete the Battle Rounds next Monday and Tuesday.

Watch the big reveal on Monday, April 15, at 8 p.m. on NBC.