Machine Gun Kelly Was A Surprisingly Good Mentor On The Voice For Gwen Stefani’s Team, But I’m Really Confused By A Different Twist
‘The Voice’ Introduced A New Rule For Season 26, And We Have Mixed Feelings After Seeing Reba McEntire Use It
Fans who have been watching “The Voice” for any significant amount of time are used to different twists being introduced for a new season. The show has added Steals and Saves over the years and experimented with different ways to give artists a second chance. As Season 26 premiered on the 2024 TV schedule, new coaches Snoop Dogg and Michael Bublé will be amongst the first to experiment with the Coach Replay button, but after seeing Reba McEntire use it, I have to admit I’ve got mixed feelings about the new rule. Every season you have a coach kicking themselves after passing on an artist during the Blind Auditions, saying they wish they had a do-over so they could get that person on their team. Now they have the power to do so. Host Carson Daly explained that the Coach Replay will give all of “The Voice” coaches one opportunity to hit their button for an artist after the audition has ended. Allow me to get into what this all meant, particularly for Team Reba.
This story is SPOILER FREE after The Voice’s November 19 episode, but you can still stream Season 26 with a Peacock subscription if you’re not caught up.
The Voice Season 26 has officially entered the Playoff portion of the 2024 TV schedule, where all four coaches will have to choose just two of their remaining five team members to represent them in the live shows. On Tuesday, however, the focus was only on Gwen Stefani’s team, as all of her artists performed before she had to make her painful decision. Machine Gun Kelly helped a little, serving as a Playoff mentor for her team’s rehearsals, and while I was pleasantly surprised at how engaged he was, it was a different twist — learning who will be Snoop Dogg’s advisor — that really caught me off guard.
MGK Makes His Voice Debut To Help Team Gwen
It’s been a busy month for Machine Gun Kelly, as he made his debut on The Voice just days after Megan Fox announced in an oozy pic that they are having a baby. Although serving as a Playoff advisor for Gwen Stefani’s team probably pales in comparison to becoming a father again, MGK really seemed to embrace his role.
A Journey of Hope and InnovationHitachi
All due respect to the rapper, maybe I didn’t expect the man who’s been known to climb to dangerous heights during his shows and smash his face with a champagne glass to give such sound advice to the No Doubt singer’s team members. But I loved how MGK made himself relatable to the contestants, pointing out that he, too, had worked a lot of fast food jobs and — like Team Gwen’s Jan Dan — had been on stage when his child was born.
He wasn’t shy about sharing his opinion, helping the singers connect to the emotion of the lyrics they were singing. He encouraged them to ad-lib and make unexpected choices, because “for some people, weird is the way.”
I actually would have welcomed the chance to see Machine Gun Kelly serve as the advisor for the other teams, but that’s apparently not the plan, and I’m actually a little confused by what that plan is.
(Image credit: NBC)
Team Snoop Will Be Advised By … Simone Biles?
As The Voice teased the continuation of the Playoffs next Monday, Simone Biles was revealed to be Snoop Dogg’s Playoff advisor, and that kind of threw me for a loop. No doubt the West Coast rapper is trying to channel that GOAT energy, and nobody’s questioning how amazing and inspiring the Olympic gymnast is, but how well can she advise singing? I apparently wasn’t the only one confused by this, as fans on X (Twitter) chimed in:
SIMONE??? That’s so random to me… so that tracks for snoop 😭😭 – McEnFancy
Simone Biles????? – houseofwarwick
I’m a huge Simone Biles fan but wtfork does she have to do with singing? Very odd – LukeEverhart1
Now, Simone Biles has performed on the biggest stage in the world, so maybe she will focus her advice on calming the nerves and performing under pressure. That honestly does sound like it’s right up Snoop’s alley.
I won’t make the mistake of underestimating the gold medalist, either, the way that I might have underestimated MGK. This also wasn’t the first time in Season 26 that I’ve been confused by this show that I’ve been watching for the past 13 years. First they introduced a new rule that seemed to undermine the whole point of The Voice, and then a Gwen Stefani contestant made history by doing something that I frankly didn’t know was allowed.
The Voice is keeping me on my toes, and believe me, I’m nowhere near as graceful as Simone Biles on that balance beam. I’m looking forward to seeing what she brings to the singing competition when Playoffs resume at 8 p.m. ET Monday, November 25, on NBC.
