The Voice kicked off the live shows for season 18 on Monday, and things looked a little bit different!
With the country practicing social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic, host Carson Daly emceed the episode from an empty stage -- with no audience -- while contestants performed from home and the coaches checked in remotely: Kelly Clarkson from her ranch in Montana, Blake Shelton from his home in Oklahoma and Nick Jonas and John Legend from their homes in Los Angeles.
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Shelton is, of course, locked down with girlfriend Gwen Stefani and her kids, and he told his fellow coaches that she helped him get camera-ready for their first remote episode.
"I just had the most expensive hair and makeup artist on the planet Earth, Gwen Stefani, fix my hair and makeup for me," he joked. "I hope that I look appropriate for this thing."
"It's nice to be at home, I got to be honest, and I don't hate this part of what's happening," he added. "To be able to work from home, I've never been able to do that."
For his part, Legend said he was looking forward to being able to go to a restaurant on a date night with wife Chrissy Teigen when social distancing restrictions are lifted, while Clarkson said she was grateful to be safe and sound with her family, despite the chaos and uncertain times.
"Being a working parent with three children running around has been challenging, but it's all right," she admitted. "Trying to figure everything out, that's been challenging, but I do love Montana, so, I'm glad that I'm home and I get to work from there."
"It's been bizarre, as I'm sure it has been for so many," Jonas agreed, "But I got to say, I feel really lucky to be able to be home at this time when so many people are on the front lines doing what they can to help others so, to those putting themselves in harm's way, thank you, and just know from all of us, we're so thrilled to get to do this for you."
During the remote live shows, the artists will receive remote mentoring sessions with their coaches -- as well as wardrobe, art direction and state-of-the-art production kits -- ahead of their performances. They'll show their preparation process and give fans a look at their hometowns before performing from their homes and videoconferencing with their coaches to get feedback in pretaped segments.
Monday's show featured songs from the Top 17 artists, a performance from Mega Mentor James Taylor, and the reveal of the winner of the Four-Way Knockout: Team Nick's Michael Williams.
Fans will vote overnight for their favorites, with the Top 9 artists being revealed on Tuesday, May 5. Two performers from each team will be selected to move forward -- one by America's votes and one by coach's pick. The artist with the next-highest overnight votes from each team will then compete in the Wildcard Instant Save -- with fans voting in real time -- for the last spot in the Top 9.
The Voice airs Monday and Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.
See more on this season in the video below.
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