What does “blocked” mean on NBC singing competition series The Voice?

Who has missed NBC’s singing competition series, The Voice? I certainly have! The show is one of the funniest ones out there now, and the season has already been off to a great start with the Blind Auditions.

On those big comfy red chairs, we’ve got returning coach Niall Horan. Gwen Stefani and John Legend are back after brief breaks from the show. And newcomer Reba McEntire is making her debut as a coach after taking over for longtime coach Blake Shelton, who left the show after 23 seasons as a coach.

What makes this series so fun is that there’s an extra element of competitiveness. Because it’s not just the contestants who are against each other, but the judges as well! And this season during the auditions, the coaches can each use something called a “block.” What exactly is it?

What does blocked mean on The Voice?

Every coach will build a team of contestants. They each also have a “block” they can utilize during the auditions. Each coach chair has an extra set of buttons with the three other coaches’ names on them. This prevents a coach from adding an artist to his or her team.

This can only be used once, and the blocked coach discovers they’ve been blocked once they press the button to turn around, but their lane lights up with the words “BLOCKED.” If the coach doesn’t press their button to turn around, that block is still available for another audition.

The Block has been a game-changer in past seasons of the show, helping prevent certain coaches from getting an artist who might have chosen them if not for the block. We’ve seen several artists whose coaches used blocks on make it far in the competition, as it’s a tool that helps give the coaches an edge over their fellow coaches in blocking them from getting an artist.

The Voice airs on Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. New episodes are also available to stream on Peacock the next day they air.