'The Voice' Season 10 Premiere Pits The Coaches Against Each Other Over The Blind Auditions

NBC’s “The Voice” is already back for another season of combing America for the next big name in music. After crowning Jordan Smith the winner in Season 9, Season 10 premiered Monday night to get back to what makes the show great, voices.

The reason the show is called “The Voice” in the first place is because of the initial stage of the competition called the blind auditions. Unlike every other stage of the show, the blind auditions force the coaches to be turned away from the stage in their chairs, meaning they can only hear the people auditioning's singing talent. The premiere saw coaches Adam Levine, Pharrell Williams, Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton turn their chair for a handful of artists in the first night. While it’s early yet, if Smith taught us anything it’s that winning talent can usually be spotted very early on.

While many fans return to the reality competition season after season for the singing, there are those that are simply in it for the camaraderie between the coaches. Luckily for them, that was on full display during the Season 10 premiere. If multiple chairs turn around during the blind auditions, it’s up to the artist in question to pick his or her coach, leaving plenty of room for the stars to bicker about who is best. One of the earliest examples of that came when singer Caity Peters took the stage to sing a cover of Nick Jonas’ “Jealous” that prompted all four judges to turn their chairs. Williams quickly sprang up and started sucking up to the artist’s family backstage.

Although she ended up going with Team Pharrell, the “Happy” singer wasn’t so lucky later in the evening when a stellar performer came out with a huge bias toward one judge. When Mike Schiavo took the stage to sing “Talking Body” by Tove Lo, everyone except Aguilera turned their chairs. It looked like there would be a bidding war between the judges, but Schiavo mentioned quickly that he grew up listening to coach Levine’s band, Maroon 5. To butter him up to join his team, the coach went on stage and sang a duet of Schiavo’s favorite song from the band, “She Will Be Loved.”

While it’s fun to see the coaches fight over artists that they want on their team this year, some of the best moments come when only two chairs turn. Such was the case for the fiery Bryan Bautista, whose cover of The Weeknd’s hit “The Hills” prompted Shelton and Aguilera to turn around. The “Beautiful” singer lobbied hard for the artist to choose her, and didn’t even give Shelton a chance to speak. In the end, he went with her, but not before accidentally faking out Shelton in a moment that Levine called one of the greatest in the show’s history.

It wasn’t all bad for Shelton, who spent a lot of his time lobbying for artists that weren't necessarily right for his country roots. However, as anyone who is familiar with the show will know, he is the go-to coach for anyone that’s serious about a career in country music. As a result, when Mary Sarah turned all four chairs around with her cover of “Where the Boys Are” by Connie Francis, Shelton’s ability to speak her musical language made him a no-brainer coaching choice for her. His funniest line came while discussing his familiarity with the Oak Ridge Boys, claiming that the other three judges thought he was talking about a tree.

The fun will continue on Tuesday night when the show returns at 8 p.m. EST on NBC. Which coach do you want to see win this year? Comment below or tweet your thoughts to @TylerMcCarthy.