The show's format features four stages of competition. The first is the blind auditions, in which the four coaches listen to the contestants in chairs facing opposite the stage as to avoid seeing them. If a coach likes what they hear from that contestant, they press a button to rotate their chairs to signify that they are interested in working with that contestant. If more than one coach presses their button, the contestant chooses the coach he or she wants to work with. The blind auditions end when each coach has a set number of contestants to work with. Coaches will dedicate themselves to developing their singers mentally, musically and in some cases physically, giving them advice, and sharing the secrets of their success.
The contestants who successfully pass the blind auditions proceed to the battle rounds, where the coaches pit two of their own team members against each other to sing the same song together in front of a studio audience. After the vocal face-off, the coach must choose only one to advance. If no specific winner can be identified the competition turns to a game of fate via a coin toss.
The winners of the battle rounds proceed to the knockout rounds. As in the battle rounds, coaches pit two of their own team members to compete against each other. This time, the contestants choose their own song to perform individually while the other watches and waits. After that, the coach chooses one to advance while the other is sent home.
At the end of the knockout rounds, the strongest members of each coach's roster proceed to the live stage shows. In this final performance phase of the competition, the top contestants from each team compete against each other during a live broadcast. The audience vote to save one contestant on each team, leaving the coach to decide on who they want to save and who will not move on. In the next round, the public chooses between the two artists left on each team, and the coach also has a vote that weighs equally with the public vote.
Finally, each coach will have his/her best contestant left standing to compete in the finals. From these four, one will be named "The Voice"