What to Know About ‘The Voice’s First-Ever Cut Week

Season 30 of The Voice is adding a whole new round to the competition. The NBC series wrapped up its Battle Round on Oct. 26, and, instead of heading to the Knockout Round like in years past, the competition now begins an all new phase—Cut Week.

Going into Cut Week, Kelly Clarkson, Riley Green, Queen Latifah, and Adam Levine each have seven members on their teams. However, only three contestants from each team will make it to the Live Shows.

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Eight of those talented people will be chosen by their coaches to bypass Cut Week and head straight for the Lives. It’s safe to say those choices aren’t easy ones for the coaches to make.

“Cut Week is going to be brutal, so you want to be in the best position you can going into the Live Shows,” Levine said.

Queen Latifah agreed, as she joked, “I think this is cuss week, because everybody has been cussing up a storm around here.”

“To have to cut anyone is going to be really tough, because everybody is doing their thing,” she complained. “I don’t want to let anybody go. I love my team.”

Clarkson perhaps summed up the vibes best when she told host Carson Daly, “It’s really not cool.”

Even so, the coaches must make their decision. After they do so, the remaining five contestants on each team will vie for the one remaining spot with performances during Cut Week. What follows will be the largest elimination in Voice history.

Fans will have to wait until next week to see which artists will move on and which will be forced to compete for their spot. Until then, read on to see where the teams stand going into Cut Week.