The Voice is back for season 8! As usual, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton are sitting in the big red swivel chairs, as they have since the very beginning. Pharrell Williams is sticking around after being a newbie last fall. And Christina Aguilera has returned after a two-season absence.

Every season of The Voice starts off with the best part of the show: the Blind Auditions. So when we tune in to the season 8 premiere, expect great talent, hilarious banter between the four coaches and the celebs jockeying to get contestants onto their teams.

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Aside from the Blind Auditions, what we’ve all come to expect each time is the coaches coming together to perform a big number to kick off a new season. Season 8 is no different, as Adam, Blake, Pharrell and Christina sing Lenny Kravitz’s “Are You Gonna Go My Way,” with Adam and Blake also on drums and guitar, respectively. Check out the performance below:

What a way to kick off the season, right? A fantastic, rocking performance, for sure. To me, Christina was the standout of the group — her voice is still as fantastic as it’s ever been, and I loved the rasp in her voice.

The Voice relies heavily on its celebrity coaches, but let’s not forget that there are contestants. And the premiere will definitely feature some talented singers.

Here is Sawyer Fredericks singing Dick Burnett’s “I’m a Man of Constant Sorrow” for his Blind Audition:

Sawyer has an interesting voice, though I think there are some weaknesses in there that might show through more in future rounds. But for now, it doesn’t matter because he got all four coaches to turn around. Adam and Christina were especially pushing hard to get him to choose them, with Christina weirdly saying things like, “We have to be buddies, we have to be roommates.” Um, Christina, he’s 15.

Then she says, “You are a legend in your own right.” It’s grandiose comments like these that make me wonder about these coaches sometimes (like when Blake said last season’s contestants were the best group of any singing competition show).

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The next audition preview shows Sarah Potenza performing The Faces’ “Stay with Me.” And she absolutely slays it — I love the rocker sound and vibe she’s got going on. Watch it here:

Again, we’ve got all four coaches turning around, with Christina holding out until the final seconds. Sarah’s excited about this outcome and has a fun personality. Blake, as usual, is using his country roots and location as a way to get Sarah on his team. The humorous moment, though, is when Adam tries to keep up with Pharrell by walking closer and closer to Sarah.

With both of these auditions, we don’t get to see which teams they end up on, unfortunately — which means we’ll have to tune in to the premiere to find out.

Are you excited that The Voice is back? And Christina as well? What did you think of the above performances?

The Voice airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8pm on NBC.

(Image and videos courtesy of NBC)

Jeff Dodge

Staff Writer, BuddyTV

Jeff Dodge, a graduate of Western Washington University, has been a TV news editor for many years and has had the chance to interview multiple reality show stars, including Randy Jackson, Nick Cannon, Heidi Klum, Mel B and John Cena.