Adam Levine Calls 'The Voice' the 'Wild West' After Announcing New Live Cross Battle Rounds

The Voiceis shaking things up.

The long-running NBC musical competition series will debut a game-changing new round called the Live Cross Battles which will kick off on Monday, PEOPLE can exclusively reveal.

For the first time inVoicehistory, the coaches —Kelly Clarkson,John Legend,Adam LevineandBlake Shelton— will go head to head, each selecting one artist from their team to compete against an artist from an opposing team during the Live Cross Battles performance. America’s vote will ultimately decide the winner of each Cross Battle and who earns a spot in the Top 24 live show.

In a preview of the Live Cross Battles, Levine says the new change makes the show the equivalent of “the wild west out there now.”

The Voicecoaches Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson, John Legend and Adam Levine.Trae Patton/NBC

The new Live Cross Battles round will begin with 32 artists remaining in the competition. Over the course of two weeks, eight pairs of 16 artists will perform each Monday.

On the Tuesday results shows, hostCarson Dalywill reveal the winner of each Cross Battle and 16 artists will advance to the next round through America’s vote. Each coach will also have the opportunity to save or steal eliminated artists live in the moment — but the catch is that they only get one save and one steal each and only have 10 seconds to make their decision.

AnotherVoicefirst is that the coaches may enter the Top 24 live show with an uneven number of artists on their team. Viewers can vote usingThe Voiceapp andonlinebetween April 15 and April 22.

RELATED VIDEO: John Legend Is Still Holding Out to Add ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ to His EGOT: ‘The EGOTSMA’

The Live Cross Battles Round begins on April 15 at 8 p.m. EST and continue on April 16, April 22 and April 23 on NBC.

source: people.com