Names and faces

■ Blake Shelton, the last of the original judges on “The Voice,” will leave the megahit U.S. version of the singing competition after next season. “This show has changed my life in every way for the better and it will always feel like home to me,” the country music star said Tuesday night. He said he had been “wrestling with this for a while.” The next season will be the NBC show’s 23rd. When it premiered in 2011, Shelton was joined in the big red chairs by Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera and CeeLo Green. Celebrity judges including Pharrell Williams, Shakira and Miley Cyrus rotated in and out for subsequent seasons, but Shelton has been the constant. “I have to give a huge shoutout to the singers — the ‘Voices,’ who come on this stage season after season and amaze us with their talent,” Shelton said, adding “a special thanks to those who chose me to be their coach.” The show is also where Shelton met his wife, Gwen Stefani. The pop star and “No Doubt” frontwoman joined the show in 2014 and the pair began dating the next year, after Shelton divorced Miranda Lambert and Stefani divorced Gavin Rossdale. Shelton and Stefani wed in July 2021. “The Voice,” hosted by Carson Daly, is in the midst of its 22nd season. Both Stefani and Shelton are judges, alongside John Legend and Camila Cabello. The Emmy-winning show announced Tuesday night that Stefani, Legend and Cabello will also vacate their seats next season, replaced by Kelly Clarkson — another frequent judge — and first-timers Niall Horan and Chance the Rapper.

■ A literary honor will now carry the name of a uniquely successful author: the Michelle Obama Award for Memoir. On Wednesday, Penguin Random House announced the retitling of the prize in its Creative Writing Awards program, which also includes categories named for Amanda Gorman (poetry) and Maya Angelou (spoken word). Each year, the Obama prize will provide a $10,000 college scholarship to a public high school senior, based on an autobiographical English-language composition. Obama’s memoir “Becoming” was published in 2018 and has sold more than 17 million copies worldwide, by far the most popular book by a modern White House resident. The former first lady’s next book, “The Light We Carry,” comes out next month. “I know firsthand how nerve-wracking it can be to share the most intimate stories from your life with the world,” Obama said. “But … I’ve learned that writing your own story can be a powerful tool. When we share the whole of ourselves, we offer others the opportunity to not only see us as we are, but maybe even think about themselves in a new way,” she said. “This allows us to harness the things that set us apart and helps us see the world as the nuanced, messy, beautiful place that it is. That’s why I am so excited about this new award, and I can’t wait to read what this next generation of young writers will share with us all.”

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