Blake Shelton returns for a fourth season as a coach on NBC’s The Voice Monday night with veteran coach Adam Levine and new coaches Usher and Shakira. Blake has coached the winning contestant on the last two seasons of the show, but the new coaches have been coming on very strong as they’ve filmed this season’s blind auditions.
Blake says, “It wasn’t play time. They were very serious. They were determined to win this thing, you know. Adam and I were like, ‘Hey! Alright, I see how it is now, you know.'”
When trying to recruit team members, Usher and Shakira actually used Blake’s winning streak against him. They told the hopefuls there was no way Blake could win the show three seasons in a row, and their tactics really messed with Blake’s confidence.
He says, “Then I started going, ‘I bet people are tired of me winning. I probably won’t win this thing three years in a row,’ and it starts working into your own mind.”
This season of The Voice is the first one without coaches Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green, though they both have an open invitation to return to the show in the future. Blake knows he can’t stay on The Voice forever either. When he decides to leave the show, Blake says it will be for good.
“I don’t see me ever walking away and then coming back,” he explains. “That just doesn’t make sense to me. I think it’s a phase, and once that chapter’s over, it’s over.”
Blake Shelton will welcome Sheryl Crow as his team mentor this season, and Lady Antebellum‘s Hillary Scott will provide guidance for Adam Levine’s team too.
In other Blake news, his new album, Based on a True Story…, comes out Tuesday. Look for him to promote it with a performance on NBC’s Today Tuesday morning followed by appearances on Live! with Kelly and Michael and NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Thursday.
Blake’s promotional rounds continue on NBC’s Tonight Show with Jay Leno on April 2 and CBS’s The Talk and E!’s Chelsea Lately on April 3. The promotional blitz culminates with Blake co-hosting the 48th Annual ACM Awards with Luke Bryan on Sunday, April 7 on CBS.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry