The Voice judges Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Shakira, and Usher appeared at NBC’s Summer Press Day to speak to the media about the current season which has scored record ratings for the network.
Hypable asked judges Levine and Shelton, who’ve been on the show since its United States inception, whether or not the idea of bringing new judges in to replace Cee Lo and Christina Aguilera when their formula was working so well was nerve racking.
“I don’t know if we were nervous. We were certainly curious to see what would happen with the new guy and gal,” Levine told Hypable and a group of fellow reporters. “I think that we’re beyond happy and pleased – I think it’s obvious too if you watch the show [that it’s worked]. You never know – it could’ve not been there. But it does, and I’m very thankful that it does. It’s a very different chemistry than the chemistry before, but we’re happy it’s there.”
Shelton, on the other hand, was feeling the pressure. “I was a little bit nervous because I knew how well the show was doing – it was beating the odds,” he admitted. “There’s a lot of music talent shows, and we knew we had something that worked. I never met either one of these two before, and one thing that you can’t fake is chemistry. I’ll be damned if it’s not as strong as it’s ever been with the four of us. I love that and I’m proud of that.”
Shelton credited NBC with picking Usher and Shakira and for knowing they were dealing with “really cool” people.
Shakira then answered a question about how she prepared to bring her own brand of judging. “I didn’t get any sort of preparation for the show,” Shakira admitted. “The NBC producers only told me, ‘Just be yourself. There are no posers here. It’s just all about being spontaneous,’ and that’s what I think is so awesome about the show. I usually hate to watch myself on TV, but I do enjoy watching The Voice because it’s so entertaining.”
Later, the judges were asked if they know why they’re “kicking American Idol’s ass,” which received a few gasps from the audience. “We don’t get involved with stupid shit like that,” Levine responded, likely breaking the heart of the woman who asked him. “We love our show. [Idol’s] been an institution, it’s been around forever. At one point it was getting bigger ratings than we’ve ever gotten.”
Producer Mark Burnett, who was on the panel, chimed in. “The Voice has clearly been claimed by young America. It’s fresh, the music is current. [These judges] are current super stars. This is not their day job – their day job is touring and making music.”
While Burnett wouldn’t refer to Idol specifically, it was clearly a blow at the Fox reality show which has used artists as judges in recent years who arguably aren’t relevant today.
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