The Voice Battle Round advisors for season 17 are finally revealed! NBC is doling out the scoops to various outlets (I hate when they do that, to be honest. Drop a press release and be done with it!) and here’s the rundown:
Gwen Stefani is teaming up with Black Eyed Peas’ Will.i.am. He’s currently a coach on The Voice UK and was also a guest artist on a recent episode of the NBC songwriting competition Songland. “He’s an amazing producer, an incredible songwriter, he is an old friend, and he’s just a really great guy,” Gwen says about Will.
Kelly Clarkson will join forces with Normani. She found fame just like Kelly–on a singing show. As a contestant on X Factor USA, she became part of Simon Cowell’s manufactured girl group Fifth Harmony. Normani also competed on Dancing with the Stars in 2017. Currently, she’s solo and has just released a new single “Motivation.” The two will appear on E! News later to chat about their shared singing show experience.
John Legend welcomes his good friend Usher back to The Voice. You may recall Usher as a coach on The Voice seasons 4 (team member Michelle Chamuel was runner-up) and won season 6 with contestant Josh Kaufman. “We feel very fortunate to have Usher here,” John told Access. “I think all of ‘The Voice’ fans know how great of a coach he has been on the show … I feel like these artists are getting literally the best advice they can ever get.”
Blake Shelton has invited country singer and Hootie & The Blowfish member, Darius Rucker. “Darius Rucker is the perfect choice for, I would say, anything in my life,” Blake told ET before joking, “I mean, I have been drinking.”
“He’s the perfect choice as a mentor on The Voice for obvious reasons,” he said. “I made a joke earlier to one of the artists on the show, I go, ‘You know Darius literally has proven that if he decides whatever it is he wants to do in life, he conquers it.’”
I wonder how soon before former coach Adam Levine returns as an advisor? Maybe a couple of cycles?
The Voice season 17 premieres on NBC Monday September 23. This season, the show returns to its old format. After the Battle Rounds, contestants will move on to the Knockouts. This after season 16’s experiment with the Live Cross Battles, which resulted in wildly uneven teams competing in the finals.
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