When NBC’s The Voice returns for its fourth season this spring, two of the spinning chairs will be filled with new faces. Cee Lo Green and Christina Aguilera will be taking some time off from the show and stepping down as coaches for season 4. They will be replaced with R&B star Usher and Latina singing superstar Shakira.
The move is primarily due to the fact that the show has expanded to two seasons per year instead of just one. Aguilera is planning to go on tour to promote her new album while Cee Lo is developing a sitcom for NBC, but doing The Voice from September to May doesn’t give her a lot of free time.
However, seasons 1 and 2 winners Adam Levine and Blake Shelton will remain as coaches for season 4, so it won’t become an entirely different show. It’s also likely that Xtina and Cee Lo will return for future seasons, if NBC continues to air The Voice.
The move has the potential to keep the reality competition fresh, something that is typically difficult to do if a show does two seasons back-to-back (which is the reason American Idol has never done it). The Voice has certainly scored some top-tier talent for the new chairs. Between Shakira’s hips and Usher’s smooth moves, Adam Levine is going to have some stiff competition in terms of sexiness.
The new coaches will also give The Voice a competitive edge when it goes up against American Idol in the spring, since the latter just booked a panel of new judges including Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban.
Are you excited to see what Usher and Shakira bring to the table? Will you miss Xtina’s banter with Adam Levine or Cee Lo’s menagerie of animals?
(Image courtesy of NBC)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
