Trae Patton/NBC(LOS ANGELES) — It seems like season seven just ended, but NBC’s The Voice is back for its eighth season starting Monday night.
This season sees the return of original coach Christina Aguilera, who sat out seasons six and seven for maternity leave. She says being in the big red chair is like “coming back home,” while her fellow coach Adam Levine says he’s glad to have three quarters of the original panel together again.
“It’s nice having Christina back because for a while, you know, there was new people and we had to kind of adapt to their energy,” Levine says of himself and Blake Shelton, who’ve been present for every season. “But with Christina, it’s almost kind of, like, you just harken back to that first time, and there’s nothing like the first time this show…started to succeed. That can’t be replicated, you know, by anybody other than the people who were originally on it.”
“Coming back to The Voice by now is almost like coming back home. It’s a comfortable place,” explains Aguilera. “I love being able to take my breaks, live life, be a mom, record new music, and then come back refreshed and sort of ready to take on the whole experience again.”
Aguilera gave birth to her second child, daughter Summer Rain, last year, and she’s convinced that motherhood helps her be a better coach to her team.
“I definitely know how to be nurturing to a team, how to be their support system, how to be in their corner, their cheerleader and, you know, do what it takes to let them shine,” she explains.
The singer, who also sat out season four, is also convinced that taking time off from The Voice is good for the show.
“I never want anything in that chair to become stagnant…y’know, it needs to move, it needs to shift, it needs to change, I think, with coaches here and there,” she explains.
Levine thinks the revolving panel of coaches on The Voice sends a message that the show is legit, even if it has so far failed to produce a Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood-sized star.
“I mean look, the fact that over an eight-season period, we’ve managed to have Pharrell Williams, Gwen Stefani, Usher and Shakira also join the group of coaches, I don’t think it really gets more monstrous than that as far as talent is concerned,” he argues. “I mean, these guys are like international mega-giants like ten times over…so that says a lot.”
But Levine and Shelton continue to be the two holdouts: the coaches who have never taken any time off. Levine says the reason why is simple: the satisfaction he gets from guiding others through the ins and outs of the music business.
“One of the reasons why I still do it is because I got to figure out how to help people with things that I had learned along the way,” he explains. “And I don’t think that people really ever stop to pause and say, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe I know all these things I can help with.’ And sometimes certain weird things, like this show, will awaken that in you.”
Still, Levine admits that his tenure on the show may not give him an advantage.
“I think that for the first time in my life I realize that on the show, the eight seasons I have under my belt — and I’m sure Blake feels this way too — doesn’t necessarily make it easier,” he says. “In fact, in some ways it makes it harder, ‘cause we’ve just been doing it for a while, so people are very used to us, you know.”
While Levine and Aguilera may make different choices when it comes to staying put or taking breaks from The Voice, the one thing they do agree on is who they’d each personally choose to be their coach if they were contestants: the new guy.
“If I was auditioning for this show I’d probably pick Pharrell as my coach, to be honest,” says Aguilera. “Just because he really steps in and wants to be innovative.”
Levine seconds that thought.
“He’s such an amazing talent and he’s also one of the first guys — the first guy — on the show who’s known as someone that exists beyond singing. Singing and producing and writing. And so I think that’s a very enticing thing,” he says of the “Happy” singer, who’s starting his second season on the show. “You know, I would joke around. I’m like, ‘I would pick Pharrell.’ And that’s true, I probably would.”
This year’s guest mentors will reportedly include Meghan Trainor for Shelton’s team, Nick Jonas for Aguilera’s contestants, Ellie Goulding for Levine’s crew and Lionel Richie for Pharrell Williams’ artists.
The Voice season eight premieres Monday at 8 p.m. ET.
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