The dust has barely settled on Cassadee Pope's big win on
"The Voice" last month, but with big changes in store for the show's
fourth season -- most notably the addition of two new coaches -- it's never too
early to look ahead. Billboard recently attended a press conference with those
newbies, Usher and Shakira, as well as mainstays Blake Shelton and Adam Levine.
Shelton noted that with the departure of Christina Aguilera and
Cee Lo Green, the dynamic has "definitely changed" and that throwing
Usher and Shakira into the mix has fostered an added competitiveness to the NBC
show, which comes back on March 25.
"Cee Lo was always so laid back," Shelton added.
"He's kind of been the quiet killer in this thing. We replace Cee Lo with
somebody that's just that more aggressive and now you've got four that are
killers up here."
Added Levine, "Now you have a pregnant, hormonal Colombian.
She's ready to bust some heads. She ain't messing around!"
Skakira admits that recruiting for her "Voice" team has
certainly lit the competitive fire in her.
"Once we are in the process of trying to get a contestant
recruited for our team, there's a lot of adrenaline and there's a lot of
tension." She also mentioned her tendency to micro manage her career,
which she says carries over to her mentoring. "When I'm giving directions
to my contestants, I'm particularly focused on details."
Usher described Shakira as a mix of "comic relief, super
f-cking serious, and gangster," explaining that "she's so nice now
but she really pulls out that switchblade in the battle." He also revealed
that his own coaching style is fairly serious. "My style is more military
than anything because I'm all about the preparation. My style is to make them
understand the seriousness of the craft and that they have the very best
opportunity to be the greatest -- or the worst -- depending on how you take
it."
Levine explained that Season 4's new coaches have already figured
out how to leverage their strengths. Shakira plays the female card a lot --
"That's one thing we can't compete with really so she's smart" - and
Usher likes to remind his fellow coaches of his success with Justin Bieber.
"As much as I hate to say this about another coach in the
beginning, Usher has done what this show has yet to do - launch a superstar and
that's our goal. That's something we want to do as an institution."
As the conference wrapped, Shelton agreed with Levine, and
Shakira looked to Usher and playfully said, "We all want to be like you
when we grow up."
While we'll undoubtedly miss Aguilera's outfits and Cee Lo's
eccentricities on "The Voice," the new season looks to be chock-full
of entertainment. Season 4 of "The Voice" premieres on NBC on March
25.

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