NBC has officially announced the coaching rosters for the fifth and sixth installments of “The Voice,” with a familiar back-and-forth tradeoff around Blake Shelton and Adam Levine.
As expected, Christina Aguilera and CeeLo Green will be back as coaches in the fall for the show’s fifth season, while Shakira and Usher will, once again, take over for that duo in the spring of 2014.
That simple announcement came with many, many accompanying press release blurbs.
“We locked in a plan several months ago to have the outstanding Christina Aguilera and CeeLo Green rejoin Blake and Adam for cycle 5, and we”re pleased to announce that the original four coaches are going to be back together in the fall,” states Paul Telegdy, President of Alternative and Late Night Programming, NBC Entertainment. “They”re the reason this show was launched so strong for the first three cycles and we owe them a debt of gratitude. And after careful consideration of everyone”s schedules for next spring, we are excited to be returning the current cycle of judges — Shakira and Usher along with Blake and Adam — for cycle 6, which will premiere after the Winter Olympics.”
Adds NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt, “We”re very fortunate to have these six incredible artists to weave in and out of the show as their performing and recording schedules permit. The show has taken off largely due to the rapport and commitment of these great coaches, in addition to the expert hosting of Carson Daly.”
Finally, executive producer Mark Burnett notes, “I am so thrilled that our ‘Voice’ family has grown from four coaches to six. This show thrives on the ability of our coaches to continue to balance their enormous music careers with working on The Voice to coach some of the best undiscovered talent in America. The coaching panel of Christina, CeeLo, Adam and Blake was at the heart of this show in its first three seasons and we are so lucky to have found equal success with Shakira and Usher in season four. Our best seasons are ahead of us.”
Shakira and Usher took over for Aguilera and Green this spring and ratings haven’t suffered. The show’s Monday installments have averaged 14.5 million viewers and a 5.2 rating among adults 18-49, while Tuesday editions have averaged 13.4 million and a 4.7 rating in the key demo. NBC has also scheduled several random Wednesday episodes and used “The Voice” as Sunday filler to cover up various programming holes.