Bette Midler Mentoring Team Blake Shelton During ‘The Voice’ Season 11
Blake Shelton and his fellow The Voice judges are currently busy filming Season 11 of the TV singing competition with the help of some famous mentors -- including Bette Midler. The "Wind Beneath My Wings" singer is taking Team Blake under her wing (pun intended) during the new season.
Us Weekly first shared the details on Wednesday (July 27), citing an unnamed source, who spilled the beans about all four coaches' Season 11 mentors: Miley Cyrus has teamed up with Joan Jett; Sammy Hagar will mentor Adam Levine's team; and Alicia Keys has Charlie Puth helping out her team members. Then, on Thursday (July 28), Shelton officially revealed the news via Twitter.
“I thought, ‘He’s really cute, he’s really funny, he has a tremendous amount of personal charm, and I would like to be in his orbit, so why not?'" Midler tells Extra, also calling Shelton "so encouraging" and "very warm," and adding, "[H]e’s a tremendous coach ... I was a little bit freaked out to have to do this 'cause I thought, ‘What the hell am I gonna tell these kids?' I’d seen other coaches and their riffing and running, and I’m like, 'I can’t do that.'”
Shelton admits that he had never met Midler before her time on The Voice, but he'd "always wanted to," while Midler says it was Bruce Springsteen who convinced her to take the gig.
"I can change somebody’s song," Shelton says. "She changes people’s lives with her notes.”
During Season 10 of The Voice, Shelton's girlfriend -- and a former The Voice coach herself -- Gwen Stefani was Team Blake's mentor; Brad Paisley served as Team Blake mentor during Season 9. Miranda Lambert, Cher, Meghan Trainor, the Band Perry and many others have also helped out throughout the show’s past seasons.
Shelton has been a coach on The Voice since the show’s first season, as has Adam Levine. Cyrus and Keys are replacing Pharrell Williams, who was a coach for Seasons 7-10, and Christina Aguilera, who originally served as a coach in Seasons 1-3, then returned for Season 5, Season 8 and Season 10.
The Voice Season 11 begins on Sept. 19 on NBC, but the network will air a special preview episode on Aug. 21, following the Olympics Closing Ceremony. The mentors will appear during The Voice's Battle Rounds, which, according to a tweet from Midler, begin in October.
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