Blake Shelton’s ‘Voice’ Experience Was Life-Changing
Blake Shelton has wrapped up his first year as a coach on NBC's hit TV show, 'The Voice,' and is acclimating to his regular life again, which includes newlywed bliss with Miranda Lambert and a slot on Brad Paisey's H20 II: Wetter & Wilder tour. While he may be returning to some semblance of normalcy, he can't deny the affect his weekly TV gig had on him, both personally and professionally.
"I'm happy about the impact it it's had on my career, but more than that, working with those kids and getting to know them has changed my life," Blake tells Country Aircheck. "I learned a lot about myself. I've been doing this for 10 years, and may have gotten a bit calloused. Being around [contestant] Xenia and Dia [Frampton] and seeing that fire in their eyes awakened part of me and reminded me why I love what I do."
Among the four judges, which included Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Christina Aguilera, the Oklahoma native was cited by 'New York' magazine as the unofficial winner, both in popularity and career boost. "I probably had the most to gain," he notes. "The other three are pop and rock stars; they're on TV and in magazines a lot more than country artists. I was in a situation to not make a difference at all, which would have been expected, or to get up there and wave my arms and get noticed."
The 'Honey Bee' singer saw 'The Voice' as an opportunity, not only for him, but for the genre as a whole. "The one thing that was in the back of my mind the whole time -- the thing that probably kept me from self-destructing like I often do -- is knowing what I was representing," acknowledges the 35-year-old. "I felt a responsibility to country music and to Nashville to take it serious and to work as hard as I could because everything that happens in this genre on a stage like that affects what happens back here. There may be people who never listen to country music that might go buy one of my records now because of that show. And when they buy one of my records, they'll say, 'Who's Miranda Lambert?' and buy that one, and, next thing you know, they're buying country records. That's important to me."
The reigning CMA Male Vocalist of the Year saw his teammate, Dia, come in a close second behind the season's winner, Javier Colon, who was a member of Adam Levine's team.
"The night before the results show, Dia said to me, 'I would feel stupid if I beat Javier because I think he represents more what the show is than me,'" Blake recalls. "And I can't argue with her on that, because Dia is a unique artist. Javier is 'The Voice.' Dia is an amazing singer who did give it everything she had and almost won that thing. She's going to do everything she ever wanted to do, and she's also really genuinely happy and relieved that Javier won."
Even though his beloved teammate walked away without the $100,000 prize and a recording contract, Blake insists they both came out winners. "No more than two months ago she was about to give up on her dream of music and had moved back home with her mom and sisters in Utah," notes the tunesmith. "I was so happy for her because I got so emotionally invested in Dia. I had never wanted to see something happen so bad for somebody who wasn't family. Miranda wanted [success] really badly for Dia, too."
The platinum-selling singer is enjoying his newfound status as a TV celebrity, but insists that he isn't looking for more on-air roles. "The network probably did this with everyone on the
show, but my manager said the network wanted to talk about me appearing on a sitcom or maybe even writing one for me," he reveals. "But here's how I look at it: this is a dream job for me. I get to be on TV and basically make an ass of myself, as I would at a karaoke bar or somewhere, but I get to do it with rock and pop stars. I'm never going to be on a show bigger than this, and I still get to go make country music and tour and do what I love. Everything else would be a step down from this. I just want to enjoy these two things I have going on and live them out as much as I can, and not muddy the water."
With his upcoming CD, 'Red River Blue,' hitting shelves next week, plus a packed summer of tour dates, the new groom is putting all his focus back onto himself. "The show just ended, and now I'm back here promoting my album, which is the heart and soul and core of what I do, [which] still, and always will be, country music," he notes. "And it is hard to stay focused, not because of being on television and that type of exposure, [but] because of dumping all my energy and focus into those kids. It's an adjustment to go back to, 'Oh, now it's about me again' and concentrating on selling me."
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