Blake Shelton, ‘The Voice’ Season 4 Is ‘Target on My Back’

When "The Voice" returns on March 25, all eyes will be on the four judges, especially the pair who will be new to viewers, as Shakira and Usher replace Cee Lo Green and Christina Aguilera, both of whom bowed out of the fourth season. Blake Shelton acknowledges that things are different now that he and Adam Levine are the two remaining this time around.

"I feel like I've got a target on my back no matter what I do," Blake told The Boot and other reporters at a recent media event. "The dynamic of the show is different. I didn't realize until Cee Lo and Christina took some time off, that the show is really centered around the four of us. I guess in my mind it's always just been the machine, the overall idea of the show, the concept, and when Cee Lo and Christina were gone, it was like I was learning how to do it all over again and the producers were learning how to react all over again."

Blake is quick to add that the two new judges haven't done anything wrong, but that he and Adam have had to step up their game to keep up with them.

"It was just two different personalities and we didn't realize how much the show became about those personalities. Adam and I have always kind of lollygagged through this thing and not taken it too seriously, just having fun with it. I'll tell you what, we got in those blind auditions and Shakira and Usher -- it wasn't play time! They were very serious, they were determined to win this thing. And Adam and I were like, 'Damn! Alright, I see how it is now.' And they've been paying attention. I guessed they'd come rolling in like we know Cee Lo does or Christina, with gimmicks and all these things that are fun about them, and they came in with one mission, and that's to win the thing. I wouldn't be surprised if one of them does. They're putting a lot of time and effort to it."

As a two-time champion of the series, the country superstar acknowledges he's got a target on his back when it comes to convincing contestants to join Team Blake. He's also aware that his competitors are getting inside his head.

"That was one of the things that was mentioned by Shakira and Usher during the blind audition," he notes. "We'd all be fighting over one particular artist where it would be like, 'Well, you could go with Blake but you know that he'll never win three times in a row, people are tired of him!' Then I start going, 'Man, I bet people are tired of me. I probably won't win this thing three years in a row.' It starts working into your own mind. They're smart, those two; I've got to hand it to them. I mean, they're losers, but they're smart."

Season four of "The Voice" premieres Monday, March 25 at 8:00 PM ET on NBC. Episodes of the show will air Mondays and Tuesdays at that that time.