Kelly Clarkson Defends The Voice Track Record at TCA (PHOTOS)

NBCUNIVERSAL EVENTS -- NBCUniversal Press Tour, January 2018 -- NBC's "The Voice" Session -- Pictured: (l-r) Kelly Clarkson, Coach; Chris Blue, Season 12 Winner -- (Photo by: Evans Vestal Ward/NBCUniversal)

Just as Disney Day at the Television Critics association tour ended with an American Idol panel, the NBC/Universal capped their day at TCA with a short The Voice session.

Executive producer Audrey Morrissey brought along two singing show alums–season 14 coach Kelly Clarkson the American Idol OG, and season 12 winner, Chris Blue to answer questions from reporters. 

I’m not 100% sure, but I do believe Chris is the first alum to sit on a The Voice TCA panel. I think that’s significant. Usually, the panels feature the coaches showing off their “chemistry” rather than singing show alums sharing how the exposure changed their lives. The show seems to be telling fans that that the contestants are a priority, both during the competition and after the confetti falls. 

In fact, Chris partly maintains his connection to the show through season 14 coach Alicia Keys, who has signed on as his manager and producer. I suspect his name will be invoked plenty during the upcoming season.

Additionally, not only is NBC putting alums on the panel, but The Voice hasn’t had its own session scheduled in quite a few cycles (TCA tour occurs in the winter and fall).  I suspect the hoopla surrounding the return of Idol has had something to do with the extra push from the network.  And the alum-centric panel is likely at least partly a reaction to Idol’s contestant-centric promotion. 

During the session, by all accounts, Kelly was her typically delightful self.  

Variety posted a bullet pointed list of amusing Kellyisms.  Here are a few:

  • “Quit saying that — it makes me sound weird,” she instructed Blue after he said “I’m no Kelly Clarkson” one too many times. 
  • “Y’all are quiet as hell,” Clarkson told the roomful of journalists when there was a lull in the questioning.
  • After Blue gave an impassioned answer about his hopes for his career, Clarkson did a theatrical mic drop with a bottle of water. “And we just end it with that,” she said, with conviction.

Kelly managed to get through the entire panel without uttering the words “American Idol” once. Ahem.

Kelly revealed that she’s been asked by many shows to join their panel (she refused to say whether American Idol reached out to her). However,  “I don’t want to be a judge,” she said, “I always feel sh*tty afterwards. I really enjoy the coaching aspect.”

“I get to be a part of their team and not just judge them and say stuff — I get to actually be involved with them and cultivate their career and where they want to go, and help them navigate this competition,” Kelly said of mentoring her team, “And I think that’s my favorite part … that I get to be a coach.”

As far as the competition is concerned, Kelly said that her fellow coaches are not cutting her any slack, “Hell no, they’re a competitive bunch. They’re not helping me at all.” Also, she pointed out the sometimes pathetic salesmanship of the panelists, “We fight and are completely trying so desperately to win these people into our teams. It’s hilarious how much we grovel.”

Once again, Kelly blames her pregnancies for delaying her coaching debut: “I love this show. I’ve been trying to be a part of it (but) I was knocked up for three years. I’m super-stoked that it finally worked out. Now it’s like, mommy off time.”

According to tweets from reporters, Kelly and Chris did spend some time defending The Voice’s alumni track record.

Oh…this is good.

(To be fair–the show didn’t tell JHud to go away. The voters did. Just like IdolThe Voice is littered with talented alums who were eliminated too soon. Random, shocking boots are just how the cookie crumbles when results are determined by fickle viewers.)

Good one, Chris.

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About mj santilli 35132 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!