NBC hosted a premiere for The Voice Season 4 in Los Angeles on Wednesday night, and pretty much everyone from the past three seasons joined the coaches on the red carpet. Scroll down to see pictures of familiar faces, from coaches Blake Shelton and Usher to Dia Frampton, Terry McDermott and Pip, just to name a few!
We’re just shy of a month from a brand-new season of NBC’s The Voice, and only about two months removed from America crowning Team Blake’s Cassadee Pope the winner of the show’s third cycle. What’s been happening with the show and its artists since Cassadee won the title?
As has been heavily publicized, Season 4 will be the first with new coaches Shakira and Usher, who were introduced in the fall. You can read some of their early thoughts on joining The Voice here. This may also be the only season for the new arrivals, as previous coaches Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green – who are on a break this time around – have expressed interest in returning for Season 5 this fall. However, it’s worth noting that nothing has been finalized yet beyond Season 4.
The guest mentors this year will be Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum (Team Adam), Sheryl Crow (Team Blake), Joel Madden (Team Shakira) and Pharrell Williams (Team Usher).
Season 3 winner Cassadee Pope officially signed her recording deal with Universal and has been hard at work writing and recording ever since, according to her Facebook. Universal released a CD version of her Voice performances here. Cassadee posted a video update on her progress here.
Runner-up Terry McDermott hasn’t slowed down since leaving the show, either. In fact, he recently released a new single “Pictures” via SoundCloud, which he co-wrote with Dave Burman. His performance of “Baby, I Love Your Way” with Peter Frampton from the Voice finale was retroactively released on iTunes here.
Here’s a short list of major developments with other Voice artists, past and present.
Team Adam: Season 3′s Amanda Brown appears on the soundtrack to the recent Universal release Identity Thief, starring Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy. Her teammate Bryan Keith brought some new music to his live show at the Gramercy Theater; you can watch the video here. Season 2′s Pip released his EP No Formalities; you can get it here. Tony Lucca is hard at work on his new album, and performing some new originals on the road, like “Reckless Love.” Kim Yarbrough is preparing for the release of her single “Brand New Day” (here’s a teaser video), guested on CBS’s Vegas, appears in the March 6 episode of TNT’s Southland, and her Nickelodeon project has been ordered to series. Katrina Parker is working on new music of her own after the successful funding of her Kickstarter project. Season 1′s Tim Mahoney released his next CD, Shine Through, which includes his Voice-related tune “Hey Adam Levine.” Casey Weston has a new album on the way; you can pre-order it here and stay tuned for an upcoming interview.
Team Blake: Season 3′s Suzanna Choffel released her new single “Guardians.” Season 2′s winner, Jermaine Paul, postponed the release of his post-show album Finally until sometime later this year; you can pre-order it at Amazon, although there’s no specific street date listed there. Season 2 alum Jordis Unga is in the home stretch of putting together her new album, and also won a Grammy this year for her work on Jimmy Cliff’s Rebirth, which took the trophy for Best Reggae Album. Erin Willett has recently posted a new cover.
Team Cee Lo: Season 3′s MacKenzie Bourg has dropped his debut single. Season 1′s Nakia is releasing his next EP, Drown In The Crimson Tide, and is playing a few tour dates in his home state of Texas. His battle round partner Tje Austin put out his new CD, Dreamin’ Big. Also, Paste Magazine wants to help you make your own Cee Lo Green.
Team Christina: Season 3′s Devyn DeLoera released a music video with Ready Revolution that you can find here, along with several covers on her Facebook page. She has new music coming your way on March 4. The busiest Voice alum by far is Season 2′s Chris Mann, who recently taped Chris Mann in Concert for PBS to be aired in March. Also next month, Chris will be announcing tour dates, one of which is New York’s Highline Ballroom. Lindsey Pavao put out her new single “No Revelation.” Moses Stone released new music; you can find “Beautiful Nightmare” here.
Season 4 of The Voice begins March 25. For the latest on all things related to NBC’s hit singing competition, you can visit Big Red Chairs.
(c)2013 Brittany Frederick. Appears at Starpulse and Examiner with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted.
Three artists from Season 2 of The Voice – runner-up Juliet Simms, fourth-place finisher Chris Mann, and Team Blake’s Raelynn – will return to the show to perform their new music on December 11, the network announced via press release on Thursday. The trio are just some of the musical guests that will appear on The Voice as it nears its December 18 season finale.
Simms will perform her new single which was revealed November 20 via SoundCloud, “Wild Child,” while Mann will sing the title track from his recently released album Roads, and Raelynn will perform her new song “Boyfriend.”
The move is somewhat similar to one the network made in Season 2, when all four Season 1 finalists were invited back as guest performers.
Season 2 champion Jermaine Paul previously returned to The Voice earlier this season with his single “I Believe In This Life.” He has since announced via Facebook that the release of his next album has been pushed from December 18 to sometime in 2013.
The other Season 2 finalist, Team Adam’s Tony Lucca, has not been formally announced for a guest appearance. However, he told Big Red Chairs in October that he might return: “I think I’ll be coming out to LA for the finals of Season 3. They’ve got us slated for that,” he said. The press release noted that more guests will be confirmed as the season continues.
The other announced guests are Ne-Yo and Matchbox Twenty (on December 4) and this season’s Team Blake advisor Michael Buble (on December 10). All will be joined by as yet unspecified artists from Season 3 of The Voice for their performances.
Previous musical guests this season have included 50 Cent, Jason Aldean, Rascal Flatts and the Muppets.
The Voice continues Monday at 8 PM ET/PT on NBC.
For more from Brittany Frederick on The Voice, visit Big Red Chairs and follow me on Twitter (@bigredchairs).
(c)2012 Brittany Frederick/Big Red Chairs. Appears at Examiner with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted.
As previously mentioned, November 13 was a big day for The Voice artists. In addition to coach Christina Aguilera releasing her new album Lotus, Team Blake’s Erin Willett released the first single off her forthcoming EP on YouTube. Check it out below:
In addition, Team Christina’s Moses Stone released his mixtape Resilient, which includes a single featuring Team Christina’s Lisa Scinta. That can now be downloaded across various platforms, including Soundcloud.
Did you spot Team Adam’s Tony Lucca in the Kia commercial during Tuesday’s show? If you followed the URL in the promo, you’d have gotten to check out Tony’s new music video for his song “Like Love,” which appeared on his 2010 album Rendezvous with the Angels. If you missed it, click here to check out the vid on NBC.com.
And in other news, coach Cee Lo Green and Team Christina’s Chris Mann are two of the artists who will be performing in NBC’s Christmas at Rockefeller Center special this year. You’ll recall that Season 1 champ Javier Colon was part of the same show last year. It will air Wednesday, November 28 on NBC.
For more from Brittany Frederick on The Voice, visit Big Red Chairs and follow me on Twitter (@bigredchairs).
(c)2012 Brittany Frederick/Big Red Chairs. Appears at Starpulse, Examiner & Fanbolt with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted.
November is set to be a big month for fans of The Voice! Not only are the Season 3 live shows starting on November 5, but a number of artists have new music set to be in your hands this month. Here’s what’s headed your way, in chronological order:
In other The Voice news, NBC has officially announced a premiere date for Season 4, which will be the first season for new coaches Shakira and Usher. That will start on March 25, 2013.
For more from Brittany Frederick on The Voice, visit Big Red Chairs and follow me on Twitter (@bigredchairs).
(c)2012 Brittany Frederick/Big Red Chairs. Appears at Starpulse, Examiner & Fanbolt with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted.
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to win a singing competition to walk away a winner. Just ask Team Blake’s Gwen Sebastian: though she left The Voice during battle rounds in Season 2, she’s been on a high ever since. “Everything that’s been going on has been awesome,” she told me, walking me through all the things that have happened for her since she left the show. “A few days later Blake called me to see if I wanted to come out and sing backup for him. Basically, he asked me back on his team in some ways. I’ve been singing with him since January, loving it and getting to know his band.”
She’s also been continuing her work as a solo artist, touring, appearing at the Grand Ole Opry, and promoting her new single, “Met Him in a Motel Room”, which dropped on May 8 – the same night as the season finale for The Voice – and isn’t what it sounds like. “It’s a song about hope and finding it in a time and a place that you’re not thinking you’re going to find it,” she explained.
Gwen has plenty of praise for Coach Blake, his wife Miranda Lambert, and everyone she’s gotten to tour with since leaving The Voice. “He’s such a great guy,” she said of her coach. “We’re like a family now. [Miranda] is awesome as well. They’ve been helping me out and I’m forever grateful to them.”
Of course, one can’t talk about Blake Shelton without trading Blake stories, and Gwen shared her favorite one with me: “We were playing in Reno, and that whole day was a little odd,” she said. It seemed like there were crazy people around everywhere we went. It’s close to the end of the show and Blake’s down at the other end of the stage, and a guy comes running up on the stage. We all were kind of looking and going ‘Who is this guy?’
“I started getting off of the podium that we were up on to go down [there]. As it turns out, the guy just dives into the crowd and the seas part. We find out later that he’s fine, but he totally landed on the ground. That was the night I almost saved Blake Shelton’s life!” she joked with a laugh.
Like many of her colleagues from Season 2, Gwen told me that one of the things she prized the most about her experience on The Voice was the friendships she formed, with everyone from her coach to her fellow contestants to the producers and hair and makeup folks behind the scenes. “You become a little family in a short period of time. I think about them quite often,” she told me. “I took away a lot of friendships. I still keep in contact with a few of my teammates and other ones that didn’t even make it onto the show. I liked the little trips that we’d get to take, like to Universal Studios and we’d go out to eat together, things like that. Everybody had such great personalities. I miss the camaraderie kind of feeling.”
There’s one thing she’s happy to be past: “I don’t miss the nervousness, of course!” she laughed, calling her performances on the show “two of the most nervewracking experiences I’ve ever had, absolutely.”
Though Gwen wasn’t on the show very long, she quickly won us over with her warmth and her positive attitude, and she’s happy with what she got to show America. “I think the show totally was honest and genuine with how they portrayed all of us,” she said. “Looking back and seeing everything, it was great. That was definitely me. The only thing I was bummed about was [that] I didn’t get to show my rocker side. I wanted to do something like that.
“I would love it if everybody would be able to check out my original stuff,” she continued. “There’s a song called “Nothing” and it’s one of my favorites that I’ve written, because it came from the heart. As far as cover songs, the things that I didn’t get to do on the show, I would’ve loved to have done some Stevie Nicks. Occasionally [on tour] I’ll throw in some Pink. I’m not just a country girl.” In fact, her musical taste runs from Pistol Annies to Pantera and even a little Maroon 5. (And you can check out the entirety of Gwen’s back catalog here on iTunes.)
She went on to say that being a part of The Voice reaffirmed to her “that no matter what comes along in life, you just need to take that chance. It’s given me more confidence. So many other things have come from it – that includes of course meeting Blake [and] singing on the Grand Ole Opry – and I don’t know if they ever would have happened without being on the show.”
What was the biggest thing that she took away from her experience on The Voice? “I guess I knew this while I was there, but how lucky I am to have been on that show. It’s something that so many people would love to have the chance,” she told me. “Just thinking back on that, and watching this season, I said ‘We were on there. I was on that stage.’ It’s an amazing experience that I had.”
To keep up with Gwen, make sure you’re following her on Twitter (@GwenSebastian) and visit her website, GwenSebastian.com.
(c)2012 Brittany Frederick/Big Red Chairs. Exclusive to Big Red Chairs. No reproduction permitted. All rights reserved.
CR: NBC
After looking back at Season 1 last week, it’s time to take a look back at Season 2 of The Voice – because Season 3 is only one week away! The new season starts next Monday, September 10, at 8 PM ET/PT on NBC. But weren’t we just here a few months ago? Yes, we totally were.
Season 2
Aired: February 5, 2012 – May 8, 2012
Winner: Jermaine Paul (Team Blake)
Finalists: (in order of finish) Jermaine Paul (Team Blake), Juliet Simms (Team Cee Lo), Tony Lucca (Team Adam), Chris Mann (Team Christina)
Highlights of the Season: With the post-Super Bowl debut, The Voice touted itself as bigger and better, and became more of a spectacle than it had been during Season 1. We had more artists. More four-chair turnarounds during the blind auditions. More blind auditions! In general, “more is better” seemed to be the philosophy.
Yet as the show brought more artists, it also proved to be anyone’s game. No one dominated Season 2 the way that Javier Colon had dominated Season 1. In battle rounds, hearts broke as the coaches had to choose between Tony Vincent and Justin Hopkins, or Jesse Campbell and Anthony Evans, sending great singers home early. Live rounds brought show-stopping performances, whether it was Team Cee Lo’s Jamar Rogers wrenching every bit of soul out of Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life,” or Team Adam’s Tony Lucca reinventing himself with Britney Spears’ “Baby One More Time,” or Team Christina’s Chris Mann daring to bring opera to a mainstream audience. Oh, and we got to hear Maroon 5 premiere their new single “Payphone,” making the second season in a row they brought a smash hit to the Voice stage first.
For the first time, the show also saw itself infused with a little drama. In season one, the biggest surprise was Jeff Jenkins being sent home and Casey Weston being saved. In season two, we had instant eliminations thrown in after Adam Levine questioned the artists’ dedication, the shocking elimination of Team Christina’s Jesse Campbell, Team Cee Lo’s Erin Martin expressing her regrets upon her departure, and an obvious tension between Christina Aguilera and Adam that some people thought cost Tony the Season 2 title.
Changes This Season:
Where Are They Now?
Next week, we start all over again! The Voice returns Monday, September 10 at 8 PM ET/PT on NBC.
CR: NBC
We’re back and better than ever! Welcome to Big Red Chairs, the blog for all your The Voice needs…this week, Team Adam’s Karla Davis debuts her new album 360, and updates on Jermaine Paul, Nathan Parrett, and Charlotte Sometimes.
Editorial Announcement
A little business first: as you may have noticed, BRC the blog (not the website) has moved around quite a bit recently – first from Starpulse (where it was known as Brittany’s The Voice Blog) to elsewhere and back again. Well, no more of that. In an effort to keep the blog in one place, new entries will be hosted right here at BigRedChairs.com. You’ll still be able to find links on the various outlets out there, but if you want to come directly to the updates themselves, bookmark this site.
New Music: Karla Davis, Jermaine Paul, Nathan Parrett & Jesse Macht
The big news this week is that Karla Davis has released her new album, 360. First and foremost, congratulations, Karla!
Here’s my brief album review: honestly, I’m not a country music person, other than owning a few Blake Shelton albums. But, I have played Karla’s cover of B.o.B’s “Airplanes” more times than is healthy. So, I wasn’t necessarily sure how I’d take to the disc, given that it’s music in a genre I don’t listen to but sung by someone I love. Surprise: I adored it. Karla has an earnestness – and a great twang – to her voice that I really enjoy (plus, and this is not to be underestimated, she can enunciate), and she has written some equally heartfelt material here. I might not necessarily connect with the lyrics but I know that she does, and I connect with her.
Title track “Carolina” is catchy, and I still have a soft spot for lead single “Unbroken,” which still holds up despite my having heard it dozens of times by now. You’ll also get “Mississippi Thing,” which Karla released on YouTube a little while ago, and the touching “Black & Blue.” All eleven tracks, though, are easy on the ears; this is an album meant to be enjoyed with your headphones in, sitting out on your porch, just relaxing and letting the music roll over you. This is the musical equivalent of comfort food. If you haven’t given Karla a listen beyond what you heard on The Voice, you’ve missed out.
You can get your own copy of 360 through Karla’s official website.
Season 2 winner Jermaine Paul has also released his first post-Voice track: a cover of Bob Carlisle’s “Butterfly Kisses.” You can pick that up via iTunes now – although I’m more excited to see what wholly original material Jermaine will come up with!
And my friend Nathan Parrett, of Team Adam Season 2, has released another YouTube cover – this one of Nina Simone’s “Do I Move You.” Give this a listen by clicking here; am I the only one who can’t wait for Nathan to come out with an album?!
Speaking of friends, there’s someone I want all my The Voice fans to give a listen to. You may have heard me mention my friend Jesse Macht, who recently opened for Orlando Napier. Well, Jesse is releasing some samples from his upcoming album, Acts of Providence, and I would really love for all of you to go and give him a listen. Here’s a link to my favorite track, “Once In A Lifetime.” You can also find links to other samples there as well – and check out his website at JesseMachtMusic.com.
Getting Music Made: Charlotte Sometimes & Pip
Add Team Blake’s Charlotte Sometimes to the list of Voice artists turning to crowd funding to get a post-show release made. She’s pulling together fans to help her put out her new EP, Circus Head. You can click on over to PledgeMusic to get the details and help Charlotte out. Right now, she’s at 44% of her goal!
On the other end of the spectrum, we’re down to the final days for Pip’s Pipstarter, and he’s still a little short. $7, 266 to be exact. Click over here before 2 PM EDT June 17 to help him reach his target. Remember, there’s no such thing as partial credit with these crowd funding efforts – if Pip doesn’t reach his target, he won’t get any of the funding that’s already been pledged, either. Let’s have a ninth-inning rally! ETA: You did it! As of this morning, Pip has just passed his target! Congrats, Pipsters!
Tour Updates: Vicci Martinez & Jamar Rogers, Tony Lucca Records With Nicolle Galyon
As previously mentioned, Team Cee Lo alums Vicci Martinez and Jamar Rogers are hitting the road together for a West Coast tour. Courtesy of Jamar himself, here’s video from rehearsal. For tour dates, be sure to visit the folks at JamarsFam.com, who have you totally covered.
Remember, Vicci’s album and Jamar’s single both drop on June 19, so be sure to pick them up. This is particularly crucial in Jamar’s case, as he hasn’t been signed to a label yet (baffling right?), so the more noise his single makes on iTunes, the more labels will pay attention. And there will be some stiff competition, as one of my Twitter followers pointed out that June 19 is the same day Justin Bieber’s new album arrives…so let’s really come out and support Vicci and Jamar as much as possible!
Meanwhile, Team Adam’s Nicolle Galyon tweeted yesterday that teammate Tony Lucca was in the studio with her. How fantastic is that? And in other miscellaneous news, Adam Levine and Maroon 5 are on the cover of the magazine Music Connection, which can be found at your local Guitar Center.
Show News: Season 3 Begins In Less Than A Week…
Yep, you read that right. Blind auditions for Season 3 of The Voice begin shooting on June 19 (that’s this coming Tuesday) and continue through Friday. No idea on a specific air date, though Carson Daly has tweeted that he believes it’s September 10. The coaches and Carson just shot their first Season 3 photos yesterday as well.
As a result, the casting call has gone out for Season 4 auditions, which begin in July 2012 on the East Coast and end on the West Coast in mid-August 2012. You can find out more by visiting the official casting site at NBCTheVoice.com.
That’s all I’ve got for this week; as usual, for up-to-the-minute updates, follow me on Twitter at @bigredchairs.
Season one Voice champ Javier Colon is leaving Universal Republic Records, and I have the exclusive first statement from him as to why. Click over here to read Javier’s thoughts and stay tuned as I’ll be speaking with him about his future plans very soon. As always, Javier has the love and support of everyone on Team Voice.
In other news, it’s blog day, so click here for a celebrating of Maroon 5‘s Songs About Jane, Erin Willett and Jamar Rogers news, and tour dates for Vicci Martinez (with Jamar!) and Tony Lucca.
Fireworks on the live show last night (figuratively and literally). Erin Willett had literal fire, but the sparks flew when America learned of Blake Shelton and Christina Aguilera‘s instant eliminations. You can read my Starpulse article breaking down last night right here. There’s a lot of shock and some harsh words going around on the ‘net already, and I’d like to encourage everyone to focus your energy on supporting Jordis and Jesse, rather than being negative toward their coaches. We can’t change the results, but we can send some “love and light,” as Jesse would say, toward the artists.
In other news, not only did Maroon 5 drop their new single “Payphone,” but Team Adam’s Karla Davis has just released her new single Unbroken. You can download it by clicking on over to the Albums page and looking under “Season 2.” Congrats, Karla!
