After announcing that she would be joining the coaches for Season 14, rumors began circulating that the only reason NBC had worked to get Kelly Clarkson as a coach on The Voice was to steal her away from ABC’s upcoming revival of American Idol.
The news, which left many fans shocked and delighted, came nearly as quickly as the news that ‘Idol’ was returning to television just over a year since it aired the 15th “Farewell” season in April 2016.
While many believed that Clarkson would be the perfect fit for an ‘Idol’ return, even more people believed that the executives behind The Voice worked tirelessly to steal her away from the new ‘Idol’ because they missed out on getting the show for their own network.
Bob Greenblatt, NBC’s entertainment chairman, clarified that NBC had entertained the idea of having ‘Idol’ on their network but decided that it wasn’t the right fit.
“We did have conversations about ‘Idol,’ and recognized the franchise is a great name and title,” He said, adding that there were conflicting projects of similar format in the works, so they chose to move on. “We’re going to keep with our hand,” he continued speaking to reporters. “We don’t need ‘Idol.’”
In the same article by Variety, NBC’s President of Alternative & Reality, Paul Telegdy, explained the real reason they picked Clarkson and fellow ‘Idol’ alum, Jennifer Hudson, to take seats on the next two seasons of the show.
“We’ve been talking to those two for a long time about joining ‘The Voice,’” He said in a conference call. “They’ve both been great coaches for ‘The Voice.’ We didn’t make the connection between any potential competition for roles in the upcoming reboot of “Idol.”
It’s clear that NBC and ‘Voice’ execs have been eyeing these two superstars for some time and Hudson recently got done participating in the U.K. version of The Voice this spring – earning a win on her very first season. Clarkson, on the other hand, hasn’t participated in any of the sister shows, but has always expressed an incredible amount of interest in The Voice and regularly tweets about the performances and who she’s rooting for.
What do you think of Kelly Clarkson and Jennifer Hudson joining The Voice? Will you be watching both shows or just one?
Check out a performance below of “It’s Quiet Uptown” from Hamilton The Musical by Kelly Clarkson and ‘Voice’ finalist Billy Gilman during the semifinals.