Blake Shelton, 'The Voice': Country Coach Has Two Adoring Advisors for Team Blake

Posted Feb 21st 2012 11:15AM by Kenneth Partridge
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Larry Busacca, Getty Images

After finishing third on 'Nashville Star,' Miranda Lambert lost interest in TV singing competitions. It wasn't until her husband, Blake Shelton, became a judge on 'The Voice' that the country singer once again embraced the subgenre of reality shows beloved by the American public.

"As [last] season went along, she wanted to know every artist I picked," Blake said in a recent interview with the Sioux City Journal. "She wanted to see DVDs of their auditions. She wanted to know every one of them. Trust me, I got an earful about what direction I should try to take them."

Miranda got so into 'The Voice' that she joined the cast herself, signing on to serve as a mentor to half of Team Blake, the singer's group of 12 singers. Good pal Kelly Clarkson will coach the other half, and Blake is glad to have both singers help him advise his contestants.

"I've never met an artist who loves other artists more than Kelly Clarkson," says Blake of his pop star buddy. "I've never heard her sit back and talk crap about other singers. She's a fan. She lives and breathes music."

Blake tells The Boot his strategy for Season 2 is very much the same as last season: to "pick polarizing voices." But the Oklahoma native will approach his coaching a little differently.

"One of the biggest criticisms I got from my management was I couldn't fix everything for everybody," Blake said, reflecting on last season. "When it got down to my final two, I'd never gone through anything like that before in my life. I don't have kids or a younger sibling. But I cared about these two girls and I wanted to protect them."

Not that his new gang of hopefuls will need a lot of protecting. As he says, 'The Voice' has attracted some top-flight talent.

"This year, we've got the kind of singers that damn sure aren't afraid of anything," he says. "They go into it ready for battle Day One."

Watch a Feud Go Down on 'The Voice'