Season 1 of The Voice premiered on April 26, 2011, with Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton, Adam Levine and CeeLo Green as coaches, making Shelton the last remaining original coach on the show. In a press conference to promote the show’s 10-year anniversary and 20th season, Shelton revealed how he didn’t take the show seriously at all in the beginning. “I can’t speak for anybody else, but I will speak for Adam,” the Grammy-nominated country singer said. “We both thought the show was pretty ridiculous. Here’s these red chairs that are like something from Star Trek, our back is to the artist, and you get this button, it just felt very game show-y to us, but at the same time I think both of us needed a job. I was like, ‘Hell, yeah. Christina Aguilera’s doing it, I’ll do it.’” When filming began, Shelton had no idea what the results were going to look like. He only had seen the idea on paper. But he quickly realized that there was something worthwhile happening. “Once we started and understood the concept of, ‘Oh, my God. This does make sense. We can’t see. That might change our opinion about this artist if we could see him,’ and the button thing is super competitive.” And Shelton, as the winningest judge with seven titles to his name, continues to be competitive, but even with that, he enjoys having a good time with his fellow judges. “The fact that we didn’t take it so serious when we started, that’s where all the joking started from, and jabbing each other, and making fun of each other,” he recalled. “That’s how that ball got rolling. I don’t know that the show was ever meant to be as funny as it is, but between Adam and me not really taking it that serious the first season, because we didn’t know what we were getting into, and then you add CeeLo into the mix, the funniest guy in the world to be around, there was just this thing that happened.” The show has evolved constantly since its inception with several rule changes and format changes, like the addition of the Save and the Steal, but the one aspect that has remained constant is the Blind Auditions, which is what differentiates The Voice from other singing competitions. That, and the changing personalities of the top-rated recording artists who sit in the red swivel chairs each season. “I think with each new personality brought into the mix, it turns into a different thing every time you do that, whether it’s a new coach or, my God, havin’ Snoop Dogg here as mega mentor,” Blake said. “When this show ends someday, or they fire me, or whatever happens, I’ll look back at that always and go, ‘My, God. I sat in a chair next to Snoop Dogg.’ Whoever thought I would get to do something like that? Those are cool moments for me, and I’ve got a long list of them.” The Voice airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. Next, watch the blind audition videos of all The Voice artists who made a team for season 20.
