The Voice officially revealed its battle advisors for Season 21 on Monday, Aug. 16, with Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, Camila Cabello and Kristen Chenoweth set to help mentor contestants on the upcoming season. Aldean will assist coach Kelly Clarkson‘s team, Bentley will help mentor singers on Blake Shelton‘s team, Cabello will join John Legend and Chenoweth will mentor alongside Ariana Grande, who will be coaching for the first time this season.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Aldean took the opportunity to troll Shelton with some help from Clarkson. “I don’t even like that guy,” he joked. Clarkson agreed, laughing, “Yeah, we don’t even like Blake. I can’t even say that without smiling.”โฏ Clarkson added that she hopes Aldean, who she previously teamed with on their successful 2010 duet, “Don’t You Wanna Stay,” will help her get a leg up on Shelton in the country genre.
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“Blake always gives me crap on the show because he does this thing โ well, lies, that’s the thing โ where he’ll be like, ‘Oh, I’m country and I know country, and these people don’t know country,’” she said. “And I’m like, ‘I grew up on country music, you can’t take my love of country music away. You can’t negate my love of country music and the fact that I sang it as well growing up, just because I took a different path, musically.’”
“He’s a good BS-er,” Aldean said with a laugh. “That’s why his initials are B.S.” Bentley joked to Access Hollywood that he felt uncomfortable praising Shelton. “He is actually a great mentor, I’ve learned a lot from watching, I hate to give him compliments cause it gets weird,” he said. Shelton added, “Can I sum it up here, the reason why we make a good pairingโฆ Dierks knows when to hold ’em and I know when to fold ’em.”
Legend told Extra that Cabello, who rose to fame after becoming a member of girl group Fifth Harmony on The X Factor, “has all the experience she needs to be the perfect advisor for our team.” “She has navigated a singing competition beforeโฆ she was part of a groupโฆ She is an incredibly successful artist and performer in her own right,” he said.
Chenoweth shared with E! News that it has “felt so amazing so far” to be a part of The Voice and that she loves “everybody’s energy so much.” She also praised Grande, calling her “the biggest star and, I would argue, one of the best vocalists alive, if not the best.” Chenoweth added, “For me to be able to watch her become the teacher, that is the real full circle.” Season 21 of The Voice premieres Monday, Sept. 21 on NBC. You can watch the show the next day on Hulu, which you can sign up for here.