Why Kelly Clarkson Chose ‘The Voice’ Over ‘American Idol’ Reboot

Kelly Clarkson had a tough decision to make when she was approached to be on both The Voice and the American Idol reboot.

She ultimately decided to join season 14 of The Voice as a coach due to its connection to the start of her career, the former American Idol winner revealed to Us Weekly.

“The Voice, literally, it’s almost full circle for me how I started singing,” Clarkson told the publication. “I started singing opera and everything was behind screen so my whole life, starting in music for years, was literally me having to be perfect behind that screen.”

The “Breakaway” singer added that her favorite part of the NBC singing show is the blind audition process. “That literally is the thing that separates The Voice for me … It’s a rare opportunity that this show represents that people might not get through on other shows,” Clarkson said. “That’s my favorite part of the show. It is interesting to make it about talent first. That’s why I love this show.”

But the Grammy winner was also approached by American Idol producers when they decided to reboot the season before ABC settled on Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie.

“I’m not being, like, egocentric, but I think just a lot of people reach out to me to be a part of singing things, for obvious reasons,” Clarkson told the publication. “Just because I was in the first one that everybody kind of watched.”

But ultimately she did choose The Voice: “It literally does come back to those blind auditions that really separates everything and it means something to me because I think that’s who I represent, those people in this industry,” she said. “I don’t fit the pop star image that people expect all the time. But I am a pop star and this is the image that I exude. That’s why this show really does complement my desires for this industry.”

She also added how happy she is to be helping other musicians start their career. “I’m so stoked about The Voice for many reasons, but the main one being it’s cool to be able to give to other people what was done for me,” she said. “I’m excited. We already started filming, it’s been so fun.”

The Voice season 14 premieres Monday, Feb. 26, at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

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