Musical chairs: Who would Blake Shelton want in his seat on NBC’s ‘The Voice’?

By Mesfin Fekadu, The Associated Press

ARLINGTON, Texas – Musical chairs is a common game on “The Voice.” Pharrell is sitting in a seat originally owned by CeeLo Green and once occupied by Usher, while Shakira and Gwen Stefani have filled in when Christina Aguilera took a hiatus from the show.

Blake Shelton said he has an idea who he would like to fill in his seat — if he ever took a break from the show, currently in its eighth season.

“I think Luke (Bryan) would be good — I do,” Shelton said of his fellow country music star in an interview Friday. “He’d be a good person in that chair.”

Shelton has been the winning coach on the series for four of the seven seasons. Adam Levine, who has won twice, has also stayed on the NBC competition show since it began in 2011.

Shelton said he’s not sure if other artists would sacrifice their careers like he has for “The Voice.”

“There also has to be an element of actually being willing to just give up, pretty much, your career to do it, your touring career,” he said. “I’m just lazy enough. I may be the only one that was willing to do that.”

“After 15 years of touring all the time, I was ready to sit in one spot for months at a time,” he added. “I know Luke loves to tour and he’s having fun with it.”

“The Voice” has helped Shelton — who was already a top country star — reach audiences outside of the country world. He said he takes the mentorship on the show seriously — and he still connects with the artists he’s worked with after the show ends.

“Well I need to stop because I feel like I am adopting half of these people that have been on my team,” he said, laughing. “We’re all human, and I don’t know how you can be around people that you have a connection with and that you have fun being around, and how that just ends because a TV show ends.”

The Swon Brothers, the country duo that Shelton mentored on “The Voice,” is nominated for vocal duo of the year at Sunday’s Academy of Country Music Awards.

“A lot of these people become like family to me,” he said. “We’re in the trenches together.”

Shelton will also host the ACM Awards — airing live on CBS from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas — with Bryan. Shelton is nominated for male vocalist of the year and vocal event of the year for “Lonely Tonight” with Ashley Monroe.

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