Think of it as The First Supper. One night before taping the initial audition episodes of his new NBC show The Voice, exec producer Mark Burnett wanted the music competition series’ four coaches — Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton, Cee Lo Green and Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine — to bond. So, after handing over his personal credit card, he sent them off to L.A.’s trendy Soho House for dinner. Shelton was the first to get there, with Levine and Green not far behind. The three performers then took bets on whether Aguilera would show up. “When I arrived, they had shocked looks on their faces,” she recalls with a laugh. “They didn’t think I was going to make it.”
As the evening rolled on, and one bottle of champagne turned into several, the singers realized how much they believed in each other and the show’s mission: discovering new musical talents by first hearing, and not seeing, them. Not only did the coaches connect with each other that night, but the chemistry they’ve created has hooked viewers as well. The Voice has averaged 12 million viewers in its first four weeks. The show has survived all “the initial views from skeptics who wanted to see whether or not we’d be a train wreck,” says Green.
And as for Burnett, he’s convinced his dinner plan was worth the price he paid. There’s just one problem: He still doesn’t know what that price is. “They called the next day and said, ‘You’re going to regret giving your credit card to us.’ I haven’t even looked at the bill yet. I don’t want to look. I’m just extremely relieved that their natural chemistry is coming through.”
As the coaches prepare for the first live shows beginning June 7, when viewers will begin voting on which singers stay or go, they tell TV Guide Magazine — in their own voices — about their connection with one another, their coaching styles and which one is known as the Dirty Uncle (take a wild guess).
Source: TV Guide
