How SONGLAND Helped Bring Nick Jonas to THE VOICE

THE VOICE has added a number of new coaches in recent seasons—Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson, Kelly Clarkson, and John Legend all joined the rotation in the past five years—and Nick Jonas is the latest superstar to join the mix. But his addition to the series wasn’t just because of the Jonas Brothers’ red-hot recent chart success.

“The Jonas Brothers did SONGLAND last summer,” THE VOICE (and SONGLAND) showrunner Audrey Morrissey told reporters. “We got to see firsthand how musical he is on SONGLAND. And that brought him top of mind [when we needed a new coach].”

“You’ll see it in later parts of the show,” she continued. “I don’t know if people really understand what a musical guy he is: he’s a strong writer, a strong arranger, a strong creative. The Blinds is one thing—he has nothing to do with the music. But then when you get into the later sections in the show, where he has a strong influence on the music they perform and the arrangement, he’s phenomenal.”

The other coaches clearly take the new guy as a threat, as Legend wastes no time blocking Jonas in the season premiere.

“John is more comfortable than ever, really holding his own against Blake and dishing it back to him,” Morrissey previewed. “So that’s really fun to see that power balance, dynamic kind of change. Nick is the new kid, but he held his own. Kelly’s hilarious all the time.”

As a result, despite the competition, the group’s banter is pretty hilarious. “When we watched, when we actually taped the episodes, we’re all listening. But when we actually went back into edit, there’s so much comedy happening with their little quips to each other, that [it became] a whole other funny storyline,” Morrissey said. “[Nick’s] notebook is hilarious. There are other funny little things that happen down the road, but Nick is a strong competitor…He’s not going to go down without a fight. He can dish it as well as he can take it.”

THE VOICE, Season Premiere, Monday, February 24, 8/7c, NBC

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• THE VOICE Highlight: Nelson Cade III Wins Over All Four Coaches
• THE VOICE: Nick Jonas Joins the Coaches in First Season 18 Poster
• Who Won THE VOICE?
• THE VOICE Coaches Perform a Mashup of Their Hits with The Roots on THE TONIGHT SHOW
• Will Kelly Clarkson’s New Talk Show Impact Her Future on THE VOICE?

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