When 'The Voice' Returns After The Super Bowl, It Will Be Bigger Than Ever

By Zachary Swickey

Many people thought NBCs singing competition The Voice which features songstress Christina Aguilera, country crooner Blake Shelton, Cee-Lo Eff You Green and Maroon 5s Adam Levine as judges/mentors would get swept under the rug considering American Idol has long had a stranglehold on the competitive singing market. Turns out, folks loved it, and the new season is gearing up to be a much bigger production with more singers, more blind rounds and a massive premiere.

Season two is set to kickoff in one of the most coveted television spots around the slot immediately following the Super Bowl and production is already well underway. This year the four teams will expand to twelve singers per coach, a significant increase from last years eight. Billboard spoke to the judges about the forthcoming season and Aguilera was quick to note the variety of singers the show will spotlight, saying, I have everything from an opera singer to a powerhouse MC to soul singers."

Were gonna make the Super Bowl look small, Shelton confidently claimed.

Though season one is already in the rearview mirror, the judges havent left their old contestants high and dry Levine reportedly appears on several tracks for last years winner Javier Colons debut album, which will be released through Universal on Nov. 22 and features production duties from Pharrell Williams.

Shelton has branched out from his country roots by taking two of his finalists, Dia Frampton and X! enia, ou t on the road and helping them work on their albums even though they arent the most country-tastic musicians. As last years runner-up, Frampton plans on releasing her new single, The Broken Ones, in a few weeks with an album to follow in December, while Xenia has a duet with Jon McLaughlin (Maybe Its Over) and an album reportedly in the works.

Shelton couldnt praise his girls enough. "Its easy to forget what its like to not have (success). Xenia and Dia rejuvenated me maybe thats why I got so attracted to those two. They made me feel alive again, he told Billboard.

There was no mention of Aguileras finalist, Beverly McClellan, however, she has reportedly entered the studio. Greens singer, Vicci Martinez is writing and recording with the Grammy-nominated Matrix production team (whove worked with everyone from Britney Spears to Korn).

Show producer Mark Burnett is confident that Colon will return for a performance on the show, but was mum on any possible new material from the judges. The show's popularity proved a boon to the panel. "Moves Like Jagger" by Levine's Maroon 5 featuring Aguilera went to numero uno on the Billboard Hot 100 Aguilera's first appearance in the top spot in a decade (she last had a No. 1 in 2001 with "Lady Marmalade") while Sheltons Honey Bee held strong on the country charts and his cover of "Footloose" is beginning to gain some momentum.

Tags Adam Levine, blake shelton, Christina Aguilera, The Voice