NBC’s ‘The Voice’: Pharrell to return for season 8, Christina Aguilera to return

For the next panel of coaches on “The Voice,” the series appears to be going in both a similar, yet different direction.

First of all, let’s start with the familiar: Pharrell Williams is going to return for the second straight season, which is the first time since season 3 that we’ve had at least three coaches return for consecutive seasons. We cannot argue with this, mostly because Pharrell has been excellent in his role. While he is not necessarily flashy, he doesn’t need to be. Instead, he is classy with his approach and delivery, making the contestants feel special while offering them advice along the way.

Joining Pharrell, Adam Levine, and Blake Shelton for this season is going to be Christina Aguilera, who is coming back for her first season in over a year. Christina’s pregnancy caused her to take time off this fall, which is when she typically takes on this role.

What does this mean for Gwen Stefani? Really, we don’t see it as a sign for there to be anything to worry about. Given that Shakira is seemingly done with the show and Christina likes to take seasons off to do some other things, we feel like the No Doubt singer will eventually return. The same could be said for Usher, who is typically in the Pharrell spot. The only reason we see him not coming back right now is because Pharrell is killing it.

In a statement, NBC’s reality chief Paul Telegdy said the following:

“We are excited to welcome Christina back to her red chair and can’t wait to see how she mixes things up among Adam, Blake and Pharrell, in what will be an incredibly competitive competition … These four talented artists are at the top of their game as musicians and as coaches. The mentoring is sure to be intense and the stakes will be high.”

We do wonder whether or not we are nearing the end of the road for Adam and Blake, being that they have done this show every season from the very beginning. Our guess is that come season 10, we could see them looking at their overall future.

What do you think about this news when it comes to the coaches? Let us know with a comment, and click here if you missed our review of Monday’s episode. Also, you can sign up for our CarterMatt Newsletter if you want more TV updates sent to your email.