Guy Sebastian has sensationally claimed winners of The Voice are ‘unlikely’ to become instant stars, as the new season prepares to launch next week.
The 40-year-old coach, whose success stemmed off the back of winning Australian Idol in 2003, says The Voice is too short of a show to produce instant chart-toppers.
He also added that the challenges of matching the winner with a potential hit anthem makes it near-impossible to make them an overnight success.
Savage comment: Guy Sebastian has sensationally claimed winners of The Voice are ‘unlikely’ to find instant success, as the new season prepares to launch next week
‘I think there’s no chance for anyone unless they are prepared to be thrown to the wolves, it’s a really challenging industry and it’s changed a lot in the last 20 years,’ he told The Daily Telegraph.
‘It’s unrealistic to have this notion that we’re finding a superstar because we’re removing one of the most important equations out of that, which is time.’
He continued by saying Australian Idol was completely different, as the constant stream of live shows allowed audiences to build bonds with the talent and be invested in their future.
Champion: Sebastian himself coached last year’s champion Bella Taylor Smith (pictured) who nabbed a recording deal with EMI Music and $100,000. However, her single Higher only peaked at No. 31 on the ARIA charts
‘The Voice is an amazing stepping stone the same way that Idol was, but Idol (went for triple) the time, so getting Australia to really know the artist is the difficulty and they need to keep that exposure up, and that’s very difficult for them to do,’ he said.
Sebastian himself coached last year’s champion Bella Taylor Smith, who nabbed a record deal with EMI Music and $100,000.
However, her post-win single Higher only peaked at No. 31 on the ARIA charts.
She is set to release her new EP Look Me In The Eye on April 22, before heading out with Sebastian as the opening act on his pandemic-rescheduled T.R.U.T.H. tour.
Coming soon: Pictured (L-R) are The Voice 2022 coaches Keith Urban, Rita Ora, Jessica Mauboy and Guy Sebastian. The new series starts Monday, April 18th on Channel 7 and 7plus
Sebastian said he has no doubt that his winner’s career will kick off now, and hopes she will ‘pick my show apart’ to learn what works for her musically in future.
It comes after Sebastian made headlines last August after he was forced to backtrack on admission that producers tell the coaches when to turn their chairs during the blind auditions.
The singer had told Yahoo he and his fellow judges Rita Ora, Jessica Mauboy and Keith Urban are encouraged to turn their chairs for certain contestants to create more on-screen drama.
Daily Mail Australia understands Channel Seven and Sebastian’s record label Sony Music went into damage control after he spilled the industry secret.
Sebastian backpedalled on his statements days later, insisting he has ‘never once been told who to turn his chair for’.
Backpedalling: It comes after Sebastian made headlines last August after he was forced to backtrack on admission that producers tell the coaches when to turn their chairs during the blind auditions. He posted this lengthy Facebook comment underneath a story by Tone Deaf with the headline ‘The Voice judge Guy Sebastian reveals producers tell them when to turn’
He posted a lengthy Facebook comment underneath a story by Tone Deaf with the headline ‘The Voice judge Guy Sebastian reveals producers tell them when to turn’.
‘Only problem is this headline is completely false,’ the musician began.
Sebastian clarified that producers merely ‘remind’ the coaches they can turn their chairs whenever they want, in order to encourage them to turn more often.
This strategy, he claims, helps to promote on-screen showdowns between coaches battling for the same contestants.
‘We are only given reminders of the different format changes. For example, this year there are unlimited chair turns instead of 12 spots, which means if we are on the fence we don’t need to be selective,’ he wrote.
‘Obviously it’s way better to give the artist a choice and to battle it out with another coach than to default to only one coach who turns.’
Fired up: Labelling Tone Deaf’s headline ‘clickbait’, Sebastian said: ‘I have to clear this up… we make an effort to make the artists feel valued and to add to their artistry in a safe environment’
Labelling Tone Deaf’s headline ‘clickbait’, Sebastian said: ‘I’m a fan of your page but I have to clear this up because we make a big effort to make the artists feel valued and to add to their artistry in a safe environment.
‘Even when artists don’t get a chair turn, we make sure it’s a positive experience by giving feedback, or joining them on stage [for] a duet etc. to make sure they don’t go home feeling like it was a failure.
‘Clickbait false headlines undermine that. I have never once been told who to turn my chair for.’
Sebastian had raised eyebrows days earlier, when he told Yahoo that he and his fellow coaches on The Voice received a ‘little red book’ with instructions from producers.
‘[Producers] don’t want the show to be all one-chair turns for some of the artists. You want the artist to feel like there are two coaches fighting over them. Otherwise how do you make a good segment out of that?’ he told the publication.
Drama: Sebastian had raised eyebrows days earlier, when he told Yahoo that he and his fellow coaches on The Voice received a ‘little red book’ with instructions from producers. Pictured: Keith Urban
‘It’s just literally, “Oh, Keith is the only one that turned, so you’re stuck with Keith.”
‘So there are little things the producer will write in. Stuff like, “If this is just a one-chair turn, maybe jump in.”‘
Sebastian added, however, that the judges are not told anything about the contestants before they hear them sing, other than what state they are from.
They are also informed if the song they are about to hear is an original composition or cover version, but they pretend they don’t know ahead of time regardless.
‘We might still have to turn around and go, “Oh that was an original?” because we don’t want everyone to know that we knew, but it saves time,’ Sebastian said.
The Voice Australia starts Monday, April 18th on Channel 7 and 7plus
Whoops! Daily Mail Australia understands Channel Seven and Sebastian’s record label Sony Music went into damage control after he spilled the industry secret
