Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green's The Voice returns are now official -- and so are the departures and subsequent returns of Shakira and Usher, their replacements.

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NBC has formally announced Aguilera and Green will replace Shakira and Usher and return as The Voice coaches on this fall's fifth season of the NBC reality singing competition but then once again be replaced by Shakira and Usher -- who replaced Aguilera and Green on this spring's current-airing fourth season of the show -- on next spring's sixth season of The Voice.
 
The Voice mainstays Adam Levine and Blake Shelton will be part of both seasons' coaching panels -- as they have since the show's first season -- and Carson Daly will return as host for both editions.

"We locked in a plan several months ago to have the outstanding Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green rejoin Blake and Adam for Cycle 5, and we're pleased to announce that the original four coaches are going to be back together in the fall," NBC reality chief Paul Telegdy said in a statement.

"They're the reason this show was launched so strong for the first three cycles and we owe them a debt of gratitude. And after careful consideration of everyone's schedules for next spring, we are excited to be returning the current cycle of judges -- Shakira and Usher along with Blake and Adam -- for Cycle 6, which will premiere after the Winter Olympics."

The Voice executive producer Mark Burnett also expressed his excitement to have added Shakira and Usher to the show's regular "family."
 
"I am so thrilled that our Voice family has grown from four coaches to six," he said. This show thrives on the ability of our coaches to continue to balance their enormous music careers with working on The Voice to coach some of the best undiscovered talent in America. The coaching panel of Christina, Cee Lo, Adam and Blake was at the heart of this show in its first three seasons and we are so lucky to have found equal success with Shakira and Usher in Season 4.  Our best seasons are ahead of us."

Reports that Aguilera and Green would be returning for The Voice's fifth season had emerged earlier this week and been followed by Shakira's confirmation that she would not be part of the season and Daly's confirmation that Aguilera would be returning.

"I have to get back to my [new] baby and give him some love and dedicate some time to him and also to my new album that I'm working on currently," Shakira told Access Hollywood after Tuesday night's live results show.

However, she had left the door open for a possible return beyond The Voice's fifth season.

"You never know, maybe for the future -- maybe future seasons -- we'll see [if I come back]," she said.

In addition to confirming Aguilera's return and expressing his enthusiasm for the return of Green, who was reportedly close to finalizing a deal to return, Daly had also suggested Shakira's departure might not be permanent.

"I don't think that's the case. There's a lot of moving parts, a lot of scheduling as you can imagine. The way this show shoots in a calendar, if you and I sat down and I laid it all out, you have to make decisions pretty early that take effect sometimes four or five or six months later," he told E! News.

"With these people's busy schedules, we make decisions. Plus, we're on twice a year now."

Entertainment Weekly had subsequently reported Shakira and Usher would both return as coaches for next spring's sixth season of The Voice on Thursday.


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