Jennifer Hudson will be making her debut as a coach on NBC's The Voice in Fall 2017 for the show's thirteenth season, joining veteran coaches Miley Cyrus, Adam Levine, and Blake Shelton.
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"Jennifer is an extraordinary vocal talent and one of the premier voices of our time. She embodies the experience, expertise, positivity and sheer talent that The Voice stands for," NBC reality chief Paul Telegdy said in a statement of the Season 3 American Idol finalist.
"Her exceptional skills as a singer and actress have extended to film, television and Broadway, which makes her an incredible addition and a natural fit for our show."
While NBC previously announced Cyrus would be returning as a coach next season, the network had said the rest of the coaches would be revealed at a later date. The network has therefore just confirmed Levine and Shelton will also be back.
Hudson is no stranger to The Voice format because she recently served as a coach on the show's U.K. version for Season 6, which aired earlier this year from January to April.
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During her first season on the U.K. reality singing competition, her team member Mo Adeniran actually went on to win the title of "The Voice."
Hudson also surprised The Voice's eleventh-season Top 8 finalists last year on the set of NBC's Hairspray Live! in which she played one of the lead roles. Hudson offered the contestants some great advice.
Hudson, a singer and actress, has starred on Broadway in "The Color Purple" and won an Oscar and Golden Globe award for her role in the movie Dreamgirls. She has also been nominated for four Grammy awards. Her latest single "Remember Me" was recently released.
When Hudson competed on American Idol back in 2004, she finished in seventh place despite wowing the show's judges and audience every week with her vocal power and stage presence.
The Voice's upcoming edition will mark Cyrus' second stint on the show as a coach, as she also starred on Season 11, while Levine and Shelton have been mainstays since The Voice debuted with its first season back in 2011.
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Current Season 12 coaches Alicia Keys and Gwen Stefani are not part of the lineup for this fall's edition, however, Stefani has said she loves the show after stints on Seasons 7,9 and 12 and would therefore "be open to continuing" in the future, according to TV Guide Magazine.
Keys, on the other hand, told the magazine during the same interview a couple of weeks ago that she is done with The Voice once the currently-airing season wraps.
"This is my last season... Who knows what the future holds, but I know this one is my final season," Keys stated, adding that she's "so passionate" about her twelfth-season team because it all feels like the grand finale for her since she's leaving for good.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski