'The Voice' Reveals First Pics Of Shakira & Usher As Season 4 Judges

Courtesy of NBC (2)

The new ‘Voice’ judges get comfortable in these brand-new shots! Do you think they’ll be good fits?

The Voice is going to look a little different when it returns for its fourth season this spring, with Shakira and Usher temporarily replacing Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green as judges — and now, NBC is giving us our first official look at the new recruits! Mom-to-be Shakira, 35, appears cute and relaxed in her seat, while Usher, 34, is striking a slightly more intense pose.

But do their individual postures double as suggestions for what their judging styles will be? We’ll have to wait until The Voice returns for its fourth season March 25 to find out!

The decision to take a hiatus from The Voice wasn’t easy — both Christina and Cee Lo are rumored to be returning for the show’s eventual fifth season — but it was important for them to focus on their solo careers. Christina, in particular, needs to do damage control following the negative success of her latest album Lotus.

Will Usher & Shakira Be Good Judges?

Of course, the real question on everybody’s mind is: Are Usher and Shakira capable of filling Cee Lo and Christina’s ~~shoes~~ chairs? HollywoodLife.com recently chatted with Jamar Rogers, a finalist from season two, about how the newbies will fare.

“I think it’s a good fill-in,” he told us. “It gives the show a chance to be new by breathing new life into it. Usher’s been a star for as long as I can remember, but I don’t know much about his personality. This will be a really cool way to get to know him. … And Shakira, she’s just awesome. She’s a real likable person.”

And while he’s confident the new judges will fit right in, Jamar’s not even remotely envious of the next season’s contestants.

“I’m glad I auditioned when I did,” Jamar told us. “Not that I have anything against Usher, but I’m a bigger fan of Cee Lo’s. He was the reason I decided to audition for the show.”

— Andy Swift

Follow @AndySwift

More of The Voice on HollywoodLife.com:

View Comment

It has been a real treat watching Usher and Shakira rise to the top (like cream) on The Voice. Their hands on approach is very modern and fresh. Not to diss Cee Lo and Christina, but their mentoring skills seemed to leave much to be desired. Usher actually teaches his protegees how to move and work the stage like professionals. I hope these two judges stay on for another season or two. They are very humble and likable.

Share this comment at

I love Shakira!!Vamos Latina!!woho

Shakira is an amazing judge and I love her so much. Season 4 of the voice is so soooooooooooooooooooo much better now the Cee lo and Christina are gone. And I hope Shakira and Usher stay on and Blake and Adam as well

Shakira is fantastic! Enough said! She’s obviously talented and unique.

So sad that someone with a voice like Shakira is allowed to judge anything but yodelling frog contests. With all the women with beautiful voices, why her? She’s pretty and probably nice, but her voice is disturbing.

This does make me very very excited… I will miss Cee-lo and also Christina. However happy for some new judges are coming.

I hope shakira wins! :) she is a very helpful women.
She helps the poor. So i hope, she has luck! :)

My name and I’m Luan De Salvador Bahia Brazil and wanted Shakira Vinhece For Brazil To Our Present Along With The Voice Brazil Daniel Claudia Leite Charlie Brow And Lu Santos that jurors are great,,, + I know this will not be possible. I am very happy .. shakira is on tHE VOICE,,,

When I look at usher I only see someone who is into themselves, and is looking more for the recognition then looking to really judge the contestants. When you put a foot up on a chair,and lay your arm across your knee your body launguage tells me that you are only interested in how you appear to the generall audience..( in other words) ” Look at me”, and in my opinion he thinks he`s all that. Well Usher let me tell you the truth, ” You are not all that, and without contestants on the voice ” who by the way some are better than you are” should be judged by someone who is appreciates great talent, even if better than you are. Respect is what its all about, and if you think you are above everyone else, then you are not able to judge anyone. the reason I have a great respect for the voice is that the judges have all experience what the contestants have gone through. so if you think you are above that disqualify yourself.
Thats the way I see Usher.

Wahhh. Wait till the season starts to complain. Way to evaluate the entire situation based on one single picture.

Well…Usher is very talented and is nice to look at. I bet others will see this once he judges new talent. I’m also happy that he’ll be in LA for a while.

slooow down there just wait and watch the show. People have been wrong about many shows and movies and whatnot (and also the actors in them) they haven’t seen yet but judge. This is a bad trait I see in alot of people (judge before you get to know, ) So just wait and watch. It was a photo done so he probably was just told to use that body position.

I also hate to say that as talented as contestants are on the show. None of them are as talented as usher. So far. It could happen but hasn’t yet. Usually people have a hard time “sticking” once winning on almost all types of singing contest/shows. Sad truth

girl you know you rite;)

This is great news! I’m excited to hear that Shakira and Usher, two of my favorite artists, will be lending their ears and also their opinions to the contestants of the Voice this spring. I will be a little bummed to see Christina Aguilera and Cee-Lo Green leave the show, but it’s definitely to be expected as they have a lot on their plate. My DISH coworker first told me about this switch out of judges, the Voice is one of our favorite shows. I like to record it on my DISH Hopper with the PrimeTime Anytime feature. I like to set this up to record all primetime programming that comes on the four major networks. I save time because I don’t have to set up any individual timers for my favorite shows.

Usher and shakira are good for the job. Why their must be negativity everyone has different peronality in the way he are she present them self be kind no insult.