‘The Voice’ Fans Say Blake Shelton ‘Threw Shade’ at the Show When Complimenting Cam Anthony
On Monday’s The Voice, coach Blake Shelton gave Cam Anthony the compliment of a lifetime. But even still, some saw Blake’s comment as a subtle dig at the show.
After Cam took on Hozier’s “Take Me to Church” in the live top 17 round with style and confidence, it was clear that the captain of Team Blake was beaming with pride.
“I promised you when you joined my team that I would keep the lane open for you and I’d do everything I could to get you to this point, but the rest has to be up to you, man,” Blake told Cam after his performance concluded. “And you have delivered every time you stand on this stage.”
Then Blake said something that will likely stick with the artist forever: “I’ve never had more people ask me about an artist on my team in 20 seasons of doing this show, man. You could be the first superstar that we launch off this show.”
Coming from Blake, who has been on The Voice for 10 years and 20 seasons, it’s an understatement to say that this was an exceptional compliment. But as great as the praise may be, some fans took Blake’s admiration to have a double meaning that’s not all positive.
“Yessssssssssss, he is the KING OF THE VOICE!!!! Btw, that shade Blake threw at the Voice when he said that Cam could be the ‘first superstar to come from this show...’ NO FEAR,” one fan commented on Youtube, which over 80 fans have liked so far. “Cam Anthony is phenomenal! I want him to win but y’all never produce a superstar. THIS GUY DESERVES TO BE ON THE CHARTS! You must change the record deal NBC!!!!” another said.
To clarify, Blake isn’t shading Cam at all—but what the country star could be taking a dig at with his compliment is how Voice winners have been treated in the past. After all, as Yahoo! Entertainment pointed out, it’s been recognized that The Voice, despite its popularity over the past 10 years, has yet to produce a winner on the level of American Idol’s Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Adam Lambert, or Jennifer Hudson.
Specifically, both Blake and former coach Adam Levine have called out Universal Music Group, which has long partnered with winners of The Voice for a recording contract, for not doing enough to help promote and launch their careers.
“I want to personally issue a challenge to Universal Records,” Blake said, according to Yahoo! Music, after his artist Sundance Head had won the show. “This is season 11 of The Voice, and I’m sitting here right now next to a guy who has won over America’s hearts. He’s so popular. … He has proven that he sells tons of music. His biggest-selling song, arguably, is going to be the song he wrote by himself.”
Blake continued: “I hope that we can all come together—meaning us and Universal Records. This is the guy that I think can break the mold and become a star out of this show. And I give my word that I’ll put my work in, and I know [Sundance] will. This guy deserves to be a star, and there’s no excuses anymore. We need to make the record and put the work behind it that he deserves, to have this success that he deserves. And that has to start with Universal Records getting involved and behind him.”
Blake shared similar frustrations just last year after Team Blake’s Todd Tilghman took home first place, indicating that he believes, unfortunately, not too much has changed over the years.
“So many times the ball’s been dropped, and there hasn’t been a lot of follow through with the record deal. And I don’t care, I’ve been vocal about that from the beginning, ‘cause it’s a hard pill to swallow when somebody works as hard as Todd has and they get this chance and there's no follow through with the record deal,” he explained, as reported by ET Canada.
Over the years, it appears Universal Music Group has remained largely silent on the matter.
We can only hope that if Cam wins, things will be different—and it sounds like Blake is hopeful that it will be should he land on top.
You Might Also Like
