The Big Picture
- Keith Urban is
The Voice
Season 25’s Mega Mentor, advising all teams, with an extensive competition show history. - The show has a country music bias, with a dominating country presence each season, but only a handful of country artists have won.
- Keith Urban’s role as Mega Mentor may signal a potential future as a permanent coach, as past advisors have become coaches.
He’s back! After serving as a mentor for Team Blake in Season 15, Keith Urban will be The Voice Season 25‘s Mega Mentor, advising all four teams. The former American Idol judge has roots in the country music world, but judging other reality television singing competitions opens up his ability to be a mentor. But was having another country music act on an already country-dominated season smart or fueling the fire for a country team to win?
For Season 25, The Voice has a new coaching dynamic that has brought a new level of competitiveness to the show. This season’s coaches are comprised of Chance the Rapper, John Legend, Reba McEntire, and Dan + Shay, the first-ever Double Chair on the American version of the program. Currently engaged in Battle Rounds, each of the four teams are currently molding their best team possible before heading into the Knockout Round, kicking off on April 8th. As customary on The Voice, the coaches will have an advisor to assist their acts. In the past, each coach had an individual advisor at some point during the competition. This season, for the third season in a row, there will be one Mega Mentor guiding the artists. And this mentor is country music superstar Keith Urban.
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Keith Urban Has an Immense Singing Competition Show History
Hailing from Australia, Keith Urban is a multi-award-winning country singer who has defined the current make-up of the genre. With a career that has spanned nearly three decades, Keith Urban’s illustrious career makes him a strong choice to guide the contestants of The Voice Season 25. But long-time fans of The Voice know that this is not his first foray onto the American program. He joined Blake Shelton as his team’s mentor during Season 15. And even then, this wasn’t his first time participating in a version of The Voice. In 2011, he was one of the four coaches on the Australian iteration alongside Seal, Joel Madden, and Delta Goodrem. He would leave before season 2 as he was set to replace Steven Tyler as a judge on American Idol, where he would remain until 2016. He did return to The Voice Australia for two more seasons in 2021, joining Jessica Mauboy, Guy Sebastian, and Rita Ora.
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Having a history of sitting behind a judges’ table, serving as a mentor, and being a coach, Keith Urban seems like a valiant choice to mentor the Season 25 cast of The Voice. With 24 artists to advise during the Knockouts, Keith Urban will have his hands full, working with an array of artists with various genres and backgrounds. His ability to work with emerging artists will allow him to guide the artists in a way that is not only beneficial to them in the competition, but as a hopeful embarking into the music industry following their run on the show. Keith Urban will be taking the reigns from last season’s Mega Mentor Wynona Judd, while following in the footsteps of eventual coaches John Legend, Reba McEntire, Gwen Stefani, as well as megastars like Taylor Swift, Dolly Parton, and Garth Brooks.
‘The Voice’ Loves Country Music
The Voice seems to have a long-standing history of being partial to the world of country music. Whether that’s due to the demographics of viewers and voters, or simply how the trajectory of the program evolved, the focus on country has been at the center of The Voice. For the longest time, it was always about which judge could win the country artist over Blake Shelton during the Blind Auditions. Country artists have often found success when the voting public has their say. Many country acts have served as advisors and mentors throughout the history of the American version. For fans of The Voice who do not eat, sleep, and breathe country music, it can easily feel isolating. For the American version of the program, when the first season debuted, the original coaching panel spanned the music industry with Adam Levine as the rock entry, CeeLoo Green as the R&B entry, Christina Aguilera as the pop entry, and Blake Shelton as the country entry. As the revolving door of coaches joined The Voice, the country coach seat had remained consistent as Blake Shelton occupied that chair until Season 23. And of course, upon his departure, a mega country star had to slip in. Once Season 25 was announced to have the historic Double Chair for Dan + Shay, it meant they would be joining a lineup that already featured a country act, bringing the total up to two. Regardless of the season, it showed a slight bias toward that genre on the show.
The odds may not be in the favor of winners as only a handful of country artists have won The Voice, but each season, there is a dominating country presence within each team. As of now, the winning acts with country roots include Season 3’s Cassadee Pope, Season 4’s Danielle Bradbery, Season 7’s Craig Wayne Boyd, Season 11’s Sundance Head, Season 17’s Jake Hoot, and Season 22’s Bryce Leatherwood. Except for Jake Hoot, who was part of Kelly Clarkson‘s team, every single country winner was a member of Team Blake. Coincidence? Who’s to say?
Keith Urban is a highly regarded and a seasoned artist. On paper, his hire as the Season 25 Mega Mentor makes sense! As viewers have noticed in the past, an appearance as an advisor or mentor has lead to a stint as a future coach. Just look at the current lineup of coaches! They’ve all stepped into that position at least once before. It’s possible this is a bit of an audition for Keith Urban to be a permanent coach in a future season. Fans, let your voice be heard if you’re ready for more Keith Urban!
The Voice airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8:00 pm on NBC with episodes to stream the next day on Peacock.
