Taylor Swift tears up on ‘The Voice’ — and reveals the one lesson she always tells contestants
Taylor Swift surprised fans and 'The Voice' contestants when she joined the NBC talent show as a mega mentor not once but thrice. Swift first debuted in 2013 as an advisor during season 4 for Team Usher. As per NBC, she then returned in 2014 and 2019 for seasons 7 and 17, respectively. The 'Bad Blood' hitmaker described her mentoring approach as "very direct" while speaking exclusively with Extra's Mario Lopez. "When they come into rehearsal, they walk in, they have a song they've chosen, and they sing it for us. I watch and I make some mental notes,” Swift explained. “We kind of give them some pointers and tips and things we could see done a little bit differently or a little bit better or connect a little more. I try really hard to give specific tips.”
Swift added that she adopted the no-nonsense style while guiding the future artists. “I like to tell them what they’re good at, what they should keep, and what they should change [or] alter,” she said. “These are lessons that I learned over the last 10 years on tour, but I learned them in front of huge crowds, on TV, and at award shows. To be able to tell them these things behind the scenes, in a rehearsal space, is really fun. You forget these lessons as you go.” The 'Blank Space' singer encountered emotional moments while mentoring the contestants for the 'Knockout Rounds.' During the season 17 rehearsals, Swift was visibly moved to tears when 14-year-old best friends Chelsea and Myla from team Kelly Clarkson beautifully rendered Ariana Grande and Nathan Sykes' hit 2013 single, 'Almost Is Never Enough,' ET reported.
"Oh my god, I'm fully crying," an emotionally charged Swift expressed. "I don't know why. It's just really, really great." Clarkson had to hug the 'Love Story' singer before the latter could control herself fully. "When I started out, I was 10 or 11 years old singing for people," Swift shared during the confessional. "But seeing young performers, who so firmly have their musical identity figured out, I was completely shattered by it. I fully fell apart. It was that good."
OG coach Blake Shelton lauded the 'Cruel Summer' singer's mentoring style and called her "super smart." He was also thoroughly impressed by her straightforward approach and mentioned that the contestants were able to "tweak their performances to the next level." "A lot of people don’t realize I raised Taylor Swift in the country music world, and she knows it," Shelton joked while applauding the 'You Belong to Me' singer in an exclusive with ET. "She did great, though, as a mentor, and she did it the first time, and then coming back in this second time, it's like she's made for that," he added.
Swifties were super stoked to watch their idol coach contestants on 'The Voice,' and according to a Reddit thread, a few even confessed to tuning in to the talent show only because of her. "Can someone just post when her specific episodes air? That's the only thing I care about," an online user stated. "I don’t even watch The Voice, but uhhh yea, I WILL be watching now," a fan chimed. "Yes, please, someone tell me when and where to watch this, but only when Taylor will be on," a netizen reacted.