Adam Levine & Cee Lo Green Will Judge NBC’s ‘Idol’ Knock-Off

NBC has done something with its forthcoming singing competition “The Voice” that Fox has never done with “American Idol”: it hired talented, relevant singers to be judges. Cee Lo Green and Maroon 5′s Adam Levine will fill two of the judges’ chairs when the show debuts in April (maybe two and a half chairs, given Cee Lo’s waistline), while Christina Aguilera is reportedly in talks to be the show’s Paula Abdul.

“I am so happy that Adam Levine and Cee Lo Green have joined the coach panel for The Voice,” executive producer Mark Burnett tells EW. “Aside from being incredible voices, they bring years of experience in the music industry and a really cool vibe that has never been seen before on a music competition series.”

“We want The Voice to be a search by relevant artists for relevant artists,” added NBC’s Executive VP of Alternative Programming Paul Telegdy. “Every person who sits on our panel can do what it is that they’re judging.” [Inside TV]

You know, I don’t hate this. Now that Jeff Zucker’s no longer running programming decisions at NBC, it’s kind of fun to see the Peacock try to suck less. Besides, I’m 100% in favor of any program that will minimize Maroon 5 making another album.