Idol Chatter & Voice Views

If you watch The Voice, you’ve seen the advertisements for the latest singing show coming down the pike — “The Winner Is.”

And you might have wondered if you’re likely to see any familiar faces on the show.

LaKisha Jones will be a contestant on NBC’s The Winner Is.” (NBC Photo)

LaKisha Jones, the fourth-place finisher on Season 6 of American Idol, tweeted earlier today that she’ll be a contestant on the show.

“So excited!” she wrote. “Back where you first saw me. On TV.

“Can’t say much more at this time,” she added. “Let’s just say it starts with a bang.”

It starts Monday night, airing at 10 p.m., immediately after the next episode of The Voice.

The show will then return on Thursday, July 11, at 9 p.m. and remain in that time slot.

“The Winner Is” will be hosted by Nick Lachey, once of “Nick and Jessica (Simpson)” fame.

Yep, it’s another singing show. But it’s different, Nick insisted in a conference call last week, because it combines the talent of a singing show with the strategy of a game show.

Ryan and Kai Kalama will appear on NBC’s “The Winner Is” (NBC Photo)

An audience of 101 determines the winner. But rather than finding out who won, contestants will have an opportunity to bow out of the competition and walk away with a $10,000, $25,000 or $50,000 prize depending on how deep into the show they advance.

Seven episodes are planned. The winners of the first six episodes will square off in the seventh with a $1 million prize on the line.

As for LaKisha, it’s been a while since we’ve heard from her. She released an album called “So Glad I’m Me” back in 2009, but it wasn’t exactly a mega-hit.

And it appears she won’t be the only former Idol contestant to appear on “The Winner Is” premiere.

Another act is the Kalama Brothers. Kai Kalama was a semifinalist back on American Idol Season 8.

Check his Facebook page and you’ll see that indeed he and brother Ryan are performing on the show.

Back in 2009, Kai was 26 and performing in a band called Off White. I recall they had some very impressive original music at the time.

And those are just the contestants from episode one.

I’ll be shocked if a Voice cast-off or two doesn’t show up somewhere along the line.