Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Kelly Clarkson and Billy Gilman perform during the Season 11 finale on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

Chalk up a major coup for The Voice.

Which, in the process, just dealt a major blow to ABC’s American Idol revival.

The Voice announced today that it has signed on Kelly Clarkson to coach Season 14 next spring.

Blake Shelton and Adam Levine will also be back; a fourth coach will be named at a later date.

And so ends speculation the Kelly might be part of the judging panel when American Idol returns to ABC next year.

Kelly joining The Voice makes sense in a couple of ways.

She served as an adviser on the show in Season 2. She performed with Billy Gilman during the Season 11 finale last fall.

And, apparently, she’s been in talks with NBC about coaching on The Voice for some time.

“We’ve gone back and forth about a role as a coach for years, but the timing hasn’t been right until now,” she says in an NBC press release. “I have always loved appearing on the show as an adviser or performer and established an amazing relationship with the network during my Christmas special.

“I can’t wait to turn my chair and see the faces of up-and-coming artists and provide them with the help and support they’ve needed to break into the industry. Watch out Shelton, I’m comin’ to win!!”

Oh, and this news comes a day after The Voice announced it had signed on another of Idol’s most acclaimed alumns — Jennifer Hudson — to coach Season 13.

Meanwhile, could the news get worse for ABC? Not only did they lose out on landing Kelly as a judge, she winds up on the competing singing show.

Reports that ABC was courting Kelly as a judge for Idol was the only reason to be excited about the Idol reboot.

I mean, remember how exceptional she was during a guest judging stint in Season 15? Kelly seemed more in tune with what should be happening in a judge’s chair than Jennifer Lopez did at any point during her long booty-shaking career with Idol.

As the returning original Idol, Kelly would have given legitimacy to an Idol reboot that’s coming way too soon and surely isn’t going to draw in more fans just by bringing back Ryan Seacrest as host.

Good luck, ABC.