Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The most entertaining singing show on TV returns Monday night at 8 p.m.

That’s right, Season 6 of The Voice is about to begin.

Usher returns as coach on Season 6 of The Voice. (NBC Photo)

And here are some things you should know:

The coaches: We’re back to the spring panel, which means Usher and Shakira are joining Blake and Adam again. Personally, I like this judging combination best of any we’ve seen.

Usher was brilliant in the mentoring sessions back in Season 4, but perhaps a bit too laid back when it came to fighting for artists during the blind auditions. Shakira was flat-out adorable, winning me over when she took all the blame for the lukewarm reception to a Sasha Allen performance. They’re promising to be more competitive in Season 6, now that they’re familiar with the strategies of Adam and Blake.

The talent: Usher is promising us about a dozen four-chair turns in Season 6. That compares to six in Season 5. By the way, of those six, four landed on Team Adam, including eventual winner Tessanne Chin and eventual top-five finisher James Wolpert.

If you’d like to meet two of the four-chair turn recipients — Bria Kelly and Christina Grimmie — head here.

Miranda Lambert will try to help Shakira become the first-ever winning female coach on The Voice in Season 6. (NBC Photo)

The mentors: The big news is that Blake’s wife, Miranda Lambert, will be a mentor — for Team Shakira. I’m sure that will lead to a bit of drama as Shakira fights to become the first female to ever coach a Voice winner.

The other mentors: The Band Perry for Team Blake, Jill Scott for Team Usher and Aloe Blacc for Team Adam. Aloe who? Think back. He performed on the Season 5 finale with Will Champlin of Team Adam.

After The Voice: Critics can no longer point to the winners’ lack of post-show success as a knock against The Voice.

In 2013, Season 3 winner Cassadee Pope cracked the top 5 on the country chart with her debut single, “Wasting All These Tears.” That song is nearly at platinum status. Her second single is even better. Season 4 winner Danielle Bradbery cracked the top 20 with her first country single, “The Heart of Dixie.”

Sugar House, the debut album from Midas Whale, was released earlier this month.

Artist updates: Remember Midas Whale from Season 3? They just released an album you need to check out. Remember Monique Abbadie from Season 4? She just released a catchy dance single. And Kat Robichaud from last season? She launched a KickStarter campaign to fund a debut album with a goal of $20,000. It hit that in something like four days and has now raised nearly $35,000, with more than a week left to go.

Keep checking back. I’ll be providing more updates on what past singers from the show are doing. Head to the “After the Voice” tab at the top of the page and you’ll find a listing of music released by past contestants, through the end of 2013. If I’ve missed anyone or any music, please let me know.

About this blog: I’ll be live blogging each episode from Season 6, grading performances as they occur. And posting bio blogs on each Season 6 team member when the blind auditions end. You can follow along on Twitter at a new Voice-specific account I’ve created — @VoiceViews.