Will.i.am says new judge Rita Ora has all the best bits of Kylie and Jessie J
Voice veteran Will says he'd hang out with Rita Ora just as much if they weren't both on the show and says she adds a lot to the competition
Pulling a face, will.i.am apologises to the press officer next to him. “Sorry, I had to tell the truth,” the Voice judge says with a sheepish grin. It’s music to the ears of any journalist – but you can see that the job of monitoring what does and doesn’t come out of the mouth of the Black Eyed Peas star is not an enviable one.
The truth he has just admitted to is that the X Factor continues to outperform The Voice at launching chart-topping stars. Since it began in 2012 it hasn’t won a Top 5 single or created a single big name from its winners.
Will – the rapper, songwriter and producer – also admits that the rival show’s success is all down to Simon Cowell.
“Simon and his show... he has something really. I have to give it up to him. Simon knows how to put on a show and find artists and make them have careers,” he says.
“You can hate him all you want. You can say what you want – he really makes careers out of these people. That’s one thing you can’t take away from him.”
BBC
Winner: Jermain Jackman
Will, born William Adams, could be forgiven for joining the ranks of Cowell detractors. He admits that when he managed the former Cheryl Cole he had regular battles with the music mogul to get Chezza what she wanted. He says: “I had to fight for her. It was a good fight. We are still friends and they are still friends so... I just had to fight.”
Mind you, he doesn’t seem so friendly with the now-Mrs Fernandez Versini these days. In October 2013, 31-year-old Cheryl dropped Will as her music manager and went with One Direction’s team instead. Hinting that he rarely speaks to the former Girls Aloud star, he says: “She’s married now, right? That’s good. I don’t really know that stuff.”
So it’s Rita Ora , his new co-judge on The Voice, who seems to be his bezzie mate now.
ITV
Will, born William Adams, could be forgiven for joining the ranks of Cowell detractors. He admits that when he managed the former Cheryl Cole he had regular battles with the music mogul to get Chezza what she wanted. He says: “I had to fight for her. It was a good fight. We are still friends and they are still friends so... I just had to fight.”
Mind you, he doesn’t seem so friendly with the now-Mrs Fernandez Versini these days. In October 2013, 31-year-old Cheryl dropped Will as her music manager and went with One Direction’s team instead. Hinting that he rarely speaks to the former Girls Aloud star, he says: “She’s married now, right? That’s good. I don’t really know that stuff.”
So it’s Rita Ora , his new co-judge on The Voice, who seems to be his bezzie mate now.
ITV
Former protege of Will: Cheryl “I hang out with Rita all the time and we record a lot, go out a lot. We are alike in terms of, if Rita wasn’t on the show, I would still hang out with Rita as much as I hang out with Rita now,” he says.
On The Voice, Rita is filling the slot previously occupied by Jessie J and Kylie Minogue and will.i.am insists she is perfect for the job.
“I think she’s the best of both worlds,” he says. “You know the good things that Jessie bought to the show and the good things that Kylie bought to the show... you have in Rita.
“They’re both nice but Rita is unfiltered. Rita’s just raw. She’s sweet, she’s kind. I’m really excited about her – she’s awesome on the show. It’s a bunch of fun and she adds a lot of spice and spunk.”
The Voice is now in its fourth series and Will, 39, has been a judge since the start. Its opening night won good ratings and he hopes this will be the year it storms into the charts.
BBC
Will.i.am, Rita Ora, Sir Tom Jones, Ricky Wilson on The Voice
The track record is not encouraging. Leanne Mitchell, 31, who won in 2012, was dropped by her label after her record flopped. Andrea Begley, 28, got to No 7 but admitted she hasn’t done as well as she hoped. Last year’s winner Jermain Jackman, 19, hasn’t released anything apart from the winning single, which peaked at No 39. It’s going to be a challenge to find a winner who can do better and Will seems to have a lot on his mind. He’s tired and barely stops yawning.
Maybe it’s because as well as judging The Voice, he is also back in “Pea Land”, working on new material with the 76-million-selling Black Eyed Peas. He explains: “I am surrounding myself with like, you know, obscure older music, so I can prepare for the next Peas stuff. We are in a vibe, we are in a zone. It’s a total hunt for obscurity, whether that obscurity is underground dance music or samba... but we purposely want to stay away from pop stuff.”
Not easy, when you judge The Voice. But Will is known for his can-do attitude and endless hard work, born of his tough upbringing. Raised in the tough housing projects on the east side of Los Angeles, he never knew his father and his life could easily have gone badly off the rails.
But he says his mother discouraged him from falling in with gangs and nurtured his creativity and self-confidence. Thanks to a scheme devised to encourage racial integration, she got him into a good school in a wealthy suburb.
“That’s where I learned to love science,” he said. “We had a computer lab, we had oceanography, we had anatomy, we had physics, that’s where it started.”
It’s a subject he still loves today. He got into music at high school too and formed the Peas in 1995 soon after leaving. He says they were commercially switched-on from the start, ignoring the obvious path of “gangsta rap ghetto” to concentrate on college campuses “until every single college kid” knew them. That’s when they got a record deal – but it took until 2003 before they had a global smash with Where is the Love, featuring Justin Timberlake.
BBC
The track record is not encouraging. Leanne Mitchell, 31, who won in 2012, was dropped by her label after her record flopped. Andrea Begley, 28, got to No 7 but admitted she hasn’t done as well as she hoped. Last year’s winner Jermain Jackman, 19, hasn’t released anything apart from the winning single, which peaked at No 39. It’s going to be a challenge to find a winner who can do better and Will seems to have a lot on his mind. He’s tired and barely stops yawning.
Maybe it’s because as well as judging The Voice, he is also back in “Pea Land”, working on new material with the 76-million-selling Black Eyed Peas. He explains: “I am surrounding myself with like, you know, obscure older music, so I can prepare for the next Peas stuff. We are in a vibe, we are in a zone. It’s a total hunt for obscurity, whether that obscurity is underground dance music or samba... but we purposely want to stay away from pop stuff.”
Not easy, when you judge The Voice. But Will is known for his can-do attitude and endless hard work, born of his tough upbringing. Raised in the tough housing projects on the east side of Los Angeles, he never knew his father and his life could easily have gone badly off the rails.
But he says his mother discouraged him from falling in with gangs and nurtured his creativity and self-confidence. Thanks to a scheme devised to encourage racial integration, she got him into a good school in a wealthy suburb.
“That’s where I learned to love science,” he said. “We had a computer lab, we had oceanography, we had anatomy, we had physics, that’s where it started.”
It’s a subject he still loves today. He got into music at high school too and formed the Peas in 1995 soon after leaving. He says they were commercially switched-on from the start, ignoring the obvious path of “gangsta rap ghetto” to concentrate on college campuses “until every single college kid” knew them. That’s when they got a record deal – but it took until 2003 before they had a global smash with Where is the Love, featuring Justin Timberlake.
BBC
Judges: Will.i.am, Rita Ora, Sir Tom Jones, Ricky Wilson on The Voice Will says having a No 1 single doesn’t necessarily equate to success. Even without No 1s, he sees the value of The Voice.
“I do the show because I have insight that I can share with folks and I like being in London. It feels cool,” he says. “I know people that have had No 1 singles and never go on television. I know people that make No 1 singles that never make money.
“So, what is big? Being on The Voice when seven to 10 million people are watching every week and you’re on TV. To go No 1, it’s great, don’t get me wrong. But it doesn’t mean you have a career. We all know people that have No 1s then disappear off the face of the earth.
“And we all know people that have been on TV six times that disappear off the face of the earth too.
“This is a great opportunity for singers – a great platform. Whether or not they turn into record careers, that’s a different question.”
The Voice is on BBC1 on Saturday night at 7pm.
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