Usher is absolutely WRONG for The Voice !!!

The announcement by NBC that Usher will be a celebrity coach on the next season of America's hottest show, THE VOICE, goes against everything that the show stands for and the elements that made the show as popular as it is today.

The strengths of The Voice rest on positivity, creativity, and nurturing talent from all genres.  For someone who has built most of his career more on his ab muscles than his actual singing talent, Usher is a poor choice to serve in one of the show's respected Coaching chairs.

As a potential TV personality, his very public cheating and sex tape scandals make him a terrible role-model in general.  As an industry figure, Usher has been accused to ripping of songwriters (http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2011/02/11/usher_involved_in_song_rights_scandal_) on his albums.  As a professional, he performs TAPED concerts and will also opt to give lousy stage shows rather than return ticket-buyers' money (http://concreteloop.com/2011/01/u-sent-it-in-usher-bood-in-germany-claims-sickness-one-fans-account-of-the-concert).

As an overall musical influence, you only need to look at this past season 3 of The Voice to see that Usher is not very respected overall nor a formula for success.  Of the three occasions someone was foolish enough to perform an Usher song, one got eliminated right away (Tyler Lillestol) and the other time, it killed their frontrunner status and ultimately cost them any chance of winning the show (Trevin Hunte).  (And the third time, it was really a David Guetta song rather than an Usher track.)

SO WHO SHOULD REPLACE USHER?

CHOICE #1: MARY J. BLIGE

If there needs to be a coaching change-up for next season, why not balance the gender scale?  Also, Mary J. Blige has served as a regular guest mentor on The Voice and so has a history with the show.  Plus, she perfectly fills in for the power singers representative (something Usher and Shakira obviously are not) that Christina Aguilera served as for the past 3 seasons.  Mary J. Blige also has the reverence for old soul music like Cee-lo Green and Adam Levine does.  In the R&B and hip-hop and soul communities, Mary J. Blige is FAR MORE RESPECTED than Usher will ever be.

CHOICE #2: NE-YO

If his schedule could permit it, Ne-Yo is a vastly superior choice over Usher.  Like Mary J. Blige, Ne-Yo has served a regular guest mentor on The Voice PLUS he also performed twice on The Voice stage; he has a strong history and connection with the show already!  And despite his younger age (compared to Usher), Ne-Yo has been a prolific songwriter for several years, making hits with top R&B stars like Beyonce and Rihanna, top soul singers like John Legend, hip-hop's greatest like Jay-Z and Kanye West.  In addition, Ne-Yo has written songs and produced music for countless young artists.  Ne-Yo rarely keeps his best songwriting material for himself; that selflessness is what makes a Coach on The Voice so special!  There is no one more qualified to serve as a Coach on The Voice!  NBC and Mark Burnett, if you truly want someone with the pulse of young America, you go with Ne-Yo, not Usher!

Let us make it clear to NBC and the producers of The Voice that Usher clearly does NOT belong on this beloved show, and that putting him in that Coach's chair will instantly tarnish what makes the show so great!