Blake Shelton's decision to sing in episodes of the USA Network competition series Barmageddon was mostly likely a no-brainer. Not putting Shelton onstage with the Ole Red Nashville location's house band for a show that's sure to draw country music-loving viewers would've been a missed opportunity.
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In a video interview with Access alongside co-hosts Carson Daly and Nikki Bella, Shelton joked that the cover song concept was "stolen" from friend and former The Voice co-star Kelly Clarkson.
"I like to steal from people," Shelton said. "I watch Kelly Clarkson's talk show every day. I never miss it. She opens every one of her episodes with a song, and I thought, 'You know, I'm going to do that. I'm going to do what Kelly does, but do it better than Kelly.' So I decided that I'm going to do a classic, like, bar karaoke theme song every episode of Barmageddon."
Another friend constantly drawn into Shelton jokes, Daly chimed in on this supposed heist.
"He came to me and he pitched this idea and he goes, 'What do you think about me opening up with a cover? We'll call it a Blakeoke," Daly said. "I say, 'Kelly has the Kellyoke. You can't call it Blakeoke."
Shelton then feigned ignorance that Kellyoke was the name of Clarkson's musical segment.
"See, I didn't know that because I have her show on mute," Shelton explained. "So I didn't even know what it was called. I could just tell she was singing."
In all seriousness, Shelton's musical performances set the tone for the high-energy competition series.
"We do have fun songs that kick off the episode," Daly said. "They put people in the mood right away. They're the biggest bar singalong songs out there."
