“The Voice Kids” coach Alvaro Soler explains why Lena Meyer-Landrut is a big competitor and why he would not have participated as a child.
The eleventh season “The Voice Kids” starts on Friday, March 10 (8:15 p.m. in Sat.1). The coaches are again Wincent Weiss (30), Lena Meyer-Landrut (31), Michi Beck (55) and Smudo (54) in the team and Alvaro Soler (32). The latter is competing for the third time in a row. “I decided two years ago that I want to do at least three years,” says the singer in an interview with spot on news. “The show is just really fun. In no other format are children and talents treated so warmly. They are clearly in the foreground, other shows have different priorities…”
The atmosphere between the coaches is particularly relaxed this season, the musician continues. “We’ve all known each other for a long time now and we’ve settled in. It’s really fun.” And who does he see as the biggest competition? “The Fantas won last year, but that doesn’t mean anything. I’m more afraid of Lena and Wincent this year,” says Soler. Many talents joined the two in the past season and his colleagues have positioned themselves well, he says. The singer explains that the kids “always want to go to Lena” with the fact that the musician has been with “The Voice Kids” for the longest time as a coach. “You know her best, she’s a familiar face.”
Nevertheless, his motivation to win with his team is very high, “but I have to step it up a notch,” says Soler. As strengths he brings “international power, cosmopolitanism and joy for music” which will hopefully convince the talents. “My team always feels like a small family, so I look forward to creating that again.” He is now good with children, says the singer, who has two siblings and could also imagine himself in a father role. “It wasn’t always like that, when I was young I had to take care of myself first (laughs).”
“Too Shy” for “The Voice Kids”
The children who come to “The Voice Kids” are “already very advanced in terms of music and character,” he says of the special talents. “You have to be a certain kind of kid for the show to even have the strength and nerve to do it.” He admires the talents above all for their courage, which he would not have had as a child. “I would never have done the show back then. I was way too shy for that.”
He was never really a stage person either, “but when my song ‘El mismo sol’ went through the roof, I had to pull myself together and see what I was doing with my arms on stage (laughs). I was very insecure, standing in front of so many people and had to get in there,” says Soler, looking back on his beginnings. He didn’t have any musical role models. “Of course, my parents always supported me. But I didn’t know anyone else in the music industry, so it was difficult to find your way there and not fall for the wrong people.” He also studied something completely different at first, “because I didn’t think that you could make money with music and that you could even make a living from it. I only understood late that music is also a job from which you pay your rent can.”
“Draught ambition” misplaced
He wanted to tell the talents of “The Voice Kids” that “it doesn’t matter if you don’t get ahead or don’t win. You still have your whole life ahead of you and just take participation with you as an experience. It’s supposed to be like a little internship be for them, to give them a glimpse into a part of the music world so they can decide whether or not they want to go ahead with it. There’s no pressure. You don’t have to go home and release an album right away.” The nice thing about the show is “that you can convey this positive attitude towards the music and the fun and not dogged ambition”. Soler, who has already lived in Spain and Japan, has experienced the different ways in which children’s talents can be encouraged. “The clichés are actually true. Japan is very traditional and strict. People put a lot of pressure on themselves, which isn’t good either. In Spain everything is more relaxed and the children are more relaxed.”
Soler is not only present this year as “The Voice Kids” coach, but also as a musician. In the summer, the musician has planned several concerts. “In any case, I’ll play, I’m not afraid of that,” the musician says confidently, despite the ongoing uncertainties in the cultural industry. He also planned to “release many songs and get more involved in the studio. Last year was mainly a live year with a European tour and festivals. It was an incredible time that was so good for everyone. But now I want to go back take more time for the music.”