‘The Voice’: Riley Green Reveals Most Difficult Part of Filming the Blind Auditions

Riley Green‘s gig as a coach on The Voice is officially underway. The country singer and fellow coaches Kelly Clarkson, Adam Levine, and Queen Latifah filmed the Blind Auditions for Season 30 last month, and Green opened up about the experience during an interview on Theo Von‘s podcast.

One of the hardest parts for Green in the Blind Auditions was coming up with what to say to the contestants he chose not to turn his chair around for. “It does get tough to find new things to say when somebody’s not quite good,” he admitted. “Musically, there’s only so many terms. I’m sitting there … I don’t want to say the same thing over and over again.”

Green pointed out that, for the most part, “nerves” are what the contestants struggle with. “You can tell they’re very talented singers, but they come on there and it’s a very awkward thing,” he explained. “You got chairs facing away, lights on, cameras on, television audience there. They start singing and they’re really winded, which is a nerves thing. They can’t catch their breath. It’s people’s dreams, you know?”

He also came up with an idea for the Blind Auditions moving forward, suggesting that the coaches‘ chairs should actually start facing towards the contestants. “And then you turn away when you don’t like it,” he said. “What would be tough is you’re going to be looking at them, so it’s personal. The surprise [now] is when you turn, sometimes people don’t look like they sound. It’s not who or what you think it is.”

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Continuing to pitch his new idea, he added, “You’re sitting there, they’re singing their little heart out, and you just turn [away]. Yes, it’ll be awkward for a split second, but then you’re facing the other way, you’re good. The problem with what we’re doing now is I’m facing away, then when I don’t turn, they still turn your chair [after], and you gotta explain why you didn’t turn. It’s tough.”

Green admitted that he’s the “least famous” person on the coaches’ panel this year, but is looking at that as something positive. “The fact that I can tell I’m not as well-known in that world only tells me how much I’ll gain from it,” he shared. “It’s putting me in front of so many different people.”

The Voice, Season 30 Premiere, Monday, September 21, 8/7c, NBC