-Oh, man. -Hey!
-I'm so happy you're here, and I loved singing with you.
Man, oh, man. We've been --
We've been doing this for a while now, me and you singing.
-We make a great team. -We really do, bud.
Is it true that your dream was to be a backup singer?
-Yes, and that died. Yeah, that -- Yeah.
[ Both laugh ] -That was my dream.
'Cause I thought it'd be so cool.
I love so many types of artists and all different genres,
so I thought it'd be cool to get to travel with different artists
and go all over the world and sing different genres of music.
So that didn't work out.
-No. Did you ever sing backup when you were starting out?
-No, I sang -- I mean, I sang with people all the time, like,
growing up, like, sang in different groups and stuff,
but as far like being paid professionally, no,
I just did, like, demo work. I was, like, a demo singer.
-I would freak out if I saw you as a back--
I'm, like -- What? Who's that?
-I loved it, though. So, Reba McEntire and I
actually did a tour together, and it was fun,
because we switched, and every time one would do their song,
we'd sing backup for them on the song.
Like, she would sing my pop-rock stuff,
and I would sing her stuff, and we'd be background singers,
basically, for those songs. It was so fun.
-With Reba? -Yeah.
-That's legendary. -Yeah.
-Well, you sing all kinds of songs on your show
in your Kellyoke segment, which has blown up.
It is the biggest thing.
I mean, I love that, because I remember talking to you
right before you were starting the show, and you're like,
"Yeah, I have a great band, I might sing,
I might do a thing," and you had it all planned out, and I go,
"All right, man," and, dude, you really did it.
And you're crushing it. I mean, it's --
-Well, I think ignorance is bliss, Jimmy.
I had no idea what the hell I was doing.
So, like, everybody was like,
"You should do a show," and I was like, "Okay."
Like, I didn't have a plan, so I thought,
"Well, we should incorporate music, obviously."
-But then, you won an Emmy for it.
-I did! -Congratulations.
-Oh, my gosh.
You have to hear how I found out I won.
So, everything's weird now, like awards shows.
Everything's different now.
So you it's not, like, normal, and usually you're there.
So I have had a really different kind of couple of months
than what maybe I was expecting my future to look like
a few months ago.
And so, I'm with my kids, and I'm really present with them,
I'm kind of single-momming it now, so I'm like, you know,
with Legos, I'm coloring,
I never have my phone on, never watch TV.
Totally forgot that the Emmys were -- just totally --
I blanked 'cause I'm just so hyper-focused,
and there's a lot going on in my life.
And so, it's kind of been a rough month for me
at that point, and my executive producer
just calls me and like, out of nowhere for me,
I'm just sitting there playing Legos, and she was like,
"You're the best host."
And I was like -- And I almost started crying.
I was like, "Thank you so much."
I was like -- -"You are so sweet!"
-"You're so nice!" I was like, "You're so --
This is a kind thing to do, Alex,
to just call someone and tell them they're good at something.
I needed that." And she was like, "No, you won,
at the Emmys," and I was like, "What?!"
And then my kids were like, "You won!"
They were, like, sitting there, and they were so excited.
They had no idea why they're excited,
but they were freaking out. Yeah, that was how I found out.
-That's so cool. What do you think now?
You're back in the studio, right?
-Yes. -Which is --
How's it like for you? I know it's --
You're coming back September 21st.
Does it feel odd to you, going back in the studio?
Is it safe? Obviously, it's safe, but...
-I don't know -- Yes, oh, my gosh.
I am the safest person around.
'Cause, like, "The Voice," like, other jobs, this job --
I have to take a test for all of them, so I take, like --
Carson Daly and I -- we take like eight tests a week.
-Yeah. -We are very, very safe,
and the all guidelines -- you get it.
It's very different. But I don't know how you feel,
but I, because my show actually ran throughout the summer
because we were trying to finish out my first season.
And it's been running this whole time, honestly.
And I adapt pretty easily in life,
so I didn't really --
Like, everybody was like, "Oh, is it weird singing?
There's no people there," and I was like,
"Well, no, 'cause I sing in a studio all the time anyway."
And then they're like, "Oh, is it weird interviewing?"
And I was like, "Well, it really was just my first time
doing this anyways, so I didn't really know what the norm was."
So I was just kind of like,
"Yeah, however we're gonna do it, let's do it."
So it hasn't really bothered me either way,
and being back in the studio, it's kind of cool
'cause we have a virtual audience,
and they're from all over the world, and so --
and they're all there, like, in the audience seats.
And we have guests, like, there in person
and also still coming virtually,
and we kind of sit the screen next to me.
So it's interesting, and it's definitely
technical-difficulty hell sometimes,
but it's worth it, though. It's worth it.
-Yeah. So, the audience is there so you can actually see
people in the audience -- -Yeah.
-I play off of my audience, and they're from, like, everywhere.
That's kind of the cool thing
is our whole show is about connections.
So the cool thing is, we really are connecting,
like, all over the globe.
-That is unbelievable.
And are they doing the same thing on "The Voice"?
I know you're coming back.
-Yeah, they're doing it on "The Voice," too.
It's not as -- It can't be as interactive on "The Voice"
just because of all the elements in play.
It's a little more interactive on the TV show,
but on "The Voice," they do.
They have a huge thing in the screen,
and we can interact with them. It's just a little --
You know, it's more about the artist, obviously, there,
and it's more of, like, they're just watching,
and we chime in every now and then with them.
But it's interesting, though, because even doing "The Voice,"
you hear everything. It's far more intimate.
It's really different, and it's kind of cool.
All the coaches are kinda like, "This is cool."
-You can hear everyone's -- actually hear their voice.
-No, well, I just mean, you can hear --
Like, the crowd goes wild on certain parts,
and you're like, "Wait! We can't hear everything."
-Yeah. -And then my mom will call me
and be like, "Why did you say they did good?
They were so off-key." And I was --
-I love mom. I love mom so much.
Come on. What would you do without your mom?
Well, congrats on "The Voice" in October,
you have your show coming back September 21st.
Pal, you're one of my faves.
Thank you so much for doing the show.
I appreciate it.
We always have fun together, so thank you for doing that.