Tulsa World (Dec. 16th 2007)

Singing for Oklahoma

Blake Shelton is no choir boy.

As a high-schooler, this country music superstar used to make fun of choir boys. Now he's leading his own choir on NBC's new four-night live musical competition "Clash of the Choirs" starting Monday.

The 31-year-old native of Ada joins Patti LaBelle, Michael Bolton, Kelly Rowland and Nick Lachey on the show, which challenges the music stars to find, rehearse and present their amateur choirs in a live, four-night competition.

Like "American Idol," America gets to vote for the winner, who will receive $250,000 for the charity of his or her choice.

"I'm not sure why they decided on me," said Shelton who was driving to Houston for a performance during the interview. "It's not something I pursued. We got a call one day from somebody at NBC and they pitched this idea and wanted me to represent the state of Oklahoma and country music."

So, had Shelton ever been in a choir?

"God, no," he said, laughing. "We always made fun of the choir boys in high school."

Shelton, whose new CD "Pure BS" launched in June, said he agreed to do the show for a variety of

reasons.

"Selfishly, because I'm going to be in front of more people in one night than in 10 years of touring," he explained. "They are expecting 15 million (viewers).

"Secondly, I'm honored to be representing Oklahoma in this thing, and it would really mean a lot to turn the money over to Project Rebuild (a charity benefiting Oklahomans who lost homes to storms and wildfires.)

"Third, I'm the only country artist they asked. That shows me that somewhere along the line people have been paying attention.

I'm not a country superstar but at least some people have noticed some of the things I have accomplished along the way."

For the competition, the choir leaders headed to their hometowns -- Lachey to Cincinnati; Rowland to Atlanta; LaBelle to Philadelphia and Bolton to New Haven, Conn.--to find 20 amateur choir members.

Shelton looked in Ada and in Oklahoma City, where the auditions were held.

One of those chosen for the choir was 20-year-old Megan Roberts of Ada.

"She walked into the audition and the first thing she said was 'My dad was one of your teachers in high school,'" Shelton said. "I remember Mr. (Chuck) Roberts and all the problems he and I had. Once, he kicked me out of class for three weeks. I told her she already had a strike against her because of her dad--but then she opened her mouth and sang . . ."

Shelton has had more than a dozen hit singles on the Billboard charts, and each of his first three albums sold more than 500,000 copies.

For "Choirs," Shelton found himself on the opposite side of the microphone.

"I told them I wasn't going to sit here and be mean or anything, but I was trying to be honest," he said. "By the same token, it's Oklahoma and it's no secret that our state has an endless pool of talent.

"With the exception of six or seven (of those auditioning), they had talent. Some had a lot of talent where I couldn't believe they weren't pursuing music full time."

Shelton said his choir will be "a little bit more country" than the others, but they also will toss in lots of rock- and pop-style music.

He plans to be on stage with his group throughout the competition, and may even play a little guitar.

What about choreography?

"Yeah, I'm teaching them the monkey and the centipede . . . Naw! To be honest with you, I think choreography sucks and I don't want to watch that stuff. We will spend every second of our rehearsals learning to make the best music we can.

"It may be the wrong way to do it, but that's how I approach my career."

One choir will be eliminated each night starting Tuesday with the finals on Thursday.

Should that happens, 20 percent of the prize money will be donated to military funds for families; two of Shelton's male singers are stationed at Fort Sill--and 80 percent will go to Project Rebuild.

In September, Shelton donated $100,000 from his second "Raindance" concert to that charity to help Oklahomans affected by summer flooding and severe weather.

In 2006, his first "Raindance" concert benefited victims of this state's wildfires.

We really need to pull together for Oklahoma so, people, let's make Oklahoma the winner," he said.