Joe Jonas is a superstar. There's no way around that. So it's no surprise the 22-year-old triple threat was chosen as one of four mentors on The CW's new singing competition The Next.
The premise: Joe, along with fellow mentors Gloria Estefan, John Rich and Nelly, travel to different cities across the U.S. each teaming up with an emerging artist from that area. They spend the next 72 hours prepping that person for a live performance where the audience votes on the winner. He or she gets a ticket to the finals in L.A. where they will compete against winners from other cities (and one wildcard) for a life-changing record contract with Atlantic Records.
Joe recently sat down with Ology on set in New York to talk about his experiences mentoring and what we can expect. Check it out below! And be on the lookout this coming week for my interviews with the other mentors!
Ology: So how did you get involved with the show?
Joe Jonas: The producers reached out to me. I met them a couple of times. We sat down together. First I was thinking, "OK, another music talent search show." That’s my first thought, but once they explained the concept to me, it was totally different. The fact that I’m really going to be joining these people’s lives for three days, spending time with them while they do their own jobs, while they work and whatnot, to really dive in and help them, that was probably the biggest thing for me. The fact that I could spend one-on-one time with different artists in each city. You’re able to really spend time with artists that maybe didn’t get the shot they deserve or they have tried and failed, so I’m happy to help.
How would you describe your mentoring style?
I like to have fun with each contestant, try to come up with different concepts. I also just bring out my personal experiences and let them use that as an advantage like, "This is what I’ve gone through, you can either take it or leave it, but this is the kind of stuff I’ve gone through in my career, and hopefully it will help."
How did the contestants react to meeting to you? Were any of them star-struck? Did it take them a while to warm up to you?
Yeah. The guy in New York, he was very star struck. He was in the middle of teaching a class. He was choreographing like 120 kids, and I walked in and surprised him and he went from a very intense choreographer to shocked and shy. It was really exciting to see.
How is it working with the other mentors?
Working with the other mentors has been great! They’re all fun – John Rich, Nelly, Gloria Estefan – they are so much fun to sit down with in those chairs and laugh. And we’ve really been able to get to know each other throughout the different cities, just sit down and talk, and sit back and enjoy the show.
What is the hardest thing to teach someone when you’re mentoring them?
The hardest thing is you have to really be honest sometimes, and when it comes down to vocally or performance-wise, you have to sometimes say, "You should probably cut this out" or "I think you should do a different song." Just being completely honest with the people because of the situations.
Are they receptive to that?
Yeah, they’re pretty receptive. I mean, I think that sometimes it flies right over their heads (laughs), but luckily, I’ve been able to work with artists that are really smart and understanding.
Was there someone in your life who gave you really good career advice that you pass on to others?
I’ve been able to get advice from a few different people. One, funny enough, Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys. He told me once "Learn from the people around you that you respect a lot and their mistakes, so you don’t make the same." A lot of young people, a lot of artists, and also my dad always said "Live life at the bottom in order to get to the top."I try to tell them that because, you know, this competition isn’t handed to them, and it’s really hard work. There’s good competition. They’re all great, and they’re all here for a reason so that’s when it comes to the test. The audience decides, so you can’t point fingers at us as the mentors. We’re doing everything we can. So that’s what I think I try to instill with these musicians the most.
The Next premieres Thursday, Aug. 16 at 9 p.m. on The CW.
Will you be watching? Let us know in the comments!
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