One of the biggest criticisms The Voice has faced in its 14 years on the air is the fact that the show has failed to produce superstars of the same caliber as Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, etc., from American Idol. Michael Bublé is doing his part to change that, as he just made a huge gesture to help launch the career of The Voice Season 26 winner Sofronio Vasquez, proving that Bublé has taken a cue from Blake Shelton.
Sofronio Vasquez Is Releasing An EP Produced By Michael Bublé
Michael Bublé is gearing up to appear on his third straight season of The Voice when it returns to the 2025 TV schedule on September 22, but that’s not all he’s got going on. Sofronio Vasquez, who gave the Canadian crooner his first win on the show, made a big career announcement, telling The Filipino Times:
I’m excited to share that Michael Bublé is producing my EP. We did some of the songs already. In our recent conversation, a duet Christmas song featuring me and him will be first. We’re [also] doing an English-Tagalog song.
So not only will Michael Bublé produce his former team member’s EP, but the two will collaborate on a couple of songs, including a Christmas number that I’m assuming we’ll get a little closer to the holidays. Bublé isn’t the only big name Sofronio Vasquez is working with, either, as The Voice coach said on Instagram that music legends Paul Anka and David Foster helped to launch his career, and now he’s joining them to pay it forward for Vasquez. Bublé wrote:
This is a pretty huge deal, and nobody seems to understand that more than The Voice winner himself, who responded to his coach’s post by saying:
I’ve knocked on so many doors for so long, just hoping for a shot at my dreams. I’m incredibly grateful to Michael Bublé for being an all-around awesome human — thank you for opening many doors for me. Thank you for being both a mentor and a sponsor. Mentors help you become better, but sponsors open doors for you. We need both, and I’m lucky to have found both in you. My heart is overflowing with gratitude.
The mentors on The Voice have likely helped many artists during the course of the singing competition, but they're under no obligation to the budding artists past that. One former coach, however, is well-known for being that “sponsor” that Sofronio Vasquez talked about.
Michael Bublé Taking A Page Out Of Blake Shelton’s Book By Helping His Voice Team Member
Though the two coaches never crossed paths on the show, Michael Bublé’s willingness to help foster his team member’s career reminds me of how Blake Shelton is known for staying in touch with past contestants. The cowboy won The Voice nine times over the first 23 seasons of the show, but he likely changed the lives of many more. He’s dueted with former team members, brought them along on tour and given them the stage at his bar Ole Red.
Season 9 runner-up Emily Ann Roberts said following her stint in 2015, her former coach was making calls to get her meetings with industry execs, and she went on to open for Blake Shelton on tour. Season 21’s Lana Scott had a sweet run-in with Shelton at his bar once and has said she’s grateful for the “opportunities he’s given me at Ole Red and around the country.”
In fact, the country music star made such an impression on those he worked with on the show that all nine of his winners and several more team members showed up to pay tribute to him on his final episode of The Voice.
Michael Bublé showed hints that he was willing to follow a similar path on Season 27, when he gave parting contestants his phone number to stay in touch. I’m excited to see what he and Sofronio Vasquez do together and if the coach continues to be a mentor for others outside of the show.
You can catch Michael Bublé on the upcoming 28th season of The Voice, premiering at 8 p.m. ET Monday, September 22, on NBC and streaming the next day with a Peacock subscription.
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