Adrienne Bailon-Houghton returned to her judge seat this season for Fox’s competition show I Can See Your Voice.
Host Ken Jeong and fellow panelist comedian actor Cheryl Hines join Bailon-Houghton as they sort through the mystery of guessing which contestant is a bad singer without hearing a single note.
Contestants have to make it through three rounds, one of lip-synching their hearts out and a second one of mixing the imposters with the real singers. If they are lucky enough to make it to the third, they finally reveal their speaking voices to the judges.
Bailon-Houghton said that’s where things get interesting.
“We have to figure out if the face matches the tone of that voice, the sound of that voice, like how does that work? So it gets crazy, and then you don’t know until two singers are standing. Then, we finally get to hear what people’s talking voice sounds like. And that’s usually a big giveaway on if you’re a good singer or not,” the former The Real host told Blavity’s Shadow and Act in a recent interview.
The self-proclaimed “perpetual girl group member” has appeared on stage as a member of the impactful 2000s singing trio 3LW and in the cast of Disney’s The Cheetah Girls.
Her experience as a performer has given her some professional insight into what to look for when contestants take the stage.
“I’m super detail-oriented,” Bailon-Houghton said.
She stated she pays attention to the form of the performers’ mouths, ensuring they match the song. She also notices their throats, breathing and even how they hold the mic.
Although the multihyphenate has some tricks to spot an imposter, the people with actual talent can be tricky.
“Here’s what really messes me up: good singers are usually terrible lip-synchers,” she revealed.
Bailon-Houghton admitted she’d had trials with lip-synching and recalled when a Soul Train performance left her confused when she realized she wouldn’t be singing live, which was a foreign concept to her.
“I just remember being like, ‘Ugh, I hate this,” the singer said.
She also shared the excitement of solving the music mystery with her husband, Grammy-winning gospel artist Israel Houghton, and their son, Ever James.
The proud mom shared that Ever James has a knack for lip-synching himself, as he often imitates her and his father. However, he does have some favorites outside of his parents.
“He loves him some Tasha Cobbs and Jonathan Reynolds,” she shared.
In addition to prolonging her 25-plus-year career and mommy duty, Bailon-Houghton is expanding her entrepreneurial portfolio.
Her brand, LA VOÛTE by Adrienne Houghton, offers everything she loves, including luxury loungewear, affordable luxury jewelry, vegan leather handbags and suits ideal for girl bosses everywhere.
New episodes of I Can See Your Voice air on Fox every Thursday at 8 p.m. ET.
