AMERICANWAY

copious rough roads that led them to a sing- ing competition where Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and now Gwen Stefani and Pharrell Williams stand between them and the teasing promise of stardom. After studying contes- tants' stories in the days and weeks before- hand, Daly listens to Yurchuck's recaps, then pores over a one-page briefi ng. By the time he reaches a could-be Voice, he knows their life story — the highlights and the low notes. "What you see is what you get," Yurchuck says. "He's open. He's gone through hard times in his own life, like losing his dad, and he's open about stu like that, and I think that puts people at ease. But he has no prob- lems going up to just about anyone anywhere and talking with them on a real level, and I think people appreciate that and gravitate toward that." Da ly a lso li kes ta lk ing about himself, maybe because he's eager to prove he's not all the things people who don't know him like to say he is. "I'm right here, and I hope to not go any where," he says. "I hope any- body who writes and has a problem with me, I hope I meet them in a bar and I can buy them a drink or spend time like I did with you. Or maybe someone will write a piece and refl ect where I am in my life and that will be relatable to people. Great, I welcome them with open arms. Otherwise, I'll see ya when I see ya. I'm not going to worry about perception." And why should he when rea lit y is so much better? Consider: You can wake up with Carson Daly on Today, where he meets and greets guests in the Orange Room when not sor ting throug h t he mor n i n g 's t e x t s a nd t weets, and then as he sometimes covers exclusive stories. Then you can grab an eve- ning drink with Carson Daly on The Voice, as he consoles contestants who are one bad performance away from being booted. Then you can fall asleep with Carson Daly as he intros Last Call, the increasingly highfalutin talk show he still produces and hosts. Because he's good, and because he's lucky, Carson has become the "C" in NBC — the Peacock Network's outta-nowhere franchise player. Not long ago, he was this close to being out altogether. In 2010, Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien be- gan their infamous tussle over the 11:35 p.m. time slot, which O'Brien had as the recently crowned king of The Tonight Show and Leno wa nted back ( because N BC wa nted him there). If Leno returned and O'Brien stayed, then everyone would have been pushed back, including Late Night 's Jimmy Fallon, at the time just a year into the gig. Daly, finally, would have run out of road. The decision was ultimately O'Brien's, a nd on Ja n . 1 1 , 2 010, he opened T he Tonight Show with the following introduc- tion: "Good evening, every- body. I'm Conan O'Brien, the new host of Last Call With Carson Daly." At least one guy did not think it was es- pecially hilarious. "I was an hour away" from not having a job, Daly recalls. "My phone rang at my house. Last Call was all I had, and it was like, 'FYI, should Conan agree to host The Tonight Show in a new time slot, which was half an hour later, that would just push you off the schedule.' W hich symbolically was like someone pushing me o the edge of Earth." At the time, Daly and his fiancée, food blogger Siri Pinter — who recently welcomed To learn more about NBC's The Voice, visit www.nbc.com/the-voice 3 SHOWS NBC PROGRAMMING CURRENTLY FEATURING CARSON DALY 70 N OV E M B E R 2 01 4 A A .CO M/A M E R I C A NWAY

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