Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — After a long journey of blind auditions, battle-royale competition and a vocal performance playoff, the winner of “The Voice” was revealed Tuesday night.
Josh Kaufman walked away with the title on the sixth season of the hit NBC reality competition. The winner, which is determined in part by iTunes sales amongst the three finalists, was made all the more difficult to assume after an unknown iTunes error made it hard to find Josh’s song as late as Monday evening.
Producers decided the only fair thing would be to throw out those numbers for all the finalists. The former teacher from Indiana then won a record deal with Universal Republic Records after tallying the votes from this week’s performance.
Though neither of them won, or even made the final three, two Provo teenagers earned an experience of a lifetime by being among this season’s top contenders. Madelyn Paige, 16, and Tanner James, 19, faced each other in a no-holds barred competition as Team Usher teammates were pitted against each other in the battle rounds.
Madilyn won the night, and was safe for few weeks. But the Timpview High School student was eventually eliminated before the final rounds.
“All I know since yesterday is everything has changed,” she said.
Everything could have changed for former BYU students Ryan Innes and Amy Whitcomb when they entered “The Voice” in season 4. But it hasn’t.
“The path that I was on before ‘The Voice’ was very much the same after being off,” said Innes, who makes his home in Utah.
“The year after ‘The Voice’ has been kind of a whirlwind,” he added. “In some ways, I’ve had a lot of corporate gigs, a lot of incoming requests for all kinds of stuff.”
Innes seemed to adapt naturally to the bright lights of the show, but Whitcomb admits she was overwhelmed at first.
So she sought a familiar face — that of Innes.
“You have to have someone to vent to as well, if there’s an issue,” Whitcomb said. “And just talk things out and build each other’s confidence.”
Both Innes and Whitcomb eventually felt slightly underwhelmed by the show and how ‘produced’ it was. The made-for-TV event became less a focus on getting better as singers, they said.
“It’s a lot of hurry up and wait,” Innes said. “It’s a lot of TV, you know; you spend a lot of time in wardrobe and hair and makeup and practice, and there’s all these background things that you do just so you can get on stage and sing for 90 seconds.”
The year after 'the Voice' has been kind of a whirlwind. In some ways, I've had a lot of corporate gigs, a lot of incoming requests for all kinds of stuff.
–Ryan Innes, former 'the Voice' contestant
Both contestants hope "The Voice" was just another step on their road to success, rather than a destination. For Whitcomb, the next step includes a new album, which she is set to record soon.
“I have so many ideas running through my head of what I want it to sound like, so I’m excited to buckle down and get that done and kinda go from there,” she said.
Innes continues to actively tour, opening for groups like Boys II Men. For now, he’s just waiting for his next big break.
“That’s how I’d like things to pan out,” he said. “I don’t want it to be the reason things happen for me. I don’t want that to be the thing people remember about me. I just need it to be a good side note about my career.”
Contributing: Sean Walker
