EXCLUSIVE | 'The Voice' Season 19 winner Carter Rubin reveals 'his driving force' and his plans post winning show
Singing in front of musical legends like Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson, John Legend and Gwen Stefani, can be an intimidating task even for a seasoned singer. But fifteen-year-old Carter Rubin stepped on the stage of 'The Voice' brimming with confidence and flashing his bright smile. Ever since his first performance, he has managed to constantly leave the coaches awestruck with his talent. So, it came as no surprise when this youngster managed to make history by becoming the youngest winner of 'The Voice'.
In an exclusive interview with MEAWW, Carter shared what pushed him to participate on 'The Voice', his experience on the show and future plans after winning the coveted competition show.
We began the interview by asking the teenager how he found himself as a contestant on NBC's hit reality singing competition show. "Well, I went to an audition in Massachusetts, back in February before, before Covid-19 happened. And then the world kind of just shut down for a minute. And I was like, what if this wasn't happening? And I was like, starting to lose hope, but luckily they contacted me and I was flown out to LA in July for my blind audition, following all the safety, precautions and everything. And I was lucky enough to not only have one chair turn around, but two chairs, and I luckily ended up here," shared Carter.
When Carter's coach Gwen first heard his voice, she assumed that it belonged to a middle-aged woman, but was both shocked and pleasantly surprised to discover that it was a fourteen-year-old boy behind the incredible vocals that left her impressed. Although he was only 14 at the time of auditions, Carter's voice had the coaches feeling like he had been singing for a lifetime. So, we asked if he was always drawn to singing. "Yes, I was ever since I was a baby, I was singing before I could talk. I have always loved music and I think I started taking it a little more seriously as time passed. And I realized that like, this is, I love this so much and this is what I want to do, like forever," he revealed.
When asked what prompted him to audition for 'The Voice', Carter explained how his grandfather played a huge role in pushing him to follow his dreams and try out for 'The Voice'. "My grandpa was in a band back in the day called Jay and The Americans and he was around my age when he started and he has helped me so much today has given me lot of advice investing in performing. And I think that he just really pushed. He's always pushing for me to follow my dreams and this has been my dream forever. And so he was definitely the driving force for me to get on the show," shared the singer.
The bond between Gwen and Carter has won many hearts, while there's no denying that the youngster couldn't have gotten a better coach than Gwen, we couldn't help but wonder if it weren't for the 'Hollaback Girl' who else he would have picked as his coach. He initially replied with Kelly because he enjoys her songs, before quickly adding that he loves John and Blake too.
Winning 'The Voice' at the tender age of 15 is a huge feat, so we asked Carter how he felt about it. "It's been so surreal. Like I can't even comprehend. I'm still in shock that I've gotten to this point and I'm just so happy with the way things turned out," shared Carter. He added, "I want to show other young singers that they don't have to wait to follow their dreams. They can go pursue whatever they want to pursue. Like right now there's no need to wait if you're very invested in something and you love what you do and you have your heart set on it, just go for it because if you're chasing your dreams, then that's when you're happiest."
Winning 'The Voice' is only the first step for Carter. The young singer has some huge plans for himself after the show. He shares, "I plan on writing some songs. I want to go in the studio and start recording them. And I also, once COVID is over, I want to perform for live audiences. Yes. Hopefully looking forward to it." We can't wait to see Carter making it big in the music industry.