Jake Hoot, a 31-year-old country artist originally from Corpus Christi, Texas, and currently living in Cookeville, Tenn., was crowned champion of The Voice Tuesday night (Dec 17). Originally a one-chair-turn, Jake earned Coach Kelly Clarkson her third Voice win out of four consecutive cycles on the musical competition series.
As of Tuesday morning, Jake had six songs in the Top 10 of the iTunes Country Singles chart. This is more than any other singer in the history of the show has had in the Top 10 at one time. Additionally, Jake had four songs in the Top 10 on the Overall Singles chart. Hoot’s duet of “Wintersong” with Clarkson climbed as high as #2 on the iTunes Overall Singles chart, making it the highest-charting coach duet in the history of the show.
Last week Hoot hit #1 on both the Overall Singles chart and the Country Singles chart in iTunes with his cover of “Desperado.” He reached the Top 10 on the Country Singles chart with seven different songs this season, with two of those hitting #1.
Jake talks to the press with Kelly right after the singer’s win. Highlights:
- Kelly points out that season 12 winner Chris Blue was a one chair turn, but only Alicia was available to hit her button. Jake is the first The Voice one chair winner who was available to all four coaches.
- Jake picked most of his songs, including the duet “Wintersong” with Kelly. “People think I did a lot,” says Kelly. “I didn’t!”
- “I sat in a chair….I encouraged him,” Kelly says of her hands off coaching style. “I am a pretty good cheerleader,” she says, “I just got to be there to encourage them and push them in certain directions.”
- “She helped me get out of my shell on stage,” Jake says. He doubted himself a lot, and Kelly helped with that.
- Not one reporter asked about his Jake’s career plans or the kind of music he’d like to make. Sheesh.
Jake’s competition included his fellow Top 4 finalists — Ricky Duran from Team Blake Shelton, Katie Kadan from Team John Legend and Rose Short from Team Gwen Stefani. This was the first finale in seven seasons in which all four coaches had an artist competing in the finale.
This season of The Voice concluded at Universal Studios with a star-studded live finale featuring performances by former coach Jennifer Hudson, Black Eyed Peas, Luke Combs, Lady Antebellum, Dua Lipa and Season 16 winner Maelyn. Additionally, the finale featured the Top 4 artists collaborating with an assortment of musicians, including Yolanda Adams, Gary Clark Jr., Adam Lambert and Little Big Town, who performed a duet of “Over Drinking” with Jake.
The Voice Season 17 Finale Results Live Blog – Winner Revealed!
On Monday night (Dec 16) Jake debuted his original single, “Better Off Without You,” which he wrote along with David Allan Pahanish. Clarkson joined Hoot on stage for a duet of “Wintersong” by Sarah McLachlan, and he performed a stunning rendition of Lonestar’s “Amazed.”
The Voice 17 Recap Finale Top 4 Perform (Live Blog VIDEO)
As champion of The Voice, Jake has earned the grand prize of a recording contract.
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