Carter Rubin is ‘The Voice!’ Shoreham teen, just 15, wins NBC musical competition
He did it!
Carter Rubin, the Shoreham teen who captivated viewers across America with his powerful voice, charming personality and innocent smile, became the winner of the 19th season of NBC’s “The Voice” Tuesday night.
Show host Carson Daly announced the result just before 11 p.m., counting down the top five in reverse order in a tense and dramatic few minutes, to conclude a two-day series of live finale episodes. After Mr. Daly announced the bottom three, Carter was solidified as one of the top two finishers.
Carter clenched his hands together as Mr. Daly ultimately announced his name and confetti began to fall around him on stage.
The win capped an incredible journey that began nearly 10 months earlier, before the pandemic took hold of the country, during an audition in Boston. Since Carter’s Blind Audition episode aired in October, his popularity quickly soared as he left the celebrity coaches in awe each time he performed.
Just before the final result was unveiled, Carter said to his coach, Gwen Stefani: “Not only are you a phenomenal coach, you’re a really phenomenal human. If I’ve learned one thing from you, it’s that you’ve shown me it’s OK to be myself. It’s a dream come true to work with you and I’m so grateful and honored to have gotten to this point.”
Carter beat out the other finalists: John Holiday, 35, of Team [John] Legend, DeSz, 30, of Team Kelly [Clarkson], Jim Ranger, 38, of Team Blake [Shelton] and Ian Flanigan, 30, of Team Blake.
Mr. Holliday was announced as fifth place, followed by DeSz in fourth, Mr. Flanigan in third and Mr. Ranger in second.
As the grand prize winner, Carter earns a recording contract, all before he finishes his sophomore year at Shoreham-Wading River High School.
At the beginning of Tuesday’s episode, Mr. Daly spoke with Ms. Stefani about what it had been like coaching Carter, whom he referred to as a “phenom.”
“For me, I just hope that Carter realizes it’s just a series of moments that we are all in in this life and that winning is just one part of one moment,” she said.
She added that she hopes for Carter to learn an instrument to help him become a songwriter.
“He has such a big heart, I think he has some really good songs inside him,” she said.
Carter was still 14 when he performed Lewis Capaldi’s “Before You Go” in front of coaches Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, Blake Shelton and Ms. Stefani. On that night, Mr. Legend was the first coach to rotate his chair, guaranteeing Carter would advance to the next level on the show.
“You sounded polished, you sounded strong,” Mr. Legend told Carter that night. “Your voice has control, which a lot of people your age wouldn’t have. And your tone is just piercing and brilliant and it just shimmers out there.”
He continued to shine during the Battle Rounds, Knockouts and ultimately the live shows.
Carter became the youngest male performer to win the show. Brynn Cartelli, the winner of Season 14, was also 15 when she won.
On Tuesday’s festive episode — voting ended early in the morning — Carter sang a duet with Ms. Stefani. They performed Ms. Stefani’s song “You Make it Feel Like Christmas,” a song she originally wrote with fellow coach Mr. Shelton, her partner.
Wearing a green tuxedo, Carter lit up the stage for the final time.
Viewers based their final votes off of Monday’s performances when Carter sang the Miley Cyrus song “The Climb,” followed by his first original song, “Up From Here.”
