“The confetti and all of that big production stuff just felt absolutely surreal,” describes Carter Rubin as he recalls the moment host Carson Daly announced him as the Season 19 winner of “The Voice.” “I’ve been watching ‘The Voice’ for years and I see all of the winners and how they react. I joke around with my mom like, ‘Imagine, imagine,’ and now I’m actually one of those people. It’s completely insane.” Watch our exclusive interview with Carter in the video above. Read our minute-by-minute live blog to see how it all went down.
Carter became the first artist from Team Gwen Stefani to ever win the title, one of his accomplishments he’s most proud of. “If I had one reason to win it was definitely for her,” he says. “She is such a phenomenal coach and somehow she’s never won before, which is crazy.” Jim Ranger was the runner-up and Ian Flanigan finished third, both of whom were on Team Blake Shelton. Desz from Team Kelly Clarkson and John Holiday from Team John Legend rounded out the top five.
SEE Uh-oh! Did Blake Shelton’s 2 finalists on ‘The Voice’ split the vote?
Over the course of the season Carter delivered eight performances on his path to victory: “Before You Go” (Blinds), “Like I’m Gonna Lose You” (Battles), “You Say” (Knockouts), “Hero” (Live Playoffs), “Rainbow Connection” (Semifinals), “The Climb” (Finale), “Never Learn” (Finale) and “You Make It Feel Like Christmas” with Gwen (Finale).
At 15 years old, Carter is the youngest male artist to ever win “The Voice.” Season 14 champ Brynn Cartelli was just 15 as well when she won the title for Team Kelly in 2018. Carter’s coach, Gwen, will take a break in Season 20 with Nick Jonas returning in the spring to rejoin Blake, John and Kelly on the coaching panel.
Also in our video interview, Carter talks about which fellow contestants he’ll be friends with for life, what his brother’s reaction was when he won the show, and whether he’d ever like to come back and be a mentor on future seasons of “The Voice.”
