Winners to watch
While the vocalists battle it out on Season 20 of “The Voice,” which celebrates its 10th anniversary this month, here are five of the top winners of NBC’s singing competition worth listening to.
Javier Colon, Season 1
The West Hartford, Conn., crooner won the first season of “The Voice” for Team Adam Levine in 2011. Later that year, Colon jammed with his coach on the funkpop ditty “Stand Up” and even opened for Maroon 5 on tour. But his soulful vocals really shine on his 2016 ballad “It Don’t Matter to the Sun.”
Cassadee Pope, Season 3
Pope was an amateur rocker before she won “The Voice” in 2012 by going country under the guidance of Blake Shelton. She hit the top of the country charts with her debut solo album, 2013’s “Frame by Frame,” and is arguably the most successful of all 19 “Voice” champions.
Sawyer Fredericks, Season 8
Only 15 when he began his “Voice” journey in 2015, Fredericks was just 16 when he became the youngest champ of the show (until Brynn Cartelli won at 15 in 2018). And the Troy, NY, singer-songwriter even got his coach — Pharrell Williams — to remix his 2016 track “4 Pockets.” You can hear more of his bluesy folk — with a voice far beyond his 22 years — on his 2020 album “Flowers for You.”
Jordan Smith, Season 9
The Season 9 winner of “The Voice” — who snatched the third trophy for Team Adam Levine — hit No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with his 2016 debut, “Something Beautiful,” which includes gorgeous covers of Billy Preston’s “You Are So Beautiful” and Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful.” With his pure, rangy instrument, he’s also soared on the Hot
Christian Songs chart with tunes such as “Stand in the Light,” and he co-wrote 2018’s “Ashes” for Celine Dion.
Jake Hoot, Season 17
After Kelly Clarkson was the only one to turn her chair around for this country singer in the blind auditions for Season 17 in 2019, Hoot went on to win the whole thing. In January, he released his debut EP, “Love out of Time,” which includes a heart-wrenching duet with Coach Clarkson, “I Would’ve Loved You,” that the pair performed on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” just this week.