Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Jaron Strom and Bransen Ireland rehearse for their battle round match on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

The pop-soul singer was asked to sing a country song, “Head Over Boots” by Jon Pardi.

And he was pitted against a country singer, Bransen Ireland.

The Voice showed just a tiny snippet of the performance during Tuesday’s show. But when the singing and talking was done, Blake Shelton declared Jaron the winner, advancing him to the show’s knockout round.

How’d he do it?

Jaron talked about his performance with Voice Views during a conference call on Wednesday.

“It was a song I didn’t know by an artist I didn’t know. I’m a pop singer, so it kind of gave me a moment to step up to the plate and put my own swag and personality and style on it,” said Jaron, who was 29 when he auditioned for the show.

“But I was still nervous going on stage knowing I was going against a country singer who has a very genuine voice and with a country coach.

“So getting up there, I was a little nervous. But I got into it. I truly enjoyed it. We made it a duet to remember. I moved around a lot. I winked at the coaches and just had a fun time and dug into it.”

In critiques we didn’t see, Jaron said Adam Levine and Kelly Clarkson both thought Bransen took the battle. Alicia Keys told Blake she thought Jaron won, applauding his energy and tone.

“In the end, Blake said I stepped up to the plate and had the work ethic to take something that didn’t make sense for a pop singer and made the most of it.”

Jaron now advances to the knockout round, which begins in two weeks. For more on the singer from Shelby, N.C., head here. He’s released music as a solo artist and as front man for a band called “Minutes and Years.”