Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The Voice is often criticized for its failure to create superstars.

And it’s true that none of the 23 past winners have achieved stardom of the Carrie Underwood or Kelly Clarkson magnitude.

But most of them are making a living doing what they love. Seventeen released music in 2023. And, collectively, their 2023 accomplishments are pretty darn impressive.

One stars in a film that’s about to be released. Another has been a coach on The Masked Singer for four years and just dropped a great new single. Three released songs that accrued millions of views on Spotify in 2023.

Here’s a look at those past champs and what they’ve been up to.

See also:
Gina Miles: No music yet, but she hasn’t been silent
Ranking the Top 5 on The Voice
The entertainment lineup for Tuesday’s finale

Bryce Leatherwood (Season 22, Team Blake): He released his first post-Voice single, “The Finger,” on Oct. 27. He didn’t have a hand in writing the song, but said it’s “a song I wish I’d written. What got me about this song is that I think everyone can relate to having a relationship go wrong and you wish it didn’t.” The song had 83,000 streams on Spotify as of Saturday. He’ll be performing on Monday’s show.

Girl Named Tom (Season 21, Team Kelly): Bekah, Caleb, and Joshua Liechty are nearly the end of a 24-date One More Christmas Tour with three final shows in Texas this week. “One More Christmas” is the title track from the holiday album they dropped last November. They released one single in 2023, a song called “What a View” in late August.

Cam Anthony (Season 20, Team Blake): He hasn’t released music in 2023. His post-Voice debut single (and only release since the show so far) is a song called “Keep It Between Us” from the summer of 2022. That single has about 216,000 streams on Spotify.

Carter Rubin (Season 19, Team Gwen): Just 14 when he auditioned, Carter turned 18 in October. He released a pair of singles in 2023 — “Last Time” and “Mess Me Up” — and has released four since his Voice victory. His most-streamed was his first, “Horoscope,” with more than 266,000 streams on Spotify.

Todd Tilghman (Season 18, Team Blake): He’s been one of the busiest recent winners when it comes to releasing music with at least seven post-show singles with more than 100,00 streams on Spotify. Todd’s dropped four songs in 2023: “Still To Come,” “Blood, Sweat and Tears,” “Goodness of God’ and “Dig My Grave.”

Jack Hoot (Season 17, Team Kelly): Jake just wrapped up a series of four shows in Nashville and is eagerly awaiting the birth of daughter number three. Musically? He’s released three singles in 2023 — “Endless.” “I Can Take Care of You” and “It Wouldn’t Be Christmas.” His description of the latter: “If National Lampoons Christmas Vacation were a song, this is it!”

Maelyn Jarman (Season 16, Team Legend): She’ll be returning to musical theater in February, starring as Cathy in The Last Five Years in a a production by Core Theatre Group in Warwick, N.Y. She calls it “a DREEEEEAM role for me.” Maelyn did not release music in 2023.

Chevel Shepherd (Season 15, Team Kelly): Last month, Chevel attended the premiere of a film she’s starring in called “Wildfire: The Legend of the Cherokee Ghost House.” It hits theaters Jan. 26. She started working on the film back in 2019. In terms of new music, Chevel dropped one single in 2023, “Lookin’ for Loretta,” a tribute to her idol, Loretta Lynn. Oh, and the gal who won The Voice at age 16, got engaged.

Brynn Cartelli (Season 14, Team Kelly): She dropped two singles in 2023, beginning with the superb “Secondhand Smoke,” which now has a music video and more than 2.4 million streams on Spotify. The other, “Lucky to Love You,” dropped in October and is up to more than 300,000 streams so far. She also celebrated her first headlining show in L.A. that month.

Chloe Kohanski (Season 13, Team Blake): She changed her stage name to Chloe MK after the show and now she’s releasing music as Sweet93. In 223, she released a four-track EP called “Our Vinyl Sessions,” a single called “Stars Above” and a cover of “Strawberry Fields Forever” as Sweet93. She has three post-show singles with more than 1 million streams on Spotify.

Chris Blue (Season 12, Team Alicia): Judging from his social media, he’s performing regularly. He’s also a featured artist on a single called “Prison Doors,” released by Common Hymnal in July. His last solo release a a song called “Moon” from 2021.

Sundance Head (Season 11, Team Blake): In addition to attending The Voice send-off for Blake Shelton during the Season 23 finale, Sundance has maintained a crazy busy tour schedule and has already announced a bunch of show dates for 2024. He released one single in 2023, “Bars and Churches;” it dropped in June. He’s released two albums since winning the show.

Alisan Porter (Season 10, Team Christina): Alisan has been a coach on The Masked Singer for the last four years. She also just released her latest single, “Meant or Me” earlier this month. She describes it as “the story of resilience in a relationship. Its about finding beauty in the ruff spots. … It’s about the wonder and the awe of the right kind of love.” She also calls it “the first of many new songs.” Earlier in the year, Alison collaborated with Blues Traveler for a single called “Tired of Being Alone.”

Jordan Smith (Season 9, Team Adam): He’s been starring in the This is Jesus Christmas Worship Tour, which just wrapped up. He also released two singles in 2023, “This is Jesus” and a cover of “Joy to the World.” The former has more than 150,000 streams on Spotify. Jordan called filming the music video for the latter “the experience of a lifetime.”

Sawyer Fredericks (Season 8, Team Adam): Sawyer has released three albums since winning the show and followed those up with a four-song EP called “The Golden Tree” in February. He recently posted his Spotify Wrapped stats for 2023: 2.2 million streams and nearly 450,000 listeners, which he said “inspires me to keep writing knowing so many people want to hear more.”

Craig Wayne Boyd (Season 7, Team Blake): After splitting with Texas Hill, a trio he’d helped formed in 2020, Craig turned his focus back to solo music in 2023. He released four singles and an acoustic cover of “The Old Rugged Cross.” “One Line Away,” the first of the singles, has been streamed more than 350,000 times on Spotify. The most recent, “Let It Ride (Let It Roll)” dropped in mid-October. Craig describes it as “an anthem for everyone who needs a little extra encouraging to keep on keepin’ on.”

Josh Kaufman (Season 6, Team Usher): He released his first new music in three years in 2023. It came in the form of two singles, “The Seventh Floor” and “Beautiful.” The later dropped late last month and is a song Josh wrote with jazz pianist Pavel Polanco-Safadit for Pavel’s daughter’s quinceañera. “It’s a song for all the dads and daughters out there,” says Josh.

Tessanne Chin (Season 5, Team Adam): Back in Jamaica, Tessanne has created a program called Voice Box, designed to help children explore music and the creative arts. Voice Box presented its first Christmas show on Dec. 3. She also welcomed her second daughter in 2023 and collaborated with Natural High Jamaica on the release of a song called “Surreal.” An acoustic version has also been released.

Danielle Bradbery (Season 4, Team Blake): Danielle headlined her own tour early in the year; then opened for Jordan Davis on his Damn Good Time Tour in the fall. She also found time to release a trio of singles: “Monster,” “Runaways, and, most recently (September), “The Day That I’m Over You.” Her late 2022 single, “A Special Place,” has been streamed more than 14 million times on Spotify.

Cassadee Pope (Season 3, Team Blake): After a successful foray into country music following The Voice, the former Hey Monday frontwoman returned to her pop-punk roots. She released a rock version of her 2013 hit, “Wasting All These Tears.” And she collaborated with Taylor Acorn on a song called “Coma” that’s been streamed more than 2 million times on Spotify. Her other 2023 releases: “People That I Love Leave” and “Almost There.”

Jermaine Paul (Season 2, Team Blake): His Facebook page indicates he’s a pastor at Hamden Plains United Methodist Church in Connecticut. His Instagram makes it clear he still performs regulary. And he was on hand for the Blake Shelton send-off as part of The Voice’s Season 23 finale. His last major release was a 2019 album called “For the Record” as Jerm.

Javier Colon (Season 1, Team Adam): He hasn’t released music since 2017, but performs — and posts covers to TikTok — regularly. He just held his annual holiday show in Hartford, Conn., one he calls his favorite show of the year. In 2023, he also raised money for Children’s Miracle Network with an appearance on the Golf Channel and served as a celebrity judge at Hartford’s “Let Hear It!” vocal competition.