Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Corey Kent White, 20, of Bixby, Oakla., performed the Zac Brown Band’s “Chicken Fried.” He turned in a solid performance from the word go, but it appeared he might go home empty handed. Then, at the last moment, both Pharrell Williams and Blake Shelton turned around. Pharrell lobbied hard, with Adam’s help, to land a country singer. But the Oklahoma tug was too strong and Corey decided to join Team Blake.

His background: Corey told The Voice he started playing guitar at age 8 and started playing shows when he was 11. He eventually became lead vocalist for a group called Oklahoma Stomp and sang with them for about five years. That lasted until he went to college at Oklahoma State University when he put together another band that plays the college circuit. Oh, and his career highlight to this point has been performing onstage with Willie Nelson. Seems he was in the front row at a Willie concert hoping a sign that said his dream was to perform with Nelson. Lo and behold, Willie pulled him onstage to do just that.

What the show didn’t show: In his website bio, Corey blames Garth Brooks for two things — his taste in music and his first trip to the principal’s office. Corey says he was in a Christian pre-school at age 3 when the children were asked to sing part of their favorite song. His choice: Garth’s “Longneck Bottle and Two Pina Coladas.” Corey writes that he eventually befriended Garth and that he’s the one who helped convince him to attend college. These days, Corey says he’s lucky enough to support himself by playing the college music circuit, even if it means traveling from college campuses from Washington State to Georgia. In between performances, he found time to release a three-track EP last year called “Making Noise.” As for his style of music, here’s how Corey explains it in his Voice video: “I’d describe my music as somewhere between country and blues and somewhere between traditional country and pop country. I’m not traditional and I’m not pop country by any means. I love anybody who’s an energetic performer and that’s my ultimate goal — to be a great performer.”

On picking Blake: “I think that in my mind I had kind of already made my decision before I stepped foot on that stage … Had I not already looked forward to working with Blake, a fellow country musician, a fellow Oklahoman for so long, I might be on Team Pharrell right now. But I’m very happy with my choice.”

On iTunes: His Voice performances and the aforementioned EP.

Update: In the battle round, he was matched with Jacob Rummell. They sang Hunter Hayes’ “I Want Crazy.” Blake declared Corey the winner; Jacob was stolen by Pharrell. In the knockout round, he was pitted against fellow country singer Cody Wickline, who turned four chairs in the blind audition. Corey sang “Live Like You Were Dying,” dedicating the song to his grandfather. He turned in an emotional performance and was declared the upset winner by Blake Shelton.

Live playoffs: He performed “Make You Feel My Love” and was voted into the finals by Voice viewers. The song landed at number 71 on iTunes.

Top 12: He performed “Why” by Jason Aldean. The song landed at number 42 on the iTunes singles chart and number six on the country chart. The overall chart finished was 8th best on the show.

Top 10: He advanced to the Top 8 on fan voting. His cover of “Unwound” hit 78 on iTunes, seventh best of the night’s 10 songs.

Top 8: He landed in the bottom three and was eliminated when the instant save went to India Carney. His cover of “When I See You Smile” was number 23 on iTunes, fourth best of eight songs from performance night.

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Twitter: @CoreyKentWhite

“She Ain’t Perfect” (from his 2014 EP)

“Til You Find a Keeper” (from his 2014 EP)