Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Jackson Marlow, 18, of Rogersville, Ala., auditioned with “Troubadour” by George Strait. By the time he showed up on stage, only one spot remained on Season 16 of The Voice. But as soon as he started singing, viewers knew he had a spot on the show. Kelly Clarkson had been waiting for a male country artist, and Jackson more than fit the bill with his impressive audition. “I’m so excited that you’re on my team,” Kelly gushed. “If you do not want to be, that’s alright, because I’m still happy for us both.”

More about Jackson …

* Jackson told Voice Views that he’s indeed happy. “She was my first choice as a coach due to Blake’s team already being stacked with great country music singers. I knew that Kelly had a love for old school country music, which is what I love. So going into my audition I thought she would be the best option for me to be able to do the type of songs I love and want to sing.”

* Voice fans, of course, are familiar with Jackon’s uncle Red, a finalist on Season 13. But Jackson grew up around music. His father and grandfather were both bluegrass musicians.

* Jackson told The Voice he had not performed many shows. He joked with Voice Views that the biggest thing he’d done prior to The Voice is sing in the shower.

* As for advice from his uncle Red: “He told me to be myself and have fun with it. He also told me to take it all in and learn as much as I can.”

* Jackson said “Troubadour” is one of his all-time favorite songs and one he’s been singing for a long time. “Monty Holmes, a good friend of my uncles and one of the greatest songwriters of all time, wrote ‘Troubadour,’ and I have been a big fan of his work for a while. Not to mention it is a King George (Strait) song!”

* Jackson told Voice Views he had no idea all the teams were full but Kelly’s when he stepped on stage. “To be honest, I was getting mad while singing because I only had one chair turned, and I needed at least three to beat my uncle Red. He had two chair turns on season 13. I feel confident I could have had it if Blake and Adam would have been able to turn around.”

* For someone with so little experience, Jackson seemed completely comfortable performing for a studio audience and four superstar coaches. The prayer might have helped. The nap might have helped too.

* Jackson explains: “I found that saying a little prayer to the man upstairs and asking him to help me stay calm and take away my nerves worked just as I thought it would. To be completely honest, I was so exhausted from everything, I fell asleep backstage and took a pretty solid nap. The staff had to come to wake me up for my audition.

* “I had around 2-3 minutes to get woken up before I was standing on the stage singing, so maybe still being a little tired and trying not to yawn helped keep me calm as well. I think I was probably the first contestant in Voice history to fall asleep before their audition, but it seemed to have worked out okay!”

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