Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Jake Barker, 28, of St. Petersburg, Fla., auditioned for The Voice with “When I Was Your Man.” He displayed the ability to hit the stratosphere vocally, and that range prompted chair turns from Usher, Shakira and Adam Levine. Usher complimented him on “an incredible voice.” Jake joined Team Usher.

His background: In school, Jake says he never did anything with music. He focused on sports, saying stage fright kept him off the stage. He’s only been interested in music for the past five years. He started by putting a video on YouTube “just to see if anybody would watch it.” They did. In 2010, he landed a manager who took him to New York. “I thought it was going to be everything that I could possibly want,” he told The Voice. “But the kind of music just wasn’t my music and I decided to call it quits.” He now works in a bar, working on music on the side. At 28, he feels like “it’s now or never.” After all, prior to The Voice, he had never played a live gig.

On choosing Usher: “I remember growing up in school, listening to him and trying to emulate his dance moves, which …” He lets the sentence trail off and laughs. “Well, I’m a singer. To be able to work with him is insane to me. I just want to record all our conversations so I can listen to them over and over again.”

What the show didn’t show: So what’s it like, playing your first live gig on a stage as big as The Voice? “To be honest with you, I was terrified,” Jake said in a conference call with the media. “It was probably the most terrifying, yet exciting rush I’ve ever had in my life. I feel like it was just a blur, you know? I was up there and once I was offstage I felt like I couldn’t even remember it anymore.” Jake actually tried out in Season 5, attending an open call audition in New York, partly to impress his girlfriend who had tried to talk him into doing it, he admits. Problem was, he sang two lines, then forgot the lyrics. “They stopped me and said it was good, but, obviously, I had to come prepared to those things.” Then came the surprise. He was invited back to audition for Season 6. “I was extremely excited for the second chance and I came a little more prepared this time,” he said. Now, about that YouTube page — Jake currently has more than 20,000 subscribers and more than 1 million views of his videos. And he clearly has the musical cross-gender thing figured out. Check out the videos below, and you’ll find fine versions of hits from Rihanna and Adele.

On iTunes: Just his audition song.

Update: He lost to Stevie Jo in the first battle round; they sang “Higher Love.” Then Jake was stolen by Team Adam. In the second battle round, Adam pitted his stolen signers — Jake and Brittnee Camelle — against one another. They performed Usher’s “Climax” and Jake was declared the winner.

Keeping up with Jake:0
Twitter: @IamJakeBarker
Facebook
YouTube

Editor’s Note: For links to profiles of all the Season 6 artists on The Voice, go here.

“Stay”

“Mirrors”

“Someone Like You”