The real winners of The Voice Australia 2023 revealed
Melbourne mum Tarryn Stokes has taken out The Voice title in a result that shocked the punters and came as judge Jason Derulo faced sexual harassment allegations in the US.
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The phenomenal power pipes of Melbourne mum Tarryn Stokes won the other Voice vote for 2023.
Fans of the Seven singing contest love a big voice and the mum of two made a strong run home in the competition with her flawless and epic performances of Coldplay’s The Scientist in the semi and All By Myself, the Celine Dion version, to snatch the title.
It was pop star Rita Ora’s second consecutive win as a coach on The Voice Australia.
British Australian singer songwriter Charlie Pittman had been the favourite among pundits ahead of the final, having built a strong social media presence.
Stokes’ backstory shared how she wanted to reignite dreams of the recording career she had put on hold to care for her young children, and campaigned for young mums pursuing following their own passions.
While most reality shows string out the big announcement, host Sonia Kruger ripped straight into the envelope and revealed Stokes as the winner within a couple of minutes in a hasty wrap-up of the two-hour finale.
Four winners versions were shot for the season ender when filming wrapped a couple of months ago.
“It feels amazing … I am just so grateful. I now believe I can do this.” Stokes said. “I feel like The Voice has actually changed my life.”
The 40-year-old vocal teacher won $100,000 and a recording deal with Universal Music Australia.
Pittman had been widely tipped to break The Voice winner’s curse courtesy of TikTok, social media and streaming.
The Voice grand finale aired on Sunday in the wake of a sexual harassment suit filed against pop star Jason Derulo who joined the coaches’ line-up this year.
An aspiring American singer Emaza Gibson filed a complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court alleging Derulo ended her record deal with a new label he was setting up last year after she refused his sexual advances.
In a statement, Derulo said Gibson’s claims are “completely false and hurtful.”
“I stand against all forms of harassment and remain committed to supporting people chasing their dreams. I strive to live my life in a positively-impacting way, so I am deeply offended by these defamatory allegations,” he said.
When approached for comment, Seven confirmed The Voice will return in 2024.
Whether or not Derulo will return is not known as the network doesn’t confirm the coaches line-up until they start filming each season.
Ahead of the grand final, Pittman, who was coached by Guy Sebastian, was considered the dream winner for Universal Music Australia as labels place huge stock in online presence to determine their viability as a career artist.
His statistics are impressive. He has built his online following to more than 88,000 fans on TikTok and Instagram and 45,000 monthly listeners on Spotify over the two months this year’s season has aired on Seven.
His Voice single Stone Cold has almost 20,000 Spotify streams.
“Instagram went up times 10; I had 3000 followers before the show and now it’s about 31,000. I already had some traction on TikTok before with about 20,000 followers for my original stuff and that’s gone up to more than 55,000 now,” he said.
“My monthly listeners on Spotify have doubled; it’s actually been crazy numbers.
“You can take an opportunity like The Voice, the television audience from the show, and do other things with it to boost your following because I’m definitely aware that the show is going to stop airing on Sunday and I still want to career after Sunday.”
Pittman’s online presence is huge compared to his fellow contestants Stokes, Kiwi singer Ezra Williams and NSW Central Coast landscaper Ethan Beckton.
Stokes said she chose to audition for the show after being approached by producers on other occasions as a “personal development challenge” to boost confidence in her talent.
Her single Nobody had 7173 Spotify streams as of Thursday; Stokes has 4215 Instagram followers.
“I have been out of the game for quite a while and I gave up because it was too painful; I couldn’t find my place in it all,” she said.
“I didn’t think my voice was as good as people were saying and now I’m starting to believe.”
Williams, who hailed from a family with DNA in their blood – Idol survivor sister Emily was a member of the Young Divas alongside her Voice coach Jessica Mauboy – lined up a big career opportunity during the filming of the grand finale episode a few months ago.
Her single Mistakes has more than 5300 streams up to Thursday.
“We were doing soundcheck and Jess and I were sitting on stage and I just told her that I would love to be an opening act for her one day when she went on tour,” Williams said.
“She looked at me and said ‘I’m going to think about that. In the moment, I just felt like it was wishful thinking.”
Mauboy confirmed Williams last week as the support act for her Yours Forever national tour which kicks off in March.
For 18-year-old Beckton, The Voice was his first choice as a music career kickstarter as opposed to Australian Idol, Triple J Unearthed or throwing his hat into the TikTok ring.
His Voice single Lighthouse has 13,715 Spotify streams.
“I’ve alway preferred The Voice and this year felt the right time for me to just put myself out there and go for it,” he said. “Hopefully it will kickstart my career in the music industry.”
The streaming statistics still signal the show is a more successful career booster for its coaches to launch new singles than its contestants.
The dual pop power of Mauboy and Jason Derulo has propelled their Give You Love duet to five million Spotify streams and 1.2 million YouTube views since its release in August.
Guy Sebastian released his latest single I Chose Good a week later and it is making steady progress with 700,000 streams.
Rita Ora didn’t drop anything new during the 2023 season but performed her single Praising You on the Battles episode, giving a slight bump to its 34 million plus streams.
Ora’s winner for 2022, former AFL player and singer songwriter Lachie Gill has kept his fanbase cooking with single releases this year and drops his debut EP Write It Out next month.
The 2020 winner Chris Sebastian, brother of coach Guy, is the voice of the rebooted Neighbours theme while the 2021 Voice titleholder Bella Taylor Smith has just released her new single Small Things ahead of a national tour which kicks off later this month.
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Originally published as The real winners of The Voice Australia 2023 revealed
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