The big winner of The Voice Season 13 was finally announced earlier this week, and none other than powerhouse performer Chloe Kohanski came out on top. She turned in so many great performances throughout the season that many considered her to be a frontrunner to take the top prize, even despite some stiff competition. Fresh off of her victory, Kohanski spoke with CinemaBlend's own Nick Venable about her time on The Voice, and she revealed which of her performances made her the most nervous. The first was the original song called "Wish I Didn't Love You" from the season finale, and she had this to say about it:
Oh yeah, that song, I was probably the most nervous about. Just because it was kind of a first look at what my original music, or my record, might sound like. I truly love that song. For me, it was important to sing a ballad like that because I had already been planning on doing 'Bette Davis Eyes,' which was way more up-tempo and lighthearted, and I didn't want to just totally change from last week and be this more energetic, '80s pop-rock artist all of a sudden, overnight. So it was important for me to have that ballad and have that kind of stripped-down song with the piano, and the lyricism, coming from the storyteller aspect, I kinda thought it was almost like if Stevie Nicks did a ballad. I feel like I really put a lot of pressure on that song. If I could go back in time, I maybe could have performed it a little bit better, but I can get in my head sometimes. I was overthinking a lot, and I was so nervous. I hope people liked it. It did well on the charts, so that's all that matters, I guess.
Performing an original song on the very last night of the season was undeniably a bold move, and who can blame her for being nervous? Chloe Kohanski was in the spotlight like never before in the live finale, and it might have been less stressful to just go with a rendition of "Bette Davis Eyes" as she originally intended. Still, she clearly put a lot of thought into why "Wish I Didn't Love You" was the right choice, and the results on the charts clearly prove that listeners responded to her original song. It's not every season of The Voice that features somebody at the very end giving his or her all with an original song, and few fans may ever forget how she took the stage.
Chloe Kohanski went on in her chat with CinemaBlend to explain why it was important to go with an original song rather than just another cover:
I thought it was special, because I think the true question when you're on The Voice is if you're good at covering songs that are already strong and already well-known, what would it sound like if [you] were releasing original music? I think that was the biggest question that people had for me, specifically just because I did so many really big and iconic older songs, so it was like, 'What's a record from her gonna sound like?'
Now, The Voice fans can safely say that they know what kind of quality songs they can expect from Chloe Kohanski as she moves forward in her career, hopefully with the continued support of mentor Blake Shelton (a.k.a. the newly-named Sexiest Man Alive). In case you missed her performance of "Wish I Didn't Love You" (or are just in the mood to see it again), check it out!
"Wish I Didn't Love You" wasn't the only song that made Chloe Kohanski nervous during her Voice journey this year. As it turns out, her very first performance for The Voice was quite nerve-wracking, especially since she originally planned on doing a different song entirely. Kohanski told the story like this:
I actually wanted to audition with 'Rhiannon.' But someone else did that song. It didn't get shown, but somebody else auditioned with that song. I sent in 'Rhiannon,' and then the show gave me 'The Chain.' So I was really nervous, because I was like, 'How do you sing 'The Chain' with just one person?' Oh man. So I really worked hard. I tried to start off in the lower part and work my way up. I don't have the biggest range on Earth, obviously, and I feel like people give me a lot of flak for that, but I don't really claim to have a big range. I just claim to do what I do, which is to sing old songs and try to make them cool. For me, 'The Chain' was probably the biggest challenge of the whole season, if I'm being honest. I was so nervous about that song.
It couldn't have been easy to go into a process like auditioning for The Voice with one song in mind only to unexpectedly change the song. Considering the other contestant's "Rhiannon" didn't even make it on the air, it would be a real shame if Chloe Kohanski had bombed with a song she hadn't originally planned on. Luckily, she very definitely did not bomb with "The Chain," as you can see in her blind audition performance:
Given that the video of her performance of "The Chain" has been viewed nearly four million times on YouTube, it's safe to say that viewers responded well to Chloe Kohanski with the song. Good for her for pulling off something that couldn't have been easy at all! We'll have to wait and see what's in store for her in the next stage of her career now that she has won The Voice.
The next season of The Voice will premiere on NBC on February 26, 2018 (and a familiar face will be back) For the other TV dates that have been set for the new year, take a look at our 2018 midseason premiere guide and our 2018 Netflix premiere schedule.
