Jordan Matthew Young never imagined he’d make it this far on “The Voice.”
“I’m just a working class musician,” the rocker with long blond hair said during a recent episode. “It blows my mind.”
But for all of his surprise, Young has made it to the season finale of “The Voice.” He performs as a top five finalist Monday night.
And on Tuesday, he could be crowned the Season 20 winner. It’s a big moment for Young, whose life took an unexpected turn last year.
The 35-year-old artist has spent the past decade touring and performing as a blues singer. But like all musicians, his career — that thrives on live audiences — came to a crashing halt during the pandemic. So last year, Young left Austin, Texas, and returned to his Utah home to work for his family’s construction business, The Austin Chronicle reported.
That’s what he was doing when “The Voice” Season 20 came around. He flew out to California, quarantined and made his debut on the singing competition.
Since his audition, Young — who is an Alta High School graduate — has advanced through each round of the competition, impressing the judges and fans with his unique mix of country, rock and blues.
“I can sing country, but I’m not a traditional country guy at all,” Young recently told The Austin Chronicle. “It’s been cool to show the coaches that, because I love Patsy Cline, but I also play the Stones and Van Morrison. If I’m going to be anything, it would be a blues and soul guy.”
Young’s family told the Deseret News the musician will be returning to Utah in the summer and playing some shows.
Ahead of Monday night’s top five performances, here’s a look at Young’s run on “The Voice” — and how to vote him all the way through to the top.
The audition
It took a while for the coaches to turn, but ultimately, after performing Keith Whitley’s “I’m No Stranger to the Rain,” Young had his pick among Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson and Nick Jonas.
After hearing the coaches’ pitches, Young ended up selecting Shelton’s team, where he has remained for the entire season.
The battle
During the Battle round, Nick Jonas predicted that Young could go really far in the competition.
“You’re just cool, man,” Jonas said after Young and fellow Team Blake member Keegan Ferrell sang Train’s “Calling All Angels.” “You’ve got that grit that I love that I could never pull off, so I’m kind of envious of it. And Blake, I would say Jordan has a shot to make it all the way to the end of this.”
“I was watching you and I was like, ‘He looks so comfortable,’” added singer-songwriter Kelsea Ballerini, who was filling in for Kelly Clarkson at the time. “And then I started watching you thinking, ‘Man, this guy’s been playing on the road for 10 years and all of a sudden he’s not, and I can tell he misses it. And it just made me really love that performance.”
In the end, Shelton chose to move forward with Young. But it ended up being a win-win as Jonas used his only steal of the round to snag Ferrell for his team.
The knockout
Young performed the Black Crowes’ “She Talks to Angels” for the Knockout round — what Jonas called his “most soulful” performance to date.
After some deliberation, Shelton ended up picking Young over 17-year-old country singer Ethan Lively to move forward in the competition.
“I chose Jordan because he’s done this for so long that I know he’s just going to be great every time he gets on that stage,” Shelton said.
Top 17
Young’s performance of the Fleetwood Mac classic “Gold Dust Woman” — featuring the singer on slide guitar — got a standing ovation from all four coaches during the top 17 round.
Clarkson said Young’s performance made her excited to see live shows again, while Shelton said it reiterated that the musician is a one-of-a-kind artist.
“That was literally a breath of fresh air,” Shelton said. “There’s nobody anywhere near what you do in this competition.”
Top 9
For his top nine performance, Young returned to the country sound he initially brought to “The Voice” stage for his audition.
Young, whose father is a big country music fan, performed John Conlee’s “Rose Colored Glasses” and drew praise from all of the judges.
“Way to show up when you need it to count,” said Clarkson, who compared Young to country singer Travis Tritt.
How to vote for Jordan Matthew Young
Tonight’s episode of “The Voice” airs at 7 p.m. MT.
The voting window begins tonight at 6 p.m. MT and will be open until 5 a.m. MT on May 25, according to “The Voice” Twitter account.
Voting methods include voting via “The Voice” official app, available for download in the App Store and Google Play; and voting at nbc.com/voicevote. Each method allows fans to vote 10 times.
“The Voice” will reveal the winner Tuesday night during a two-hour episode that begins at 7 p.m. MT.