The Voice Winner Jordan Smith Reveals the Real Reason He Joined American Song Contest

The Voice season 9 winner Jordan Smith is on another winning streak, having been selected by the American Song Contest jury as the contestant to automatically move on to the semifinals without having to wait for America’s vote.

“Honestly, I didn't know what to expect because the caliber of talent is so widespread on the show,” Jordan told reporters during a press conference after getting the news. “We have artists that are just starting out, we have legacy artists that have been working so many years, and then we have so many different genres and different places represented. That is the reason is that I had no idea what to expect. Of course, I'm so honored and grateful and I consider this a win for my home state of Kentucky, which I’m so proud to represent.”

Jordan says the preparation process for American Song Contest was a little bit different than that for The Voice, because tonight, he performed an original song whereas on The Voice, he performed cover songs.

“This is a song that I wrote by myself, I took it into the studio, we tracked vocals many different times to get it exactly right,” he recalled. “I worked with different producers and songwriters to bring the song to life to get to where it needed to be for the epic performance that happened tonight.”

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Even so, he says that singing an original song, he felt much more vulnerable, and he had way more nerves than he usually has because he was sharing his new “ugly baby” with the world and he wasn’t sure how it would be received.

“The song meant so much to me and it came from my heart,” Jordan said. “But you never realize how it’s going to be received."

But what is really amazing is the fact that Jordan wrote this song one morning in six or seven minutes. He woke up, had the concept for the song in his mind, went to his writing room and wrote the song from start to finish in that short amount of time.

“I think it's one of those moments where it doesn’t come from you, it just comes through you,” he shared. “You're just the vessel for what happens. I think the inspiration comes from where we’ve all been in the last couple of years.”

Knowing he was going to be representing his home state of Kentucky, Jordan wanted a song that demonstrated the resiliency, the power and the strength of the people there.

“I wanted something that would lift all of us and give us hope and inspiration from the last couple of years of everything we've been through,” he continued. “Hopefully, that performance tonight was able to do that.”

Related: The Voice Winner Jordan Smith Talks His Wedding and His New Album

It should come as no surprise that “Sparrow” was also inspired by Jordan’s deep faith.

“I'm a believer. I've always been very open about that and very vocal about that. All of my music whether it's an overtly faith-based song, a spiritual song or a love song, all of my music is rooted in the idea of bringing us together, promoting unity, inspiring hope and lifting people, which are all messages that are part of my faith.”

After winning The Voice, Jordan doesn't really have anything left to prove, but he said he was tempted to join American Song Contest because the show doesn’t feel as if it’s about him, but rather it was a chance to show off his home state and his people.

“When I heard about the opportunity, I felt a responsibility to come on the show to turn the spotlight on the people that have made me who I am and that have been so supportive of me from my time on The Voice, and even when I was a kid. I believe there's some of the best people in the world here in Kentucky,” he said.

American Song Contest airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.

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