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Well, “America’s Got Talent” got it wrong.
Before Long Island’s Carter Rubin won season 19 of “The Voice” on Tuesday night – becoming, at age 15, the youngest male champion of the NBC singing competition juggernaut – he was rejected when he auditioned for “America’s Got Talent” in 2017.
“Honestly, I’m so glad I didn’t do it,” the Shoreham, NY crooner told The Post. “Now I won ‘The Voice’, and I feel like it belongs, and I’m thriving.
After Harlem’s Just Sam won the “American Idol” title in May, Rubin brought home another trophy to New York as Team Gwen’s first winner – Stefani, of course – on “The Voice.” . But because of COVID-19 protocols, he and his trainer had to hold back from a big victory hug.
“It’s so hard – you just have to take the air from a distance,” Rubin said. “But even though we couldn’t kiss each other, we were able to forge such a close bond.” In fact, he added, “We made jokes about how I have my real mother, and I also have my ‘Voice’ mother.”
Rubin chose Stefani as his coach after she and John Legend turned their chairs for him during the blind auditions. He ended up feeling very good choosing the former No Doubt singer: “One thing I learned from her is that it’s good to be myself … because there is no one else like me – and I must own it.
With her pure-toned pipes and honeycomb charm, Rubin made Stefani cry as she sang “Rainbow Connection” in a heartwarming performance that sent him to the finale of “Voice.” The song was dedicated to his older brother Jack, 19, with autism. “He is the kindest, positive, caring and loving person you have ever known,” said Rubin, whose mother Alonna founded the Families in Arms charity to help parents of children with autism.
The music runs in Rubin’s family: his brother Jack and his father David, who works in finance, play the drums. And his grandfather Ric Mango once sang with the sixties band Jay and the Americans (“This Magic Moment”). “He can’t talk about me without starting to cry,” Rubin said of his proud grandfather.
Although he may still be too young to drive, the teenage prodigy said, “I’ve always been singing. His experience of opening up to local groups, performing at LI restaurants and appearing in school productions helped him prepare for “The Voice.” Still, singing without an audience during this COVID-altered season hasn’t been easy.
“I feed on a live audience; it gives you an adrenaline rush, ”Rubin said. “So it’s really tough when it’s just you and the four coaches and the virtual audience because there’s no cheering or whatever. You can hear a pin drop. It’s a little more intimidating.
Even staying with her mother in Los Angeles for “The Voice,” Rubin could feel the love of her hometown. “They wore Team Carter T-shirts and hung banners with my face on them,” he says. “They all really rallied behind me, and I couldn’t be more grateful.”
The 10th grader – who will return to Shoreham-Wading River HS in January – is also grateful for being artistic rather than athletic, even though he has been bullied. “I’m a little different than the average teenager, so I would be picked here and there,” Rubin said, “but I’ve learned that being unique isn’t a bad thing. It is a very beautiful thing.
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