'The Voice's Korin Bukowski: This journey meant something different to me than the other contestants

The Voice eliminated Korin Bukowski and determined the ninth season's Top 9 artists during last week's broadcast on NBC.


The Voice host Carson Daly revealed the results of the home viewer votes cast following the Top 10 performance show, and Korin from Gwen Stefani's team was in the bottom two with fellow "Team Gwen" member Braiden Sunshine.

Both individuals were afforded the chance to sing again, which marked Korin's third time performing for the Twitter Save. Korin sang "Try," but home viewers ultimately decided to keep Braiden in the competition.

Korin talked to Reality TV World during a recent press conference call. To read what she had to say, click here. Below is a portion of her interview. Click here for more.

You came into the competition as a pre-med student. Now you've enjoyed all of this success on The Voice. What is going to be your focus moving forward? Are you going back to your studies for pre-med? Or are you going to focus on music from this point on?


Korin Bukowski: This show has just flipped my life upside down. You know, this was never in the realm of possibility. I auditioned because I was like, "What could I possibly lose? I love to sing and I just want to see what might happen." And I never knew I would even get a chair turn, you know?

Getting Top 10 is the most incredible thing that has happened to me, success-wise. And I don't know. I really, truly believe I might pursue music. I think I'm going to do it, because the reason I auditioned for this show was because I wasn't happy where I was. And I just really want to pursue what I love. And it's shown that I love to perform. I love to sing music and that's what I want to do.

What type of music can fans expect from you?

Korin Bukowski: I don't -- I love all different music, but I would love to perform very anthem-y, like, indie rock/indie pop kind of tunes like anthem-y or kind of like haunting. I love those kind of sounds, like my "Knockout" performance. I love music like that and I love to sing music like that, or a lot of music that's similar to Fun. or Ellie Goulding, stuff like that is pretty much the realm I'd like to go down.

You have a huge fan following now on Twitter and Instagram. What advice would you have for young singers who admire you?


Korin Bukowski: I have so much advice. What I would tell myself if I was younger is, "Don't let anyone tell you you can't, because you most definitely can do whatever you want to do. And it's up to you to do it. You're in control of what you do at this point in your life and further."

I just want people to believe in themselves a little more, because I didn't. And I wish I did because I might've been here in this competition earlier. Who knows what could've happened. But I just want people who doubt themselves to not doubt themselves, and I want people to be comfortable and love who they are right now and be accepting of that, because that is what makes you unique.

That's what you should be confident in and that's what people like seeing. They like seeing people who are confident in who they are and that will get you success. That will bring you success in life.

Would you recommend competitions such as The Voice to other young singers, such as a friend from home? Why or why not?

Korin Bukowski: I say do it. You know, it's an amazing experience. I do think you need to have a good head on your shoulders and be a little bit more resilient because it is hard. It's a competition, after all. And we like to call it The Hunger Games. It's fun and it's great. You meet amazing people. You do amazing, incredible things.


But it is hard. You grow like a family. You grow close to each other, and it's hard to see them go. And it's difficult to leave as well because, you know, you work on this show for so long -- even prior to "Blind Auditions" you were working on this show.

And it's a little difficult to build yourself back up. So I'd say do it if this is what you want to do and it's your passion, because if it's your passion, you'll let nothing get in your way. So I say do it.

Looking back at your journey, what have you learned the most about being on the show? What are you taking away from this experience?

Korin Bukowski: The biggest thing I've learned is just to be more comfortable with who I am, because it's something I've struggled with forever. And I'm more, because of all the things I went through, I have a greater appreciation for who I am because I have so many fans and so many supporters -- more than I ever thought I would.

And it just shows me that people look up to me, and that's so amazing to have people look up to you. I've just always wanted to inspire others. And also another thing I've taken out of this is for a lot of people, this journey has meant to get their name out there more or their music out there more.


But for me, the journey has been very different. I've only been singing mainstream music for about a year, and I didn't know who I was or who I wanted to be as an artist. And trying out different looks, different styles, different songs and different music, I have a greater understanding of who I want to be as an artist and as a musician.

Now that you're on the outside looking in, what is your prediction for the winner of this show?

Korin Bukowski: That is so difficult to say. I don't have any idea.

How about a gut feeling?

Korin Bukowski: I really don't know. Gut feeling. I really have no idea! I can honestly say I don't know. Everyone is so crazy amazingly good, so it's really difficult to tell. Sorry, I really have no idea because, you know, you look at [Jordan Smith] and he's just this anomaly and he can sing these things that no one else can and he's an amazing person.


And [Amy Vachal]'s just so artistic and so suave and amazing onstage. And then, you know, there's like [Zach Seabaugh], who's just this lady killer and just brings it onstage all the time. And then, it's just, there's so many amazing artists, it's hard to tell.

What would you do differently now that you saw your performance and saw what happened and how you landed in the bottom two three times.

Korin Bukowski: There's nothing I would have done differently. I think this is where I was meant to be and, you know, I would've loved to show my artistic side more on the show, but there's -- I regret nothing. Everything I did was for purpose and it had reason and this was my fate and this is what was meant to happen. And I'm okay with that.

What about you screams Korin? What would be your "signature" whether it means something to do with your look or singing or anything.

Korin Bukowski: I just think my personality, honestly. Not saying I have the best personality, but I definitely think a lot of people can relate to it. I've never been a comfortable person. I've always been uncomfortable, and a lot of people think that's not okay. And I think I'm an ambassador for saying that it is okay, and that's just who you are and just own it. So, personality. Maybe just that.

Could you tell me a little bit about life behind the scenes of The Voice?


Korin Bukowski: That's my favorite part of the whole show, honestly. It's incredible to meet -- like aside from meeting celebrities and having to work with them, that stuff is just amazing. It's a dream world.

But behind the scenes, you get to talk to such incredible people that are on the same journey as you and no one, not even your best friends, will understand what you went through on this show, not a one. And all these people do. And to have such a support system with people understanding of how you feel and what you're going through, there are just no words for it.

And it's so much fun backstage. Behind the scenes is so much fun because we're all jokesters and I've made friends for life and we just have a blast. I've made friends for a lifetime here, you know, just not only with the contestants but the staff as well.

Did you have a best friend on The Voice?

Korin Bukowski: I would say I have three -- Evan McKeel. Unfortunately, he left last week. Amy Vachal and then Jordan Smith. We're all a big squad.

To read more from Korin Bukowski's The Voice interview, click here and here.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski