The One Song The Voice Wouldn’t Let Jake Hoot Sing

Jake Hoot continuously wowed audiences and judges on his way to winning NBC’s The Voice, but he says there’s one song he wanted to sing that the show wouldn’t let him.

Can you imagine a pure country artist singing ‘La Bamba’ in perfect Spanish?! Well, you don’t have to wait to hear it!

Hoot, winner of The Voice season 17, serenaded AfterBuzz TV hosts Rachel Swindler, Neema Skye, and me in this AfterBuzz TV exclusive!

Although Hoot was known for being a Tennessee country star on the show, many don’t realize that he grew up in the Dominican Republic. As a result, he grew up speaking fluent Spanish and loving island music. This was a side of Hoot that we didn’t get to see during his time on The Voice.

According to Hoot, the musical director of The Voice, whom Hoot had nothing but praises for, approached each contestant asking them what song they would like to sing the following week, so that he could then get it approved.

“I said ‘well this one is way out there,’” recalled Hoot. “He goes ‘well no, nothing is way out there, like go ahead and tell us.’ Well, I like that. I said, ‘you know growing up in the Dominican, this and that, said, I’d like to sing La Bamba.’ And he goes, ‘that is way out there, moving on.’ You know I was like,‘okay’. Shot down pretty quickly.”

When we asked if they were at all willing to entertain the idea, Hoot responded, ““No, not at all. They were just like nope.”

Sticking to his brand as a country artist certainly worked in Hoot’s favor considering he went on to win the show. However, it would have been fun to see him rock some Spanish tunes on the live stage. Hoot went on to mention that the second place winner, Ricky Duran, would have also been interested in singing La Bamba with him.

Hoot said, “Ricky Duran and I actually talked about it, after the finale, and I told him the story. He goes, ‘Man, I would’ve even come out there and sang with you on that one.”

It’s not too late! Wouldn’t it be great if Hoot and Duran met up and collaborated on a song together?

Lucky for us, Hoot chose to sing La Bamba for us, in perfect Spanish, when our hosts asked him to sing something during the interview. You can watch the clip of him singing in the link above, along with the full interview.