The list of stars made by singing competition shows is long and distinguished. From Sawyer Brown to Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson to Scotty McCreery, many acts that may have never reached a wider audience became stars due to their performances on shows like "Star Search," "American Idol" and "Nashville Star." But those shows aren't foolproof; some people who went on to become huge stars were initially rejected by these shows, with some being turned away several times by more than one show. Bebe Rexha, Maren Morris and Hillary Scott of Lady A fall into the latter category. So does megastar Luke Combs.
As Luke tells it: "I was on spring break a few years ago when 'The Voice' was having auditions in Atlanta, Georgia. In my audition round I was the only guy and you get about thirty seconds to sing. I made it to the next round that was at a studio, and then made it to the next cut. They had four audition cities and narrowed it from about 10,000 to 200 people. Then you don’t know if you made it to the show for a few months. I made it through those rounds with the producers, but I got a letter saying I wasn’t 'interesting' enough for the show's ratings so I didn’t get to the show. But it gave me a lot of confidence because I was good enough voice wise to make it through all those producer auditions."
Country superstar/former "The Voice" coach Blake Shelton never got to see Luke, and it bothers him to this day. "He told me that story… there’s no way around it, it’s embarrassing. Let’s just face it. Luke told me that he kept his rejection letter, his letter saying we’re not gonna put you on the show. He said he put that in his dorm room in college and he hung it on the wall to push him on, something to fight for. I don’t know if he still has that letter or not, but if he does … I think he should frame it and put it next to his first triple-platinum album that he has." FYI, Luke has two albums that have gone 3X platinum, and ten singles that have reached that plateau.
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