Jordan Smith of Harlan, Kentucky recently won first place on the ninth season of The Voice, an American singing competition reality TV program. The above video is from the 2012 State finals in Frankfort, Kentucky where Smith is representing Harlan County High School. The winner of the that year’s competition was Curtlyn Kramer of Gatton Academy.

Smith read the following poems during his performance:

• “Ovation” by Carol Muske-Dukes
• “I Am the People, the Mob” by Carl Sandburg
• “The Spider and the Fly” by Mary Howitt

Poetry Out Loud is a national competition that teaches high school children about poetry by having them memorize and recite poems in front of an audience. Classrooms select students to compete in school-wide competitions. The winners of the school competitions go to the state competition, and those winners go to the national competition in Washington, DC. It is a partnership between the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation.

The Kentucky Arts Council is a state agency that creates “opportunities to foster environments to find value in the arts, participate in the arts and benefit from the arts through programs, grants and services.” (source)

As of December 2015, Jordan Smith is the highest-selling The Voice artist, whose covers of “Great is Thy Faithfulness” and Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” both reached the iTunes No. 1 spot, beating out “Hello” by Adele.