'The Voice' Season 6 Winner Josh Kaufman Reflects on 'Star Search' Past

Josh Kaufman just won this current season of The Voice, but this is not his first go-'round on the singing-show circuit. Along with unsuccessfully (really???) trying out for the first U.S. season of The X Factor, he competed on Star Search when he was just 16, winning on two episodes but losing on his third.

[Related: Famous Pop Stars Who Got Their Start on Star Search]

"I have seen it on YouTube. I don't know if that’s a good thing, but it's there," Josh chuckles, when asked about the telltale Star Search footage that exists on the Interweb.

"I happened to have a guy hear me singing a song that I sang at my junior prom. A guy in the band helped with the talent searching for Star Search," Josh reveals. This all took place in 1993, just a couple years after Josh's own Voice coach, Usher, competed on the Ed McMahon-hosted show. Josh and Usher are in good company: Another member of the Voice family, Christina Aguilera, also once went on Star Search — and also lost, but went on to greatness.

"It was a good experience. I think the biggest difference between then and now is I have new perspective on it," says Josh, now a 38-year-old father of three. "I think I felt at 16, I was like, 'Oh, I'm 16, other opportunities will come along.' I didn't really grasp ahold of it the way I probably should have. I didn't understand how big it was. Now, I do."

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