Blake Shelton: What George Strait Said When He Left ‘The Voice’

Blake Shelton's last night on NBC's The Voice on Tuesday (5/23) was a night full of tributes for him, from Dolly Parton to Peyton Manning to Miley Cyrus. Every coach that was on the show with Shelton in the last twelve years paid tribute to him through video messages. And then there was the King Of Country Music, who spoke toward the show's end.

George Strait's video message to Blake came after Shelton hugged and was sung to in person by all nine of his The Voice winners over the years. George said, "Hey, Blake, I just want to say congratulations on the successful run you had on The Voice. You really stole the show, man, you really did. So, congratulations on that, and I wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide to do next. I'm sure it'll be great, whatever it is, and I'll see you out there on the road sometime."

After watching the video, Blake responded, "That's the true king of country right there."

Shelton took a moment to talk with ET Online before Monday night's (5/22) The Voice part one finale of his final season on the show, and he touched on what his plans are after The Voice. Blake said his plans are simple, "I want to finally have the opportunity to say yes to more stuff in my personal life and not say, 'Let me check,' or just flat-out no."

He got his star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame a few weeks back. So, Shelton has been celebrated a lot and is ready to move past it. He offered, "I've had enough parties thrown for me in the last few weeks. [Gwen] goes, 'We're just celebrating you; you're good right?' Yeah, I'm good. Please, no more parties for me."

In the music industry today, there are several ways to get discovered. TV talent competitions like The Voice, American Idol, and the USA show Nashville Star, which ran from 2003 to 2008, have been launching points for a number of huge country stars.

As we all gear up to watch Blake Shelton on his last coaching appearance on NBC's The Voice tonight (5/23), we look at some country stars and superstars who got their big break winning or just competing in those TV talent-finding shows.

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Kacey followed her Texan friend Miranda Lambert in competing on the USA network's Nashville Star in 2007 and did not win the competition but came in seventh place. Twelve years later, in 2019, she won the Grammy for Album of the Year for her Golden Hour. Blake Shelton was a judge on the popular show when Kacey competed.

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This native Tennessean returned to his home state to compete in Nashville Star in 2006, from where he played club gigs in Texas. Chris did actually win the competition and was signed to RCA Records in Nashville as a result. Young still records for RCA (Sony Nashville ) and has charted eleven number-one songs to date.

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Morgan is the most successful artist to compete on The Voice. On the show in 2014, Wallen made the top 20 in the blind auditions, where he sang a pop song by Howie Day even though he wanted to sing a country song. He later said the producers made him sing the pop song.

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Miranda competed in Nashville Star when she was just 19 years old. She did not win the competition but came in third place. In 2003, the winner of Nashville Star was a guy named Buddy Jewel.

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Carrie is one of the biggest stars to win American Idol next to Kelly Clarkson. Underwood was 22 years old when she won the competition and later shared her diary entry from the night she won. She wrote in part, "Big moment. I took one more look at the amazing crowd and let it sink in for a few seconds. Ryan (Seacrest) said something like 'And your 2005 American Idol is...' My heart beat fast, and I closed my eyes. CARRIE UNDERWOOD!!!"