American Idol runner-up John Foster says he “barely” caught a sneak peek at host Ryan Seacrest‘s envelope before Jamal Roberts was announced as the winner of Season 23. Roberts, however, definitely did not know that he’d won until he’d heard his name.
“I didn’t see the envelope,” he tells TV Insider. “My eyes were closed.”
A few things were going through Roberts’ head when he was standing up on stage waiting for Seacrest to announce the champion. “[Ryan] took too long to call it,” quips Roberts, who adds on a more serious note, “I feel amazing.”
Third place finisher Breanna Nix had predicted that Roberts was going to win when they were first performing in Hollywood much earlier in the season. “She told me, ‘You’re anointed,’” Roberts recalls. “She said, ‘You’re going to win this.’ I’m looking at her, like, ‘Girl, hush! What are you talking about?’ But she stood on that, every performance.”
Nix tells TV Insider that she actually made a video of herself telling Roberts that he was going to win, which she says she’ll post with Roberts’ permission.
Disney/Christopher Willard
Roberts may not have wanted to jinx his success by believing in Nix’s words, but he never forgot them or Nix’s delivery style. “Breanna is just blunt,” he says with a smile. “When I was standing up there with her [and John], she was like, ‘Well, I know I’m leaving. It’s going be between you and John and you’re going to win.’ I said, ‘Okay, Breanna.’”
Nix isn’t the only one who saw stardom in Roberts. He says he was told years ago by his grandfather in Mississippi that his voice would take him far. “He always told me that [my] voice was going to reach outside these walls,” Roberts reveals. “He said I was going to have to leave here, but it’d be for the greater good. He said I was going to draw souls and change lives. This is happening right in front of my face. I don’t claim any of it. It’s all God. I’m just thankful.”
What’s next for the newest American Idol champion? For starters, he’s going to promote his single, “Heal,” which he performed on last night’s finale. “That song speaks to me and to other people, too,” he says. “I can’t believe I got permission to do it. Tom Odell is an amazing writer and I was able to add my little twist [to the song] at the end. I’m just in love with that song.”
Roberts adds he has a more immediate goal now that the finale is over. “I’m going to go get my [daughters], and I’m going to take a nap,” he says. The singer is a proud father to three little girls, including one who was just born this month.