Tate Stevens

美国东部时间2012年12月20日晚10点，The X Factor 的三强争霸结果揭晓，37岁乡村大叔Tate Stevens战胜13岁灵魂萝莉Carly Rose Sonenclar，夺得本届X音素大赛的冠军。这个结果既在意料之中、又在意料之外。
从海选开始，Tate和Carly就是最耀眼的两颗明星。在看似如火如荼的赛事中，其实一直就是Tate和Carly交替领先，每次公布观众投票结果，不是大叔第一、就是萝莉最前。于是乎本届比赛的悬念不再是谁会赢，而是Tate和Carly这二人之中谁会赢得五百万的唱片合约。
Tate深情磁性的嗓音绝对是原汁原味乡村音乐最好的代言。这几年各种选秀各种大赛、什么演唱风格都见过了、都胜出了，还真就缺少像Tate这样能把乡村音乐的迷人、浓烈、不羁、温暖都唱出来、且唱得这么打动人心的歌手。
Tate也是好男人的代言人。他年轻时曾组过乐队、励志要当明星。可是随着两个孩子相继出世，Tate不得不重新考虑他的人生计划。他放弃了明星梦，在家乡当起了筑路工，承担起了一个男人应有的责任。从此乐队和表演成为他业余时间的消遣。在比赛中，Tate把所有的情歌都献给了他妻子，因为没有她和家人的支持，Tate绝没有勇气以37岁的“高龄”站到X Factor的舞台上为自己的梦想重新高歌。
如今红脸大叔Tate Stevens，可以带着他腼腆而又明亮的笑容一直高歌下去了！
(以上介绍为秋雨沐风原创)
(以下内容转自 http://www.thexfactorusa.com/contestants/season_2/tate-stevens#.UNR0TG8Q_yo)
Age:
37
Hometown:
Belton, MO
Influences:
Garth Brooks, George Strait, George Jones, Ronnie Millsap, Merle Haggard, Joe Diffie
First Performance:
Age 4, onstage with his dad
Guilty Pleasures:
Love songs and bacon
Tate Stevens, which is a stage name (his given name is Stephen Eatinger), began performing at the age of 4 when he'd hop up onstage with his father, who was a big influence on him. "I remember knowing that I wasn't scared and that I wanted to keep singing in front of people. I had so much fun," recalls the country singer, who is one of L.A. Reid's Over 25s. From there, Tate would perform at talent shows, oprys, church choir, and school choir before hitting the road right out of high school with his band, the Dixie Cadillacs, who opened for many of today's biggest country stars, including Sammy Kershaw and others.
"I am a true country artist," says Tate. "I do a little bit of everything in the country genre. I always throw in a little bit of my traditional country roots along with a country and rock edge to it. Of course, I love to do ballads as well. I feel that I can really connect to people through my music, regardless fast/slow/etc. I like my shows to be high energy and very entertaining. If I were to make an album today it would be modern country with a little bit of a traditional feel - a great combination of the high energy rockin' songs with some killer ballads as well. You know the kind that rip your heart out?"
On why he could win THE X FACTOR, Tate says, "To have the X factor you have to have the whole package. You have to be a great singer, performer, and all-around artist. I feel that I am that because of the many years of work and hours doing it I feel that it has made me the best at what I do."