Abbeville's Koryn fourth on 'The Voice'

By Chris Rosa, Managing Editor

LOS ANGELES — The thought of winning "The Voice” has never been really talked about between Koryn Hawthorne and her mother, Summers Simon. They were just trying to survive each week.
"We never had that conversation," said Simon. "She never came out and said, 'What if I win?' I never asked. To her it was never about winning. It was always about lets make the final 10 and then final eight and so on. It was always about trying to get to the next round."
On Tuesday, the two learned that their journey fell short of winning "The Voice.” Her teammate Sawyer Fredericks was declared the winner. She finished fourth.
Despite not coming home with a guaranteed record contract, Koryn is thankful she went this far.
"This whole experience has been amazing," said Koryn. "It has been a long journey but it has been worth it. I have learned so much. I am so thankful to Pharrell (Williams) who has taught me so much. I'm so thankful for my mom for being here by my side the entire journey. She has supported me when I needed that support."
Prior to trying out for "The Voice", she was a teenager who sang in nursing homes and in church. She could only dream of singing in front of millions of people on TV. Koryn pauses for a moment to collect her thoughts after realizing her time on "The Voice” is about to come to an end. However, she is not disappointed.
"Getting this far is winning for me," she said. "I want to thank everyone who has supported me. Winning would have been amazing but the experience of being on 'The Voice' has been awesome."
While she thanked everyone, tops on her list to thank is God. She said it was God who made this possible. "This whole process has been orchestrated by God. I'm excited to see what He has overall for my life."