• Takes prize of $10,000 in contest’s final year

On Wednesday August 7, Case Tippetts was voted as the winner of the Ultimate Vocalist by voters both in the main arena at the Lincoln County Fairgrounds and those viewing online. His total edged Paul Jardine and Daniel Lechner by mere percentage points to win the competition made up of the eight previous contest winners.

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“It was awesome to be a part of that,” Tippetts said the following morning. “I feel like it was a huge blessing. To be around all those incredible singers and incredible people.”

Not only was the contest up for grabs, but less than 24 hours before the show, Tippetts wasn’t even sure he’d be able to compete as a recent sickness had taken his voice.

“It was stressful,” he replied. “I did get sick and it just shot my voice and took it away. We had that banquet on the night before and I wasn’t able to attend. We literally attacked it spiritually,  medically and with a lot of heart-felt prayers and it was able to work out well. I was glad I was able to go out and give it my all.”

All contestants performed in two rounds. For his first song, Case chose the song “Happy” by the artist NF.

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“The first song was a song that my dad really loves,” Tippetts continued. “I kind of wanted to do that one for him. I also felt like a lot of people can relate to the content of the song. It was a little bit of a darker theme but I felt like a lot of people can relate to that struggle of depression.”

In the second round, Tippetts’ song choice created what went down as one of the all-time moments in the near decade of the competition as he performed “Am I The Only One” by Aaron Lewis. It included an appearance of two veterans who ignited the crowd.

“I felt like the second [song choice] might be a little bit of a gamble because it was a little bit of a political stance,” he said. “I don’t know that it’s the most popular thing but I felt like in Lincoln County I was probably pretty safe. I was able to present it with some emotion because of my personal feelings. I’m feel extremely grateful to live in the United States, to live in Star Valley and grateful for my freedoms and military who make that possible. I felt like it was a chance to give a bit of a tribute to them for what they do and express a little bit of frustration too.”

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Paul Kucharek and Walter Granquist were the two veterans who appeared on stage.

“I know them because Paul is the father-in-law to my nephew and Walter is a co-worker I’ve had. I felt like they would do the part well. I know them as people and they are awesome people and felt like they would be a really good representation of what the military is.”

The crowd responded by standing and waving cell phones and lighters as they roared their approval.

“It was an unforgettable moment to see their response to the song and those men,” Tippetts continued. “I felt like it was the high moment of the song. It was a really neat experience as people were standing and honoring them like that.”

After winning a $1,000 prize in 2016, Tippetts is now crowned as The Ultimate Vocalist and $10,000 richer after the show. He expressed relief after the lead-up to the competition.

“It was a stressful day,” he said. “I was excited and felt very blessed. It was an answer to prayers to be able to perform and icing on the cake to be able to win.”

He also said he will miss the other winners as they have been able to perform multiple times in various scenarios over the past nine years.

“I love every one of them,” he expressed. “Because of the Vocalist family it’s given us a chance to get to know each other. Being able to rub shoulders with them and get to know their personalities and get to know them as the incredible people that they are.”

So does Tippetts have plans for his prize money?

“Groceries and a tank of gas,” he laughed. “Hopefully something fun. I am kind of sad that it’s the last year, the Vocalist has been an outlet for me so now that it’s done I don’t have any major plans. I just express my gratitude for those that showed up and supported us and to SVI Media  who puts in so much work so we can go out and get our three minutes on the stage.”