'Selma made me who I am': Asher HaVon sends love to Alabama hometown after 'The Voice' win

Listen to the winds in Montgomery and you can probably still hear applause rolling in from 50 miles away in Selma, Asher HaVon’s hometown.

“Thank you for your love. Thank you for your support. I pray I continue to make you proud,” HaVon, 31, said Wednesday from Los Angeles. “Selma has made me who I am today.”

As of Tuesday, HaVon is the season 25 singing champion of NBC’s “The Voice.”

“I’ve heard so much joy,” HaVon said of his hometown fans. “I received so much love from social media, to phone calls and text messages. Even other people’s Facebook pages. Every time I log on Facebook, I am getting an overwhelming amount of love from Selma, Alabama, and it absolutely means so much to me that my city was right there. It’s all of our win.”

More: Moving to the playoffs on 'The Voice' a 'dream come true' for Selma's Asher Havon

In a release following the win, Selma mayor James Perkins Jr. said, "We are extremely proud of you, Asher, and we look forward to receiving you back in Selma to celebrate your success. Job well done. Selma is proud."

So what’s next for HaVon?

When he returns to Selma, HaVon said he’s got an appearance scheduled at the amphitheater on June 22 that was booked a month ago.

Beyond that, HaVon said he’ll be back in the studio very soon. He’s ready to work.

More: Blazing talent: Selma native Asher HaVon advances on 'The Voice'

“Finally doing what I believe I was destined to do,” HaVon said. “I can just say, be looking forward to that single going No. 1, that album going platinum. We’re going all the way, and we’re going to hit it hard.”

Could that include working with country icon and celebrity coach Reba McEntire again at some point? Perhaps. For now, he’s just looking forward to hearing from her again. It's obvious she's very fond of her champion.

"I have seen you grow. I have seen you change, not any way of your personality or your talent, but in your happiness," McEntire said to HaVon during the finale. "I know you've had such a great time on 'The Voice,' and everybody has had a wonderful time with you, especially me."

During the finale, they sang a duet of Patti LaBelle's "On My Own."

"I was feelin' extra fancy next to Asher HaVon tonight!" McEntire posted online after the performance.

HaVon took time to answer a few questions about his nationally-televised talent win.

Has it sunk in for you yet that you won?

“It’s still sinking. I am still as excited as I was (Tuesday).”

What was going through your head on finale night? Can you remember?

“You know, so much was happening in my mind. No. 1, I was excited to be there. I was so full of gratitude that I had made it to the top 5. I had made it that far. I had made it to the end, and I was excited. I was thinking about my friends that were standing beside me, and proud of them. My heart was really, really full that night.”

How was the duet with Reba?

“Oh, my God. You’re talking about a dream come true. That was a dream come true. In rehearsal, I kept screaming every time she would sing. I would fan out, and she wouldn’t let me. She would just start laughing. But I got it together in time for the performance, and it was the most incredible thing I think has happened, singing with the Reba McEntire.”

Looking back over this season, what’s the best advice you’ve gotten from her?

“I think the best advice I’ve got from her is just to be my authentic self. You know? Believe in me. She said something, and she actually brought it back up in one of the episodes. She said, ‘You’re harder on yourself than anyone else would ever be.’ Of course, coming from not believing and being in front of Reba McEntire was a whole thing, so I was super hard on myself. Just believing in myself really eased all that up, for sure.”

You had some incredibly difficult songs to do in the finale. Was it Donna Summer?

“’Last Dance.’”

And it was Whitney Houston for the other.

“’I Will Always Love You.’”

Those are songs that a lot of people struggle with, and you did them back to back. What was it like performing those?

“It was so much fun. Big songs are my thing. Everybody has their thing. I love the big ballads, so Donna Summer and Whitney Houston was right in my wheelhouse. I was so glad I was able to sing them.”

You’ve also been getting a lot of love this season for the ways you’ve changed your physical style between performances.

“People have really been feeling the looks and the styles. I think the most interesting one was the Beyonce ‘Irreplaceable.’ My wardrobe stylist, her name is Miss Erin, I think everything she could find, she put on me. There were some pearls laying around, and she put those on me. There was some fabric laying down and she put that on me. It was ruffles laying down, and she put that on me. I was like, I think I’m wearing armor right now because it’s so heavy. But when it came together, it was glorious.”

How does this stack up to when you sang at the bridge crossing in Selma to a crowd of 200,000 during President Obama’s 2015 visit? Is there a difference between you then and now?

“Singing for former President Barack Obama was an experience that I’ll also never forget because my gift got a chance to show up. (‘The Voice’) is different because it is the Asher HaVon that most people never got a chance to see. I am free. I am walking in the authenticity of who I am, while sharing my gift. That means so much more to me than any other experience than I’ve ever had in life.”

Montgomery Advertiser reporter Shannon Heupel covers things to do in the River Region. Contact him at sheupel@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Asher HaVon sends love home to Selma after winning 'The Voice'