If you’re a fan of The Voice, you know that judge Blake Shelton is probably the show’s biggest threat.
Though the judges have changed over time, Shelton remains the winning-est of them all with a total of six wins in 16 seasons.
As a country artist himself, Shelton typically focuses on trying to develop those kinds of talents into winners (though he has won with other kinds of vocalists also). As such, there’s a lot of strategy that comes into play when choosing contestants—mostly from the other judges trying to block him!
Still, that all took an interesting turn in one audition in particular.
As the song begins, all the judges are turned away from the stage.
The lights are down as an acoustic guitar rings out. Before long, a smooth and soulful country voice sounds out as well—still, this one is something special. Though he has the tone down perfectly, he also works in some of his own frills and vocal runs in to spice it up.
The song the contestant is singing is “Don’t Close Your Eyes” by Keith Whitley, which originally came out in 1988. As it turns out, Whitley died only a year after releasing it, which makes the sentiment all the more poignant.
As soon as judge Kelly Clarkson recognizes it, she says that it’s her favorite Whitley song!
Though the whole panel is clearly quite impressed by the singer, nobody on the panel is turning around.
After a few more moments, Shelton does the inevitable and hits his button to turn around. In the meantime, Clarkson is still nodding her head and singing along to the song. Still, as the song finishes up, Shelton remains the only judge who actually turned around! As soon as he realizes this, he starts clapping and cheering.
Still, he’s in complete disbelief that nobody else turned around—and shouts “what are you doing” at the other judges!
Needless to say, this was an example of strategy gone wrong.
As Shelton says, having Dover be automatically drafted into his team is such an advantage for a country coach like Shelton! Regardless, the singer introduces himself as Dalton Dover.
All the judges give their feedback that Dover’s voice was incredible, even if nobody else turned around. As it turns out, the reason was simply that they all knew that he would go with Shelton no matter what anyway! When it’s Shelton’s turn to talk, he even says that Dalton’s song is the first one that he ever learned how to play on guitar.
As it turns out, it was Dover’s first song on guitar as well!
Though Dover didn’t end up having a lot of choice when it comes to the judges, it’s clear that he and Shelton are a “match made in heaven!”
As it’s all finishing up, Shelton keeps reiterating that he can’t believe that he “got away” with stealing such an incredible country artist! Needless to say, this may end up serving as a lesson to the other judges depending on how the season goes… in any event, it seems that Dover ended up in the right place.
Congratulations to Dalton Dover on his awesome performance! Check out the full clip below:
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
