Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Todd Tilghman, surrounded by his children during one of his at-home performances on The Voice Season 18. (NBC Photo)

Todd Tilghman was the very first contestant fans met on Season 18 of The Voice, turning four chairs with his rousing rendition of Bob Seger’s “We’ve Got Tonight.”

And Monday night, he was the final contestant on screen, receiving congratulations for being voted the show’s new champ.

The pastor from Meridian, Mississippi, 41 when he auditioned, triumphed over Thunderstorm Artis (Top 3), Toneisha Harris (Top 3), CammWess (fourth) and Micah Iverson (fifth).

He because the oldest winner of the show, a distinction formerly held by Josh Kaufman, who was 38 when he won Season 6.

And he became the first season opener to sing his way to victory, though some others — Terry McDermott, Christina Grimmie, Britton Buchanan, Gyth Rigdon and Katie Kadan — have come close.

He also became the eighth singer to win for coach Blake Shelton and the first Team Blake champ since Chloe Kohanski in Season 13.

But what sets Todd apart from previous champs is that he wasn’t a professional singer when he auditioned or a teenager stepping into the limelight for the first time.

He’s been involved in the ministry at Cornerstone Church in Meridian since 1996, He has been married to his wife Brooke for more than 20 years and credits her with pressuring him to audition. They have eight children (two adopted) together, ranging in age from 4 to 20.

That unique background probably helped him connect with fans, especially when he proved with each performance that the four-chair-turn blind audition was not a fluke.

His victory should not have come as a shock to anyone.

After Monday’s final performance show, “Long Way Home,” the original he performed, rocketed to number two on the Apple Music Top 200 within two hours. It eventually reached number one on the overall chart and the country chart, displacing Luke Bryan’s “One Margarita.”

In a Monday night Facebook chat with fans, Todd said he submitted a couple songs he had written for consideration as the original he’d perform on the show.

But he said he settled on “Long Way Home” — a song co-written by Voice alum Ryan Innes — because “I love the message of it. I love the feeling of it. And, also, I don’t have enough knowledge in the field of entertainment to put my song out there like this.”

Todd said he was also thrilled to get to perform MercyMe’s “I Can Only Imagine” during the cover portion of the show; covers from Monday’s show are not available on iTunes.

“I had hoped, from the beginning, that I would get to do some song that represented my faith, but was also recognizable,” he told fans.

“I love gospel songs. I love worship songs. I love all kinds of spiritual songs. But, very often, if you’re not careful, you paint yourself into a corner that only people of faith will look into or go into.

“But ‘I Can Only Imagine’ is really a song that has crossed genres, so I was glad to be able to do that.”

See also …
Meet Todd Tilghman
Todd talks about his blind audition
Todd talks about his battle round match
Todd talks about his knock round experience