22-year-old Bryce Leatherwood filled The Voice stage with classic country twang and impressive vocals as he sang “Goodbye Time” by Conway Twitty for his blind audition on season 22 of the popular show.
Watch Bryce’s performance below.
It wasn’t a secret which team Leatherwood hoped to end up on, as he performed Blake Shelton’s version of Twitty’s track.
Watch Blake Shelton’s version of “Goodbye Time” below.
Adorned in a black cowboy hat and geared with country swagger, Leatherwood showed off his extensive range, earning praise from coach Gwen Stefani, who said “That’s a pretty voice,” during the performance, later adding “Wow, a voice like butter.”
The eight-time The Voice champion was the first judge to turn his chair, with Stefani and John Legend following shortly after.
“@bryceleatherwood shines this is crazy #thevoice,” the official Instagram account for The Voice captioned a clip of Leatherwood’s audition.
“Welcome to #TeamBlake, @bryceleatherwood!” Ole Red commented on the post.
“Well, well, well. Welcome to Team Blake,” said Shelton after Leatherwood belted out the final note. “I wanted to get my push in before you got to the chorus, because I could tell you already hit the two tough notes. I was blown away. And, what a great country name — Leatherwood.”
While Camila Cabello was the sole coach to not turn around for Leatherwood, it wasn’t due to lack of interest in the singer.
“You have an incredible voice. There’s just, you have better coaches than me. I know if I’m like, ‘Hey! Sing a Bad Bunny song,’ you’re going to wanna kill me. But, you are incredibly talented,” she told the Woodstock, GA native.
Despite Leatherwood’s song choice and persona, Stefani wasn’t quite ready to give up on the fight to lure the singer to her team.
“I didn’t realize that was a cover,” said Stefani. “What I like about you is your character. We’re here for the voices, but also here for the personality. I think that’s important even though I’m not country. I’m into country. I’m a part-time Oklahoma girl now and a good coach.”
Legend was quick to offer his praise for Leatherwood, stating “You sounded fantastic. I heard the richness in your voice. No matter what genre you sing, it’s about the charisma you have as an artist. I didn’t want you to waste your experience on this show being on Team Blake. I would be a great coach for you.”
Legend pulled out all of the stops, even bribing Leatherwood with his exclusive Team Legend jackets.
“I feel like this would look good on him,” the award-winning artist shared, which Shelton then jokingly offered Leatherwood a beer cooler he had on hand.
While Stefani and Legend put up a good fight, in the end, Leatherwood went with the obvious choice: Team Blake.
“With the country knowledge, I’ve got to go Team Blake,” said Leatherwood.
