‘The Voice’ season 22 finale spotlight: Bryce Leatherwood is a classic country artist in the Blake Shelton wheelhouse
They say “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it,” and most of the time that’s how Blake Shelton approaches the building of his team on “The Voice.” Blake’s bread and butter is country music and he brings its fans to the show’s audience in troves every season. Country artists have found significant success on “The Voice” because of Blake, so when he enters the season 22 finale on Monday and Tuesday with classic country vocalist Bryce Leatherwood in his arsenal, Blake will be operating firmly within his wheelhouse.
SEE Who deserves to win ‘The Voice’ season 22? Let your voice be heard! [POLL]
Bryce first won Blake over in the Blind Auditions when he sang Conway Twitty’s “Goodbye Time,” a country ballad from the 80s that Blake covered for his own album in 2004. While some “Voice” artists feel inspired to take risks by genre-hopping early in the season, Bryce decided to remain in his comfort zone with a Battles performance of “Red Dirt Road” by Brooks & Dunn and a Knockout performance of “Colder Weather” by Zac Brown Band. With those three performances, he had locked himself in as Team Blake’s reliably country crooner, and on a season already skim in the country genre it earned Bryce the lion’s share of that demographic of the audience.
Blake felt so confident in his voting fanbase and their love for country music that in the first week of the Live Playoffs he risked Bryce’s place in the competition by having him sing for the Wild Card save against the other teams instead of teammate Rowan Grace. That week Bryce’s rendition of Travis Tritt’s “I’m Gonna Be Somebody” failed to earn him more votes than Brayden Lape and bodie so Blake had only one spot to save between him and Rowan. Blake said he felt confident that Bryce would win the save, and he was right — the instant voters saved Bryce for his performance of “Let Me Down Easy” by Billy Currington and never looked back.
SEE Team Blake Shelton: ‘The Voice’ Season 22 photos, bios, artist rankings
In the three live performances that followed, Bryce did not waiver from the genre, singing “Amarillo by Morning” popularized by George Straitt, “Sand in My Boots” by Morgan Wallen, and “If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away” by Justin Moore. All three times he advanced to the next round based on the overnight votes from the public. While he still hasn’t had a true breakthrough moment, Bryce is the one artist this season that has made clear his intention as an artist — country today and country tomorrow. Do YOU think Bryce can ride the country wave with Blake and win?
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