‘The Voice': Young Father Wins Spot on Team Blake With Keith Whitley Cover
Night Four of the Blind Auditions on The Voice Season 16 took place Tuesday (March 5), and although packed into a short 60-minute telecast, definitely helped coaches Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson, and John Legend build their growing teams.
The first country contestant of the night came in the form of 20-year-old Dalton Dover from Aragon, Ga. "I grew up in a trailer with my brother, my sister, and my mom," he explained. "Small town, everybody knows one another. I work in a poultry plant. I work full-time Monday through Friday, second shift. I'm a machine operator. All my friends work there, my mom, my aunt, I got a cousin, my wife works there."
Dover had a story of unusual dedication that led him to the stage. "I decided to get married at 17 because I wanted to be with my wife, Faith, for the rest of my life," he related. "She was pregnant with my daughter, so I stopped school in 11th grade. I wanted to work; you know, support my family. I went from doing multiplication problems to changing baby diapers."
The singer admitted things always haven't been easy giving up his carefree youth so early. "It was a challenge, you know, 'cause you got all your friends going out, having fun, being teenagers...but that's okay with me. I enjoyed being with my family. My brother-in-law—he actually introduced me to music, along with my grandpa. I've been playing parties or restaurants or stuff like that, but you can't make a career doing that. This is the biggest moment of my life, besides when my kids were born. Turning a chair for my wife and my family would be awesome."
Dover took the stage with the plaintive "Don't Close Your Eyes," which coach Clarkson immediately raved over. "My favorite Keith Whitley song," she noted.
However, the only one who turned was Shelton. All three other coaches agreed, basically, that Dover was very good—Clarkson even shared that Whitley is her husband's favorite artist ("Wait a minute," groused Shelton, who is managed by said husband). However they all also agreed they knew there was no other choice for the singer than Shelton's team.
"That's the first song that I ever learned to play on guitar," Shelton said incredulously, adding his approval of Dover's vocal approach. "If you listen to Keith Whitley records, you know, that's sone of the things that he did. He would hover under there for a minute and then get up to it!"
Tune in weekly as we follow the Voice team builds, with a focus on country music offerings!
Country's 10 Most Successful The Voice Contestants Yet: