I shall never doubt the great Britton Buchanan again.

For five seconds, my non-music brain questioned the song choice announced by Carson Daly, “Some Kind of Wonderful” … as I wondered how in the world young Britton would stand out singing a 70s hit by Grand Funk Railroad after five good-to-great performances by his Team Alicia Keys teammates.

But then the music started. Then Britton started. Then my questions were answered.

He nailed it. All four judges stood to clap.

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And 10 minutes later, Britton Buchanan — who cut his teeth in the music industry playing small stages in front of small crowds in Sanford, North Carolina — became the only member of his team to advance next week to the Top 12 of NBC’s The Voice. He was the fourth “winner” of the night, each team advanced its top vote-getter after two hours of mobile app votes and retweets on Twitter, and eight others will join them Tuesday and Wednesday night.

And if you’re going by retweets alone, the vote wasn’t even close. Britton collected more than 7,900 of them (as of this post), more than 2,300 more than his closes teammate. The ever-cynical Twitter world was nearly unanimous in its praise of tonight’s show closer.

Below is video of the announcement that shook Sanford (apologies for my own family going crazy in the background).

 

 

Observations

  • Alicia Keys is a brilliant artist, and she’s been a huge fan of Britton since Day 1. Her comments before his performance tonight: “Britton totally stands out for the fact that, from the minute he opens his mouth, it’s like you’re discovering a classic artist for the first time. And he’s super young, which makes it even more impressive.”
  • Not every performance tonight was a great one, but there were several great ones. Sharane Calister was the best pre-Britton artist tonight (and completely deserved to advance), and Kyla Jade’s cover of  “How Great Thou Art” was vote-worthy as well.
  • Let’s talk about placement. Britton was the first artist to appear in the first episode of Season 14. During the battle rounds, he and his teammate went last. In the knockout round, he led the show off again. There’s something to be said for starting off strong and ending with a bang when you’re trying to keep an audience for two hours straight on a Monday night for multiple weeks. The Voice’s producers understand that Britton has an audience. Tonight’s vote only confirms their placement choices.
  • The Voice rolls on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, but Britton can rest easy (if that’s possible) for the next two days. He can start working on next week’s song. He can watch the next two shows stress-free. It’s good to be Britton Buchanan tonight.