I have never been a fan of reality television, but I will confess that — from time to time — I check out YouTube clips of some of the surprisingly good auditions by performers young and old (this 13-year-old opera singer still gets to me).
Part of the alleged drama of all of this is seeing, every now and then, a person from ordinary America collide with the pop-entertainment Powers That Be. As you would expect, religious faith often ends up being part of the script.
This brings me to a recent Washington Post story about an unusual performer who emerged during the COVID-19 version of NBC’s “The Voice.” This is a pretty good story, but I still thought that the religion angle deserved even more attention than it got. Let’s pick things up near the top:
… Even if things had proceeded normally this season, there’s little doubt that Todd Tilghman still would have won.
On Tuesday night, Tilghman triumphed over finalists Thunderstorm Artis, Toneisha Harris, CammWess and Micah Iverson, winning $100,000 and a record deal. At age 41, Tilghman made show history as the oldest singer to win out of all 18 seasons. And his victory stands out for another reason: He has no professional music background, unusual in a competition series that heavily recruits the best singers it can find.
Looking back at other winners, many had already been in bands or performed as touring artists, some previously had record deals, and one was even nominated for a Grammy Award. But Tilghman — a pastor from Meridian, Miss., and a father of eight — said he never gave serious thought to a music career.
First of all, if the Associated Press Stylebook still has meaning, this winner’s name should have been “the Rev.” Todd Tilghman on first reference.
But that would have let the cat out of the bag early, I guess. It’s news that he is the oldest singer to win this competition. It’s news that he has no professional experience as a singer — other than in church (the launching pad for dozens of greats, including Aretha Franklin).
Still, I found myself wanting to know more about this guy’s ministry and life at home. After all, Tilghman is not just a pastor and he’s not an evangelical pastor. This man is a Pentecostal pastor from a town deep in the Bible Belt. Normally, preachers of this kind are critics of popular culture and music. The relevant word here, in church-speak, is “separatism.” In the past, these are the kinds of folks who burn Madonna discs and question anyone who uses drums in church.
Yet there was Tilghman, bouncing around with great enthusiasm singing one of the classic, sexy seduction ballads in the history of rock ‘n’ roll — Bob Seger’s “We’ve Got Tonight.” Here’s a bite of the lyrics:
I know it’s late, I know you’re weary
I know your plans don’t include me
Still here we are, both of us lonely
Longing for shelter from all that we see
Why should we worry, no one will care girl
Look at the stars so far away
We’ve got tonight, who needs tomorrow?
We’ve got tonight babe
Why don’t you stay?
Uh, “I know your plans don’t include me”? Well, his wife was cheering as he sang this.
Tilghman quickly owned up to being a pastor and a married man (21 years) with eight children (two adopted). His audition won over all four of the show’s pro coaches — Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson, John Legend and Nick Jonas.
After the show went into social-distancing mode, Tilghman returned to the tiny stage at his church. That’s here, near the end, he went full-Gospel, singing MercyMe’s “I Can Only Imagine.”
The Post entertainment feature did include the following, which gave a hint of the religious talk that took over the show for several minutes (check out the video at the top of this post). The singer’s onstage energy was described as both a “Pentecostal hop” and a “holy hop.”
“I’ve literally never performed. I just sing at church,” Tilghman explained, introducing himself as a pastor. This sparked an attempt to prove who was the biggest church fan; Legend revealed his grandfather was a pastor, and Jonas one-upped him by boasting his father was a pastor.
Yes, I realize that I’m asking for a bit of depth, maybe, in a reality-TV story. Still, I wonder if there is a human story, as well as a religious story, hiding in these comments.
… [Tilghman] got emotional talking about his family, especially how his wife urged him to go wait in line for hours at a “Voice” open audition in Atlanta. “I am really thankful that she believed in me in a place in my life where I didn’t even realize that I had sort of stopped believing in myself,” he said.
Readers are left with an interesting story, but one that only scratched the surface how a Pentecostal preacher ended up with this kind of pop-music pulpit. More please.
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