(upbeat instrumental music)

- If you're a fan of NBC's"The Voice" competition,

you know when contestants try out,

they're praying thatjust one of the judges

will turn around and pick them.

Well, during Todd Tilghman's audition,

all four judges swungaround in their seats.

So it's no wonder that Tilghmanwound up the 2020 winner.

(air whooshing)

- [Announcer] Pastor Todd Tilghman

grew up singing in church,

but never had professional training.

Todd's wife and a friend encouraged him

to try out for an NBCshow called "The Voice."

He reluctantly agreed.

Not only did he have all four judges

trying to get Todd on their team,

but Todd was also declared

the 2020 Season 18 Winner of "The Voice."

He's here to talk about his journey.

- Please welcome to "The700 Club," Todd Tilghman.

Todd, it's great tohave you with us today.

- Hey, thank you so much.

- You had never sung professionally

when you went on "The Voice."

Were you stunned when allfour judges spun around?

What were you thinking?

- Yeah, certainly I was.

Like, I, you know,

everyone kept asking me beforehand,

like, "Which one of thesecoaches would you like?"

And I was like, "I'm gonna go

with whichever one turns around." (laughs)

I was completely, completely stunned

when all four of them turned.

- Well, there was a point where you almost

skipped auditioning for "The Voice."

What happened there andwhat changed your mind?

- Well, I'll tell you.

Well, first of all,

we had just had a superbusy time in our lives.

But second of all, and reallymore prevalent I think,

I just assumed that I wouldjust get a no, you know?

And so I was like, "Why would I drive?"

'Cause I had to drive severalhours to go to the audition.

And but what changed my mind was my wife.

We've said a million times in our marriage

that she's the gas and I'mthe brakes, you know? (laughs)

So she just pushed meover the edge to do it.

- You chose, after all four turned around,

to work with Blake Shelton as your coach.

What was that like?

- That was as great asI thought it would be.

I chose him hoping

that what I had seen of him was genuine,

which is just that he's kind of easy going

and laid back, reallyprofessional as well.

And that was all true.

You know, he's not such a stickler,

that just would've made me too nervous.

- Speaking of nervous,because of COVID-19,

the regular productionof the show was changed.

And that actually helped youa little bit with nerves.

Talk about that.

- Well, I'll say this.

You know, the audiencepart of it was great.

I love an audience.

So the audience didn't make me so nervous,

but it did help that I was

sort of in my own environment, you know?

Like a lot of people haveasked about the audience,

but that's really not it.

I love the audience, you know,

they're great and there's a lot of energy.

But I was sort of in my own environment.

And also I would say for methe most nerves or anxiety,

or whatever you want to say,

came from my company,

all of the other artistswere so great, you know?

And I was in a competition with them.

- Yeah. Well, tell us alittle bit, the show finals,

you sang, "I Can Only Imagine."

You know, that was thought avery popular song, of course,

but it's been sung so much.

Did you think you were gonna win?

- No, I can tell you just categorically,

I actually just assumed thatI wouldn't win. (laughs)

- You're a pastor, you'rethe dad of eight children.

Winning this has tohave impacted your life.

How has that changed your family's life?

- Our family, you know, remarkably,

you would think that whensomething like this happens

and there's so many more things happening,

that, especially myself,that I have to do,

that it would sort of belike hard to come together.

But I actually think this hascaused us to come even closer.

We've always been a reallyclose family, you know?

But I think it caused useven to come closer together.

Everybody's really on boardwith what's happening.

And then, also thereare other opportunities

that have come up that reallyfocus on our entire family,

not just me and what happenedon the show, you know.

- Are your kids musical?

- A couple of them are.

All of my kids, especially, you know,

the ones that are older andyou can see their gifts,

you know that as they develop.

But even the little kids,

they all have really,really remarkable gifts

and a couple of them are musical.

- So is this a new career for you?

I understand that you have a CD,

you've got a book possibility

and a reality TV show in the offing.

What does the future look like for you?

- You know, I don't really know.

I'm not really releasing, when I say a CD,

I'm not really likereleasing any new music.

What I'm doing is I'll have a CD.

I have a show right now that'sin Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

And so I'm just releasing a CD

that's got a few of those songs on it,

and it's not gonna belike digital or anything.

But yeah, there's a book thing.

And so what I've said,a hundred times really,

is that I know my lifeand our family's lives

are drastically changing,

but the exact parameters of that

we're just sort of having faithand letting them play out.

You know, I don't reallyknow what they are.

- What's your heartwith all of this, Todd?

What's your dream?

- What I would love to do, and you know,

this is another thing thatI've said a bunch of times.

I would love to sharemy faith and my family

and who I am with the world.

And that I like show the world

that there's someone likeme who just loves them,

you know, unconditionally,I just love you,

but maybe not necessarilypackage it in a way

that is just so strictly only faith-based.

You see what I mean?

- Yes.- Like so that hopefully

other people might lookinto it and say like,

"You know, here's a regular everyday guy.

And he took a chance, you know?

And look, it paid off andhe's still sort of regular."

- Well, can I say that whenthis COVID thing is over

and concerts are allowed again,

you're gonna need a big RV. (laughs)

- Yeah, we're actually, that's a weird,

it's just such a weirdtime in my life. (laughs)

- It's a weird time in allof our lives, Todd. (laughs)

- (laughing) Right, right.

- Seriously. Well, wecongratulate you on your win.

How very exciting.

And we pray God's blessing andfavor on you, on your family.

And that picture you paint that, you know,

with God at the center,

all things are possibleis when we embrace.

God bless you.- Yes, ma'am.

Thank you so much.

- Great to talk to you.

- You too, bye-bye.- Bye-bye.