BARRON, Wis. - Barron, Wisconsin's hometown hero Chris Kroeze is one step closer to becoming America's "Voice."
On Tuesday night, Kroeze made it to the Top 13 in the NBC television competition "The Voice." Kroeze, along with all of his competitors, performed on Monday night, but did not find out whether they made it through until Tuesday.
"The feeling going into today was similar to like, high school graduation, when I was walking up on stage, not quite sure that diploma was going to be signed or not," he told KARE 11 on Tuesday. "You just don't know what's going to happen."
Kroeze was one of the first two people to be saved by popular vote before elimination even started.
"It's a completely different level," he said after he found out. "I don't even know how to put it into the words, just that the public voted me through. They want me to continue, they like what I do, they support me, I don't know how else to put it. It's just overwhelming and eternally grateful for everything."
On Monday night, the Wisconsin native performed a heartfelt rendition of a song close to his heart - "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" by Creedence Clearwater Revival.
He told KARE 11's Boyd Huppert, “I've played that in every bar in Barron County probably."
At that point Kroeze didn't know if he would make it through, but there was one thing he was certain of.
“I'm from a town of 3,000 people. It's not in my normal everyday activities to be singing for Jennifer Hudson, Adam Levine, Kelly Clarkson, and Blake Shelton. It's totally crazy and I'm thankful for it,” he said.
Kroeze will now go on to compete against the final 12 other contestants.