Either Joshua Davis, Meghan Linsey, Koryn Hawthorne or Sawyer Fredericks were crowned “The Voice’s” eighth champion. (Photos property of NBC & United Artists Media Group)
By: Jacob Elyachar, jakes-take.com
This is it!
Tonight, one artist’s life was changed forever as they joined Javier Colon, Jermaine Paul, Cassadee Pope, Danielle Bradbury, Tessanne Chin, Josh Kaufman and Craig Wayne Boyd in the Voice’s Winner’s Circle.
Did Pharrell secure his first win with either Sawyer or Koryn? Will Meghan Linsey’s victory make Blake Shelton the most coveted Voice coach in international franchise history? Or did Joshua Davis came from behind and scored a third victory for Team Adam?
Read on to find out…
The Top 20 kicked off the night with a cover of fun’s “Carry On” and “Some Nights.” I loved hearing ad-libs from India Carney, Kimberly Nichole, Sonic, Mia Z, Brian Johnson and Rob Taylor (but I wish they gave Sarah Potenza a line or two).
Joshua kicked off the Bring Back collaboration round as he recruited Brian Johnson, DeAnna Johnson, Corey Kent White and Kimberly Nichole. Despite having Corey in the performance, I am glad that Joshua chose DeAnna Johnson, Kimberly Nichole and Brian Johnson to perform “She Talks to Angels” with him. As Joshua strummed his guitar, Kimberly and Brian took everyone to church during their duet. This was a strong line-up and Kimberly gave me chills.
After Xtina gave her impressions of Miley Cyrus, Sia, Britney Spears, Cher, Lady Gaga and two-time coach Shakira, This season’s Team Blake advisor Meghan Trainor dropped by the show to deliver a very special acoustic rendition of “Dear Future Husband.” The “All About That Bass” singer played the ukulele brilliantly and enchanted the audiences with her beautiful vocals.
We all learned that Adam Levine’s inner desire to be an athlete with all of his sports analogies that he used all season. They retired his uniform–#222 on The Voice stage. After they hung the jersey, Koryn teamed up with former Team Blake advisor Kelly Clarkson for a powerful rendition of Etta James’ “I’d Rather Go Blind.” While both artists slayed the classic, it made me crave for a Koryn, Quintavious Johnson and Rachel Crow collaboration of that song!
Meghan Linsey brought back her best friend and fellow Team Blake member Sarah Potenza to sing Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart.” I have been missing Sarah Potenza’s voice for weeks and when she opened her mouth, chills covered my body. I loved the harmonies between the two women and this instantly became one of my favorite Bring Back performances of all-time!
After Adam joined Maroon 5 on stage to perform their latest single: “This Summer’s Gonna Hurt Like a Motherf****r,” Sawyer Fredericks teamed up with one of his biggest musical heroes, John Fogerty, to perform a medley of his hits including “Born On The Bayou,” “Bad Moon Rising” and the song that the Team Pharrell artist mastered during the Battle Rounds: “Have You Ever Seen the Rain.” Sawyer was having a ball when he performed with the CCR frontman and iconic singer-songwriter.
Like Sawyer and Koryn, Joshua was on Cloud Nine when he performed with one of his favorite musical inspirations: the one and only Sheryl Crow! They performed the nine-time Grammy winner’s 2013 hit: “Give It To Me.” I loved hearing their voices blend together and I hope that the “All I Wanna Do” singer plays a part in helping Joshua create his debut album.
Blake Shelton’s BFF Luke Bryan crashed The Voice stage and debuted his new single: “Kick the Dust Up.” I have a strong feeling that if Blake either leaves the show or if Usher and CeeLo are unavailable, we might be looking at a future Voice coach.
Koryn recruited several of the season’s top voices together: Lexi Davila, Mia Z, Tonya Boyd-Cannon, India Carney and Caitlin Caporale to form a Supergirl group and tackled Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk.” I loved hearing the impeccable vocal chemistry between the sextet and this was one of the highlights of the night.
The funniest part of the night was Adam Levine trying to impress Reba & Pharrell with his cover of “Ave Maria.” I thought it was Chris Mann singing off-screen and Adam lip-synching. While I tried to unwrap that mystery, Ed Sheeran premiered his new single: “Photograph.”
Kelly Clarkson returned to the stage to join Team Blake’s Meghan Linsey and they tackled Ms. Clarkson’s “Invincible.” I loved hearing them sing together and I really hope that Meghan asks Kelly to record a song with her on her debut record.
Sawyer took the Voice stage one final time as he rallied Mia Z, Lowell Oakley and Brooke Adee to perform “Lie to Me.” This was the first time all season that Sawyer unleashed his gritty side and Lowell totally redeemed himself after that disappointing Knockout Round performance.
Before we got to the results, the coaches came together to honor the great BB King with “The Thrill is Gone.” The Queen of The Voice reigned supreme as she used her killer ad-libs to honor the late bluesman and stole the performance from the guys!
After countless of performances, it was time to reveal the winner of “The Voice: Season Eight”
Koryn Hawthorne came in fourth, while Joshua Davis came in third place!
This meant it all came down to Meghan vs. Sawyer!
The winner of “The Voice” was Sawyer Fredericks! This marked Pharrell’s first victory as a coach!
Congrats Sawyer!
