A plethora of former Voice coaches joined Alicia, Adam, Gwen, and Blake crown the Season 12 champion. (Photo & Graphic property of NBC)
By: Jacob Elyachar, jakes-take.com
Tonight, the show hosted a reunion of epic proportions as several Voice coaches from past seasons (CeeLo and Usher), present (Adam, Alicia, Blake, and Gwen), and future (Miley and Jennifer Hudson) visited the show to help end Season 12.
In addition to the coaches’ reunion, several Top 40 acts and music icons took the stage to perform with the finalists and members of the Season 12 Top 10.
But, the question on everyone’s mind was who won the crown? Did Blake Shelton make franchise history? Did Team Adam take home the crown? Or did Alicia Keys join Xtina as the second female coach to win the show? Read on to find out!
The first collaboration of the evening belonged to Mark Isaiah who worked with Latin superstars Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee. It was an okay performance although I wished that Stephanie Rice or Lilli Passero had the chance to perform with celebrities. I would have paired Stephanie with Season 14 coach Kelly Clarkson (“Piece by Piece”) and Lilli with the Queen of The Voice- Christina Aguilera (“Beautiful”)!
After the NBC singing competition goofed on Blake loving the LA lifestyle, Team Gwen’s Brennley Brown joined Rascal Flatts to perform the trio’s new single: “Yours If You Want It.” The collaboration put a smile on my face, and I am glad that Brennley had the chance to perform on the finale.
While Adam and Jesse reflected on their special relationship, the Team Adam finalist joined original coach CeeLo Green on stage for a rousing and funky cover of Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Shining Star.” I remarkable enjoyed seeing CeeLo back on the show, and his vocal chemistry with Jesse was outstanding.
Carson checked in with America’s Got Talent judge Howie Mandel who previewed Tyra Banks’ arrival, while World of Dance judge Derek Hough teased the “Olympics of Dance.” As the duo waved to the crowd, Alicia revealed that she was pulling the Voice coaches’ strings during the Blind Auditions. While Alicia laughed off the joke, Lauren Duski teamed up with Little Big Town to perform the quartet’s “Better Man.” I got goose bumps when the quintet harmonized on the song’s chorus.
While Gwen did not have anyone in the finale, many Team Gwen fans would be happy to know that the show invited Hunter Plake back to perform No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak” with his coach. Instead of the heavy rock guitars, the duo was backed by a string section and a grand piano. Over the past few weeks, I admitted my dislike of Hunter, but this arrangement and duet were superb!
One of the millennial generation’s talented producers, the Grammy-winning Zedd, and rising Top 40 sensation Alessia Cara performed their hit collaboration: “Stay.” While it was a good performance, I wished that the show’s producers utilized several members of the Top 20 such as Johnny Gates, Felicia Temple, and Casi Joy. As the duo left the stage, Aliyah revealed that Blake Shelton became an honorary member of the Moulden family.
I loved watching Chris Blue’s relationship with his coach, Alicia Keys, blossom throughout the season. I would have to put this pairing up with the artist-coach match-ups of Chris Mann + Xtina, Will Champlin + Adam, Jordan Smith + Adam, Cassadee Pope + Blake, and Alisan Porter + Xtina. In honor of the recent events in the news, Chris Blue teamed up with veteran Voice coach Usher for a powerful and haunting interpretation of “Everybody Hurts.”
After Chris Stapleton performed “Either Way” and two of the Minions made a cheesy cameo to promote Despicable Me 3, TSoul and Vanessa Ferguson teamed with the Empress of Soul herself, Gladys Knight, for an epic performance that featured the Season 12 soul singers perform two of her iconic hits: “You’re the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me” and “If I Were Your Woman.” I wished that we had more time seeing Vanessa and Gladys perform together because they took the Universal Studios Hollywood audience to church!
The Top Four received a huge surprise: a brand-new car! As the finalists checked out their vehicles, Miley Cyrus took the stage and dedicated her performance of “Malibu” to Ariana Grande and the victims of the Manchester bombing. Ms. Cyrus sounded incredible, and I am very excited to see her back in the Voice coaches’ dais this fall.
Aliyah Moulden closed out the artist duets by teaming up with her hero, Alessia Cara. The ladies performed Ms. Cara’s massive hit: “Scars to Your Beautiful.” The duo sounded good together, but I was worried that Alessia might outsing Aliyah. As the ladies exited the stage, it was time for Season 13 coach Jennifer Hudson to make her debut. The new coach performed her new single: “Remember Me.” She rocked the stage with her bombastic vocals and whoever makes it on Team JHUD next season, consider yourselves lucky that you have one of the greatest vocalists of the 2000s as your coach!
As Ms. Hudson left the stage, it was time to get down to business. Carson explained that every finalist hit the Top 10 on the overall iTunes charts. After the finalists had paid tribute to their coaches, Carson revealed the important results:
In Fourth Place- Jesse Larson (Team Adam)
In Third Place- Aliyah Moulden (Team Blake)
Which meant it came down to Lauren Duski and Chris Blue.
The winner of The Voice: Season 12 was…Chris Blue!
Congratulations, Chris Blue, on winning The Voice! Join me in the fall as I recap The Voice: Season 13 (Yowza!). Adam, Blake, and returning coach Miley Cyrus welcome Oscar and Grammy-winning recording artist Jennifer Hudson to “The Voice” family.
