Winner – Danielle Bradbery
Runner Up – Michelle Chamuel
3rd place – The Swon Brothers
I got tonight’s results 100% correct in the exact order! And I could brag about that, except most of you got the order right too. Most. Predictable. Outcome. Ever.
I’m not disappointed that my girl, Michelle Chamuel, didn’t win. I was just happy to get her into the finals. And I have a feeling that she and her coach, Usher, have created a special bond, strong enough to keep them together as a team even as the season ends. I get the feeling that the competitive and ambitious singer would love to launch Michelle’s career.
Danielle Bradbery isn’t ready for primetime. Her emotional maturity hasn’t caught up to her voice yet. But that doesn’t mean she can’t be turned into a star. Her duet partner, Hunter Hayes is a good example. He’s a cute boy with a nice voice, but he’s all fluff. Danielle has real potential, though. I can’t help thinking she would have been better off growing up a little first. Hopefully, the business won’t burn her out. Watch Leann Rimes and take heed, Danielle.
The Swon Brothers will head back to Nashville and continue to languish. I’m not seeing the star quality or charisma with those fellas, although they both seem darn nice.
Blake Shelton is like the WGWG of The Voice. He’s won 3 cycles in a row as coach and seems to have the competition down to a science. He keeps winning because he’s a genius at crafting performances that play to a specific image he creates for his artists. It makes for really boring television, but it works. Danielle and the Swons repeated themselves week after week. Each of them delivering nostalgia-dipped performances that weren’t TOO old-fashioned. Neither took big chances, but I think the audiences loved that about them. You had Danielle as the young, poised country pop singer who brought back those 90s classics–an image both teens and grandmas could love. The Swons became reliable purveyors of classic country rock, and the baby boomers swooned.
On the other hand, both Usher and Adam Levine tried to keep their teams on their toes and the audiences always surprised. It worked with the dynamic performer, Michelle Chamuel. But her appeal wasn’t consistent enough to secure a win. Adam had 4 very talented female vocalists on his team, none of whom established a clear artistic identity. Amber Carrington weaved in and out of genres, which revealed an impressive versatility, and lent her performances a what-will-she-do-next quality. But who was she really? Viewers won’t root for a cypher. Adam could brag all he wanted about the risks he would take with his team, and how he wouldn’t have it any other way. All the while, Blake was probably giggling to himself, secure in the knowledge that molding his singers into clearly cut types, and not deviating from that week after week was the key to his success.
Forget poor Shakira. She’s was a complete failure as a mentor, even though she was just a delight on the panel. The chemistry was really great with this particular set of people. It felt like everyone sincerely liked each other. Not entirely looking forward to the return of Xtina’s passive aggressive bitchiness in the fall, although she does look damn good after her weight loss.
Speaking of Usher. I’m pretty sure I have a little crush on him right now. I’ve always appreciated his talent, but he’s even more of a superstar than I imagined. I’m going to be sorry to trade him off for the return of Cee Lo, if I’m being honest.
Tonight’s finale was fairly entertaining as these things go. There’s one result and 2 hours to fill. I have to say, the return of Cher in all of her glittery glory was a highlight. I expect she’ll continue to strut her stuff well into her golden years, and I say to that–you go girl. Cher is an inspiration.
The “superstar” duets were pretty well matched, although it would have been awesome to get Pink or Robyn for Michelle, who kind of kicked Ryan Tedder’s ass, to be honest. I barely remembered Cathia, the Top 16 contestant asked to sing TWICE with contestants. Also: Do the Swon Brothers REALLY have to share a car? If so, that kind of sucks.
Tonight officially concludes Competitive Singing Competition–The Spring Edition. We’ll be starting it up all over again in the fall with X Factor and the next The Voice cycle. Whoopie. Remember when a certain singing competition finale was like the Super Bowl and only happened once a year? I kinda miss those days, while I appreciate the extra web traffic stretched into the summer. There are pros and cons.
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The Voice 4 winner will be crowned tonight! Will it be Danielle Bradbery, The Swon Brothers from Team Blake or Michelle Chamuel from Team Usher. Stay tuned to find out!
Cher, Christina Aguilera, Pitbull, Bruno Mars, Florida Georgia Line and Nelly are set to perform. All Star duets include Hunter Hayes with Danielle Bradbery, Bob Seeger with The Swon Brothers and OneRepublic with Michelle Chamuel.
Obligatory recap of last night’s performances is up first. Blake says there is no doubt in his mind that Danielle deserves to “win this thing.” Way to throw The Swons under the bus, dude.
Unpresented records were broken last night, says Carson. More than half of The iTunes Top 10 was taken up by The Voice contestants. The first time that happened, ever.
First performance tonight is from Christina Aguilera and Pitbull who sing “Feel This Moment. It’s time for some A-Ha! Xtina is rocking her new bod. She looks great. The confetti falls and it’s a party up in here. Isn’t it a little soon for that?
The standout moment for Shakira has been the “outstanding talent on the show.” She wishes Blake a happy birthday, and says it was a pleasure to be on the panel. Adam walks back on his Danielle-will-win remark. “It’s so close…who knows,” he says. Usher is proud of Michelle Chamuel for getting this far. If she wins, America will recognize the hard work she’s put in. Blake swears that he doesn’t care about a 3-peat. He’s focused on this year. EVERYONE has done their work, he says, and should be commended.
The Swon Brothers bring back Justin Rivers, Holly Tucker and Amber Carrington for their “Bring Back” performance. They sing “Stars Tonight” by Lady Antebellum. Justin Rivers should have lasted longer. Everyone here is a good vocalist. Solid performance.
Christina Milian is up in the SKYBOX. She has YOUR judges impressions loaded on her SAMSUNG PRODUCT PLACEMENT WHATEVER. It’s mostly kids and their homemade videos. Next, she introduces a video of Blake breaking the news to Danielle that she’ll be singing with Hunter Hays tonight. Yipee.
Now, a video package about how the Blake/Adam bromance has fallen apart this season, because Blake has a NEW boyfriend, Usher. Yep. We’ve got lots of time to kill tonight.
Next, Michelle Chamuel and OneRepublic team up to sing “Counting Stars.” Michelle is a better singer and performer than Ryan Tedder. There I said it! It doesn’t take much, though. The last chorus really rocked. Good stuff.
The next video packages focus on Usher’s “unique” coaching methods. “You’re going to have to fight a little more for that mic!” Blake claims Usher stole all his ideas. Blake mocks all of Usher’s best bits. Danielle: “Without him, I’d probably end up in the circus.”
Florida Georgia Line takes the stage to sing their country party hip hop song with Nelly. Gah. This country hip hop fad has to stop NOW. NOW PLEASE NOW. This song “Cruise” truly sucks. Usher and Blake both seem to appreciate that. Hmf.
We’re back in the SKYBOX with an “emotional” Christina Milian speaking with the Top 3 for the last time. Colton says he’ll miss Christine A LOT. Right. And that he’d be happy to lose to any of the girls. Right. The feeling is mutual of course. THEY’VE ALL LEARNED SO MUCH FROM EACH OTHER NOW FOR A GROUP HUG. AWWWW.
Garrett Gardner, Vedo, Josiah Hawley and Kris Thomas take the stage like a modern day Temptations to sing “Ain’t To Proud to Beg,” complete with Motown hand rolls and the whole bit. Josiah really is a mediocre singer! Girl dancers surround them as they sing. Yes, Shakira. There it is. The wreckage of your terrible coaching! We still love you, though. I think they stole the chick saxaphone player from Idol.
Danielle Bradbery brings back Sarah Simmons, Amber Carrington, Caroline Glaser to sing Carrie Underwood’s “All American Girl.” I doubt very much that the finalists are choosing who to sing with. Caroline is the weakest singer in this quartet. It’s embarrassing. Carson call the performance the “definition of adorable.”
Now it’s time for some “Voice Confessional” outtakes. Blah blah blah. I WANT SOME RESULTS NOW.
Bruno Mars takes the stage to sing “Treasure.” Well, not really. This performance was filmed way back in May, before his mom tragically passed away. Bruno is always entertaining as hell. I appreciate his throwback style.
Bob Seeger joins The Swon Brothers to perform his classic rock song, “Night Moves.” These voices don’t blend together very well. Believe it or not, I’m not much of a classic rock fan…unless it’s from across the pond. So, this performance isn’t doing much for me. But good on the boys for getting to sing with a legend.
Another video package focuses on Shakira and her English malapropisms and use of multisyllabic words. Usher, Blake and Adam demonstrate that they have no idea what the words she uses means. I have a hard time believing the guys don’t understand the meaning of these words. CONUNDRUM, JUXTAPOSITION. It’s like, 10th grade vocab. Anything for the yucks.
Cathia, Judith Hill, Sasha Allen and Karina Iglesias perform En Vogue’s “My Lovin'” GIRL DIVA POWER.
Yet another video package featuring the Top 3 in wardrobe and getting their makeup done, running through with the band–just your typical backstage stuff. The gang are lured into a photo shoot, under a ruse. Instead of a shoot, Carson awards all 3 with A NEW KIA CAR. Danielle doesn’t have her licence yet. So there’s that.
Danielle Bradbery and Hunter Hayes are next. Look at those cute youngsters! They sing “I Want Crazy.” Actually, this team up makes perfect sense. POP COUNTRY TEENS Y’ALL. They are kind of adorable together. Balloons fall from the rafters during the last chorus. Practicing for Danielle’s coronation, I suppose.
Michelle Chamuel reunites Team Usher for her “Bring Back” performance. That would be Josiah Hawley, Vedo and Cathia who sing the Stevie Wonder version of The Beatles “We Can Work it Out.” Usher rushes to the stage to hug it out with his peeps. That was very soulful.
One last stop in The Voice Confessional. Please, God. Let it be true. I WANT SOME RESULTS. Here, the Top 3 blah blah about what the win would mean to them. The coaches get in on the action too.
Finally, the FABULOUS CHER takes the stage to debut her new dance single “Woman’s World.” Outfit wise, she doesn’t disappoint. She is wearing some crazy purple feather thing on her head and a mesh shirt with a black bra and shiny metallic jacket. Usher stares at her intently as if he’s not quite sure what he’s looking at. Blake looks even more confused. The dancers behind her do all the heavy lifting. But c’mon. The lady is over 60 years old. She’s been doing her thing since 1963! Yes people. That’s 50 years of show business, and she can still get them on their feet in the dance clubs. Impressive.
FINALLY IT’S TIME TO ANNOUNCE THE WINNER. Danielle is wearing what looks like a prom gown? The finalists thank their coaches. Everybody looks super nervous.
HERE WE GO.
Winner – Danielle Bradbery
Runner Up – Michelle Chamuel
3rd place – The Swon Brothers
Danielle attempts to sing out with her finale song, but becomes to choked up to continue. She hugs it out and stands underneath the confetti in a daze. And we’re out.
