Season 7 has come to a close with a bang, with a results show chock full of awesome guest performances, and oh yeah, a new winner.
We have a new Voice winner! But before that, we had a whole heck of a lot of performances!
Top 20
Yay, everyone’s back! It’s always so exciting when everyone comes back for a big top 20 reunion, in large part because by this point, we have already forgotten almost all of the people who were in the top 20. But it was great to see some old friends performing Bastille’s “Pompeii,” in front of a carousel, for some reason. Was it the best group performance, vocally? Nope, it wasn’t. The guys sounded off from the very beginning. But who cares, because friendship!
Top 20 Girls
America basically let out a collective cheer when Carson introduced top 20 girls Mia Pfirrman, Sugar Joans, DaNica Shirey, Bryana Salaz, and Jean Kelley performing…wait for it… “Bang Bang,” that little ditty by Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj that you may have heard a few times this summer. It was a great moment for girl power, but it was lacking much of the punch that the original packs. Maybe it was because the girls were restricted by their backup singer choreography, but let’s be real, it’s because we were missing Nicki Minaj.
Coaches
To get us into the Christmas spirit, our lovely coaches performed the holiday classic “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” The boys all looked very sharp, but Gwen basically looked like a gorgeous Christmas angel in red. And her verse proved that it’s time for the No Doubt Christmas album we didn’t know we needed.
Bring Back Performances
Every year, each finalist gets the chance to bring back some of their pals from the top 20 for a fun group performance in the finale.
Craig Wayne Boyd
Thank you, Craig Wayne Boyd, for proving that DaNica Shirey, Sugar Jones, and Taylor Brashears are the next great girl band America really needs. Craig chose the girls to sing Georgia Satellites’ “Keep Your Hands to Yourself,” and they were all dressed in coordinating red lace outfits, and harassing Craig. It was one of the most fun performances of the season, with the girls totally giving Craig a run for his money (good for you, Taylor!). I think it’s pretty safe to say that Craig would have his hands full with those ladies.
Chris Jamison
Chris Jamison brought back his boys Luke Wade, Ricky Manning, Taylor Phelan, and Ryan Sill to perform Lloyd’s “Dedication to My Ex.” First and foremost, they all looked super sharp in their suits, which made for an enjoyable performance in and of itself. But they also sounded great, proving why they made it to the top 20 in the first place. It was really just a bunch of buddies hanging out and having a great time performing together onstage.
Matt McAndrew
Matt McAndrew finally got to reunite with the other half of his McPhelan bromance, Taylor Phelan, as well as his pals Mia Pfirrman, Taylor John Williams, and Sugar Joans, to perform Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way.” We got the chance to see how great the Taylors sound together, and saw Mia and Sugar try their best to be Stevie Nicks. Too bad Stevie Nicks is a magical unicorn who can never be matched or imitated. But I’d still watch a whole concert of this Voice Fleetwood cover band.
Damien
Damien chose fellow soulful singers Anita Antoinette, Elijuh Rene, and DaNica Shirey to perform Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” This is such a great song, they could have just stood their silently while the music played and allowed America to sing along gleefully at home like some kind of nationwide karaoke. But instead, they sang it, and absolutely killed it. They’re all super talented, and were obviously having a blast performing with one another. Plus, they all had snazzy gold-trimmed outfits.
Celebrity Duets
Matt McAndrew and Fall Out Boy
Matt McAndrew got to join Fall Out Boy for a performance of their new hit “Centuries” and HOLY CRAP it was awesome! Fall Out Boy certainly knows their way around an anthem, and there has been no more anthemic singer this season, or possibly in The Voice history, than Matt McAndrew. He was completely in his element, and gave Patrick Stump a run for his money. Amusingly, Matt is so tall he may well tower over all of the Fall Out Boys if you stacked them on top of one another.
Craige Wayne Boyd and Lynyrd Skynyrd
Craig Wayne Boyd basically got to live any Southern boy’s dream this week, singing “Sweet Home Alabama” with Lynyrd freaking Skynyrd. But because he’s Craig Wayne Boyd, the consummate professional, he was cool as a cucumber for the whole performance. You would’ve thought he plays with Lynyrd Skynyrd all the time. Even Blake was jealous, standing up in his seat, playing air guitar. Maybe Craig and Blake will join the band to form a country supergroup.
Damien and Jennifer Hudson
Jennifer Hudson joined Damien onstage for a performance of her new single “It’s Your World,” which was pretty awesome. Jennifer is awesome. Damien is awesome. The song is hella catchy, though it sort of sounds like we’ll be hearing it over some department store commercial soon. What was not awesome was the fact that JHud was just baaaaaarely wearing her dress. She is so gorgeous and talented, she does not need to resort to wearing what looked to be black Saran Wrap. Damien had to be worried about covering up a wardrobe malfunction.
Chris Jamison and Jessie J
How much do you think DaNica Shirey was kicking herself that it wasn’t her singing with Jessie J? In fact, Chris Jamison got to share the stage with Jessie to perform her new song “Masterpiece.” Jessie J knows how to write hit songs that also happen to be super motivational, and this is no exception. Chris had to be nervous to perform alongside Jessie and her killer voice, but he sounded great! The two made a great duet, and Chris once again proved himself to be a pro onstage.
Guest Performances
Hozier
Hozier’s really making the rounds, isn’t he? Good for him, because “Take Me to Church” is a killer song. He normally seems pretty boring when he performs, whether it’s a result of stage fright or what, but this was one of his best performances. The staging was pretty impressive as well, with lasers, smoke, and shattered stained glass windows helping to indeed take us to church. Amen.
Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars
Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson’s performance of “Uptown Funk” was so awesome that you quickly forgot the fact that Bruno was wearing gold rollers in his hair. That’s all. That’s it. What more needs to be said?
Meghan Trainor
There’s no questioning that Meghan Trainor knows her way around a hit song. Her new song “Lips are Moving” is just as catchy as “All About That Bass,” and this was a great performance. There was a giant wannabe-Rolling Stones pop art mouth as a backdrop, and some energetic backup dancers, and a whole lot of really cute patterned tights. It was a nice way for the show to make up for bumping her from the guest mentor gig a few weeks ago, for Christina Aguilera.
Ed Sheeran
Guys, Ed Sheeran is just the best. So precious, with his mess of ginger hair. And “Thinking Out Loud” is an incredibly sweet song. He may not have busted out the ballroom dancing moves he learned for the music video, but he still gave a great performance. Ed doesn’t require many bells and whistles, just a simple performance, where his vocals and lyrics do all the work to capture the audience’s attention.
Results
Believe it or not, there was actually time to reveal a winner tonight, in amongst all the performances. As the show drew to a close, Carson revealed that the fourth place finalist was Damien, and third place was Chris Jamison, leaving the two snappiest-dressed finalists: Craig Wayne Boyd in a nice holiday wine-colored jacket, and Matt McAndrew in a sweet plaid suit. Both men looked ready to throw up during Carson’s dramatic pause, but he finally revealed that the winner of The Voice season 7 is Craig Wayne Boyd.
Tough guy Craig immediately burst into tears, which was sweet. Blake was thrilled for his buddy, and ran up onstage, but was probably also thrilled to beat Adam when he only had a one in four chance of doing so. As Craig began singing his new original song, “My Baby’s Got a Smile On Her Face,” someone brought his (very sleepy) son onstage. Craig was a proud papa, and while he started off strong, got more emotional as his performance went on.
Congratulations Craig!
That’s it! It’s over! Season 7 has been a blast, but don’t you fret, because The Voice will be back for season 8 in February!
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