Season 5 of The Voice is coming to a close, and the three finalists went out with a bang, taking on some huge songs to win America’s votes for the final time.
Group performance
Our Voice coaches kicked off the two-night finale with a rockin’ performance of Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar On Me” with help from some actual members of Def Leppard. The coaches always seem to love performing together, and they relish a classic rock song like this. Cee Lo was sporting what looked like red wellies, while Christina looked about ready to spill right out of her top. Outfits aside, they all sounded great and really got the crowd going. It was a great way to kick off the finale.
The top 3 finalists came together to sing The Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There.” It was great to hear the three competitors sing the heartfelt song, and one hopes they feel that same affection for one another offstage as well. The three voices sounded wonderful together, and no one out-sang anybody else. They are all spectacular vocalists, but they also know how to share the stage with other artists.
Blind audition song
Tessanne’s first song was an encore of her first-ever performance on The Voice stage: Pink’s “Try,” which she sang for her blind audition. The first performance earned her a four-chair turn from the coaches, and this week’s redo reminded us why. She showed off the power in her vocals, not to mention proving herself to be radio-friendly. It was great to be reminded of why we all fell in love with Tessanne in the first place.
Will Champlin performed his blind audition song, Gavin DeGraw’s “Not Over You.” Will has certainly had his ups and downs in the competition, including losing two battles and being stolen by another coach, narrowly avoiding elimination. But America loves an underdog, and he’s made it all the way to the finals. He has a unique voice and a unique style, and he has consistently surprised us every week with new and different facets of his talent.
Revisiting Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black,” the song she performed in her blind audition, Jacquie Lee proved herself to be just as timeless an artist as Winehouse herself. At only 16 years old, she has a voice well beyond her years, and is able to handle emotional, meaningful songs about heartbreak and sadness. But she’s also current and radio-friendly, and her powerful voice can handle anything from pop to jazz. She’s an incredible versatile singer, and has demonstrated that all season.
Coach duets
Tessanne was joined onstage by coach Adam Levine to perform The Beatles classic “Let It Be,” and Adam said he had never been more excited for any performance. Tessanne’s biggest strength all season has been her ability to connect with the emotional content of whatever song she’s singing, and “Let It Be” is a perfect song to let that skill shine. It was like a sermon from The Church of Tessanne, and it was beautiful. With Adam’s help, Tessanne has paid homage all season to Tessanne’s home country of Jamaica, and this performance was no different, as they Jamaica’ed it up for a verse near the end.
Christina finally got the chance to share the stage with her mini-me, Jacquie Lee, to perform Christina’s song from the Catching Fire soundtrack, “We Remain.” Both girls were affectionate during the performance: holding hands, putting their arms around one another, and raising their clasped hands in triumph (just like Katniss and Peeta). It’s great to see this young girl having found such a mentor in Christina, and one hopes the support will continue throughout her career.
Will Champlin and coach Adam Levine took the stage together to sing the Elton John classic “Tiny Dancer.” Will’s voice has previously drawn comparisons to his coach’s, so it was great to hear them sing together. Trading off lines of the song, you couldn’t tell who was the professional vocalist, and who was the reality show contestant. Maybe next time Adam can’t make it to a Maroon 5 show, Will could fill in for him. After Adam showed favoritism all season for Will’s teammate James Wolpert, it was great to see Will and Adam have a nice moment together.
Final solos
Tessanne Chin took on a huge song for her final competitive performance: Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing.” It is always risky when a reality show contestant takes on a Whitney or Mariah song, but if anyone could handle it, of course it would be Tessanne. She honored Whitney’s memory with a powerful and passionate performance, but at the same time, was able to make the song her own. It was a great last impression for her to leave on the voters.
Will took his glasses off and put his sparkly rock-star suit on for his final competitive performance on The Voice. Singing among tall Greek columns, Will performed an American favorite song: Bryan Adams’ “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You.” Will is a big family man, mentioning his wife and baby girl often, and for this heartfelt performance, he sang right to his beautiful and tearful girls in the audience. Not only was it a beautiful moment, but Will’s baby daughter is possibly the cutest child in the world, and deserves all the votes.
There are huge, challenging songs, and then there’s the Dreamgirls classic “And I Am Telling You.” 16-year-old Jacquie Lee took on this beast for her final performance, following in the huge footsteps off Jennifer Holiday, Jennifer Hudson, and more recently, American Idol’s Jessica Sanchez. The amazing thing about Jacquie is that even at such a young age, she is not daunted by a single thing this show throws at her. She performed this monster of a song like it was no big deal. Just another day in the life of Jacquie Lee.
Tune in tonight for the results on the two-hour finale event at 9 p.m. on NBC.