Christina Grimmie, Jake Worthington, and Josh Kaufman took the stage three times each for their last chance to prove to America that they are The Voice.
America’s Pick
Christina Grimmie
Christina Grimmie kicked off the evening with a thank you performance for America: Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball,” which America voted this past week for her to perform again. It was a nice way of bookending her experience on the show, revisiting the song she sang in her blind audition. It was the first time we saw how well Christina was able to take a popular song and make it her own, and she has continued to impress and surprise us for the rest of the season.
Jake Worthington
Jake Worthington also revisited his blind audition song, Keith Whitley’s “Don’t Close Your Eyes,” at America’s request. After his super-awkward season 5 audition turned no chairs, Jake came back with a totally different, more relaxed approach, and a new song choice that showed of the quality of his classic country voice. It was lovely to hear an extended reprise of that first performance, because it served as a reminder that Jake is sure to have a promising career in country music.
Josh Kaufman
America chose Josh Kaufman’s second battle round performance of “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” for him to revisit for the finale. The performance was a memorable night for Josh, as that’s when he was stolen on to Team Usher. The Stevie Wonder classic is an absolutely perfect song to showcase everything season 6’s soul man has to offer. He threw everything into this repeat performance, bringing Carson to say, “It was like you were possessed for the last four minutes.”
Coach Duet
Josh and Usher
Josh Kaufman was joined by his coach Usher to perform the Police classic “Every Breath You Take.” The two soul men sounded great in this duet, but for all the talk of “bromance” in the preceding video package, they were pretty disconnected onstage. Basically, Usher thought he was at an Usher concert. But if we learned anything from this performance, it’s that some of Usher’s swag has rubbed off on Josh. Also, the background was super weird, and it looked like they were walking out of a dark sewer.
Christina and Adam
Christina and Coach Adam Levine teamed up to perform Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know.” It’s surprising, given Adam’s mission to differentiate Christina from the pack as such a unique artist, that he would choose such an over-done song for their duet. Granted, the song itself is unique, but it’s been covered a million times over, by Phillip and Elise on Idol, The Brothers Anderson on Glee, and so forth. It was a great performance by both artists, but they could have made more of an impression with a different song.
Jake and Blake
Country boys Jake and Blake took the stage with an apropos song choice: Hank Williams Jr.’s “A Country Boy Can Survive.” It was less of a live performance in front of millions, and more of a jam session between two buddies in someone’s garage. Jake and Blake just really seemed to be enjoying performing a song that they both love, representing the life that they love. Here’s hoping we can look forward to a Jake and Blake duet on either artist’s album in the future.
Final Solo
Jake Worthington
After last week’s Bryan Adams performance was a real turning point for country crooner Jake Worthington, Blake chose another ‘90s wedding song for Jake’s performance this week: Richard Marx’s “Right Here Waiting.” It was not one of Jake’s best performances, as he seemed a little bit nervous, which resulted in some rushing and pitch problems, but he’s just so “aww, shucks” likeable, that you can’t help but root for him.
Christina Grimmie
Christina Grimmie chose the Elvis classic “Can’t Help Falling in Love” for her last competitive performance on The Voice. She said it was her dream song, and she knew since the blinds that if she made it to the finale, she was going to sing this song. She took a big risk starting the song a cappella, but it was a beautiful way of showing off the flawless quality of her voice. Once the band came in, Christina picked up the pace, and by the time she reached the end, she had proven to America exactly why they were right to save her from elimination last week.
Josh Kaufman
Josh Kaufman closed out season 6’s competitive performances with a very dramatic performance of Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain.” It really was an outstanding performance, with Josh putting so much into the performance, it looked like he was about to pass out immediately afterwards. But with the dramatic all-white staging, and the orchestra, and the fire, it was all just…too much. Whatever career Josh has after this competition will not include pyrotechnics and silliness, and while his vocals were able to shine through, the performance came off seeming a bit fake.
Coaches Performances
The coaches got in on the fun tonight as well, splitting up for two duets.
Blake and Shakira
Coaches Shakira and Blake took to the stage to perform their duet “Medicine,” off Shakira’s self-titled album. The Voice ladies love a good Blake duet, as Christina Aguilera demonstrated with her 2012 Shelton duet “Just A Fool.” “Medicine” proves to be a little bit of a weaker duet, but this has us looking forward to the inevitable Gwen Stefani/Blake Shelton duet!
Adam and Usher
Coaches Adam and Usher took the stage to perform D’Angelo’s “Untitled (How Does It Feel),” and on behalf of women everywhere who have seen D’Angelo’s music video for the song, I would like to say to Mr. Raymond and Mr. Levine: TOO MANY CLOTHES, PLEASE TRY AGAIN.
Tune in Tuesday night at 8 p.m. on NBC for the reveal of the winner of the The Voice season 6, plus lots of special guest performances.