‘The Voice’: Shakira & Blake Shelton Duet, Adam Levine And Usher Cover D’Angelo

Caila Ball-Dionne | May 20, 2014 5:34 am

As The Voice wraps up for the season, all the telltale signs of “we almost out” creep into the show! With no contestants, Shakira is in straight-up chill and compliment mode. Adam Levine’s roots are peeking out, and (ideally) he has donned his last Hawaiian shirt of the season. Blake Shelton is fitting in the last of his hair jabs at Adam, not to mention as much throwback country goodness as is humanly possible. Usher has a constant look of “Just one more week left with these fools,” on his face.

The contestants, truly the unsung heroes of this whole extravaganza, are tasked on Monday (May 19) with singing three songs to close out the competition section of their season. Christina Grimmie, Jake Worthington and Josh Kaufman pile on a coach duet, a throwback performance and one final song in their musical plea to be voted The Voice.

But first! Blake and Shakira perform their new single, “Medicine” from Shakira’s self-titled album. Shakira’s outfit leads one to believe that she must have gotten lost on the way to the Dancing with the Stars finale, and Blake’s signature awkward dance moves make it clear that he should stay as far away from DWTS as possible.

Not to be outdone, Adam and Usher sing D’Angelo’s “Untitled (How Does It Feel).” It’s almost too much hotness for one stage, capped off with a bro-hug perhaps meant to show that win or lose, they’re both happy to be raking in tons of cash courtesy of NBC.

And now on to the contestants. To quote one of the greatest cinematic achievements of all time, “This is it, don’t get scared now” (Home Alone, obvs).

Team Adam – Christina Grimmie Duet – As if to set the tone for their post-Voice relationship, Adam selects Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know” to perform with the Grim-ster. The performance is vocally strong, but a bit stationary compared to what both typically deliver. In unrelated news, Christina has gone full Cassadee Pope with her streaked-blond hair.

Throwback – In front of a spider web of emotion, Christina Grimmie’s performance of Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” is even stronger than her four-chair turning Blind Audition. She dedicates the performance to “you guys,” a term she uses about a zillion times regarding the people at home.

“You have the opportunity to hit all of those big notes that we love to hear you do,” says Blake. “That’s the Christina that I’ve been excited about every time you get on that stage.”

“I felt like I was just watching you perform your single on an incredible awards show,” says Adam.

New – In her final appeal for America’s votes, Christina Grimmie sings Elvis Presley’s “I Can’t Help Falling In Love.” It is truly impressive. She Grimmie-fies it in a way that allows her to showcase her upper register, and paces her build perfectly.

“To go after a song like that is really courageous of you,” says Usher. “You’ve got a great coach.”

“That was flawless,” says Shakira. “You push the envelope and you put your own stamp on everything you do.” So…if it doesn’t work out on The Voice, Shakira has set the stage for a great endorsement deal with the post office.

“The underwhelming commentary from Usher and Blake was just self protective,” says Adam. “I think that you’re going to win this show.” Bold!

Team Blake – Jake Worthington Duet –In a duo one season in the making, Jake Worthington and Blake Shelton hereby declare themselves Jake & Blake. The country crooners sing “Country Boy Can Survive” by Hank Williams, Jr., perhaps a nod to Blake’s hope that his final contestant, indeed, survives (or perhaps just a continuation of Blake’s twentieth century country music evangelism).

Throwback – Bringing back his (second) Blind Auditions performance, Jake sings a solid rendition of Keith Whitley’s “Don’t Close Your Eyes.” It’s vintage Jake, or as vintage as one can get in a three-month season. His silky smooth tone compensates for any lack of  “wow” moments favored by his competition.

“You do introduce this new element which is the subtlety of what you do without trying to break glass,” says Adam.

“The fact that you continue to throw back to that generation of country music and show respect to those artists, I love that about you,” says Blake.

New – Taking a (slight) departure from the country genre, Jake finishes on Bryan Adams’ “Right Here Waiting.” While it remains to be seen if Jake’s subtle approach to these songs will earn him enough votes to move on, it’s another lovely performance.

“It was a spotless performance,” says Usher.

“In six seasons of being a coach on this show and a viewer of this show, I don’t think there’s been a more honest and sincere messenger,” says a proud Blake.

Team Usher – Josh Kaufman Duet – While it’s hard to recreate the adorable chemistry Usher had with his Season 4 finalist, Michelle Chamuel, his duet of The Police’s “Every Breath You Take” with Josh Kaufman is still pretty special. Essentially, any day that Usher struts around a stage singing heartwarming stalker hits from the ’80s accompanied by a fog machine is worth watching, and adding Josh Kaufman’s powerhouse vocals is a fabulous bonus.

Throwback – Predictably, the crowd favorite throwback hit for Josh is Stevie Wonder’s “Signed Sealed Delivered.” The original performance was one of his standouts of the season, though ironically it occurred during the Battle that had Adam eliminate him (and Usher quickly steal him). The reprisal performance does not disappoint, and has Usher out of his red chair with intense excitement.

“Nothing makes me happier than seeing Jennie Garth down here struggling knowing that he let you go,” says Blake of Adam’s (still) blonde locks.

“He is the new voice of The Voice,” says Usher, confidently.

New – Watch out: Josh Kaufman is about to triple tread on sacred ground as not just a contestant singing an Adele song, but a male contestant singing an Adele song in the finals! Josh wears a little too much white to be appropriate before Memorial Day/ever, but his performance of “Set Fire To The Rain” is rather lights out. It’s also literally lights out, with the stage being lit with a whole lot of fire and candles.

Having about negative two minutes to offer critique thanks to the crowd’s overwhelming response, Adam squeezes in all he can in the time he (doesn’t) have. “You’re super amazing. Time’s over,” he says.

“Oh my god,” says Usher, quoting his own song. “I have a mantra and that is, ‘the destination is the journey,’ and throughout this entire process that’s been it.” Directly contradicting Adam’s declaration of Christina Grimmie as the winner, he adds. “You are the winner of this competition.”

Based on the unofficial coach declarations, both Christina Grimmie and Josh Kaufman have won The Voice, and Jake Worthington is super nice. Sounds about right. The official results are announced during tonight’s two hour finale starting at 9 p.m. ET.

Who’s got your vote?