‘The Voice’ Crowns Craig Wayne Boyd The Winner & Bruno Mars, Jessie J, Hozier, Meghan Trainor Perform: Watch
How time flies on The Voice. One day, there are countless hopefuls whose names will be forgotten in an instant, and the next there are just four…whose names will take slightly longer to forget. (I kid! I kid!) The final four all broke into the iTunes Top 10 last night with their original singles, a first for the show. In fact, Matt McAndrew’s “Wasted Love” knocked Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” out of first place on the iTunes Top Songs chart. Perhaps this is the season where a real star is born.
Speaking of real stars: Tuesday night’s finale was full of them! Coaches Gwen Stefani, Pharrell Williams, Blake Shelton and Adam Levine got to kick back in their red chairs for most of the finale, while A List talent including Hozier, Bruno Mars, Mark Ronson, Meghan Trainor, Jennifer Hudson, Ed Sheeran, Fall Out Boy and Jessie J took the stage. So hey, three runners up, you may not have won The Voice, but you had backstage passes to a pretty great Jingle Ball, right?
As for the winner? All in good time. First, take a look at the zillion-ish performances on The Voice finale.
Contestant Performances:
The Top 20 are welcomed back to perform Bastille’s “Pompeii.” Well, really final four Matt McAndrew, Chris Jamison, Damien and Craig Wayne Boyd perform “Pompeii,” and the other 16 provide backup vocals bitterly behind them. Craig Wayne Boyd brings back an all-female cast of throwbacks to accompany him in his bring-back performance. Sugar Joans, DaNica Shirey and Taylor Brashears join the country crooner to perform Georgia Satellites’ “Keep Your Hands To Yourself.” Craig has a blast with the sassy crimson-clad ladies, who most definitely do not keep their hands to themselves onstage.
Chris Jamison brings back Luke Wade, Ricky Manning, Taylor Phelan and Ryan Sill to perform Lloyd’s “Dedication To My Ex.” The funky, upbeat performance includes go-go dancers wearing gold sequined booty shorts, because what’s the point of a boy band without booty short-wearing backup dancers, right?
In the girl power moment of the evening, DaNica Shirey, Bryanna Salaz, Mia Pfirrman, Jean Kelly and Sugar Joans perform Ariana Grande, Jessie J and Nicki Minaj’s “Bang Bang.” Their (male) backup dancers wear suits, because of course they do.
Matt McAndrew brings Taylor Phelan, Mia Pfirrman, Taylor John Williams and Sugar Joans back to perform Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way.” The season’s best rockers honor former Team Adam advisor Stevie Nicks with a powerful performance.
Anita Antoinette, Elyjuh Rene and DaNica Shirey join Damien to sing the soulful “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. It’s fun, albeit a done-to-death song, and Damien works the crowd accordingly.
All Them Stars:
Fresh off of a Grammy nomination, Hozier takes the stage to perform “Take Me To Church,” which just received a Grammy nod for Song Of The Year. It seems like a lost opportunity that Matt McAndrew, who previously covered the song, was not included, but the band rocks it anyway without a guest appearance.
Matt McAndrew does join Fall Out Boy to perform their new single, “Centuries.” If a solo career doesn’t work out for Matt, he might want to see if Fall Out Boy is hiring, because his vocals completely enhance the band.
Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars perform “Uptown Funk.” It’s a shining star among an already glittering evening, because Bruno Mars can basically do no wrong live. Well…except for the ill-advised fashion statement of wearing his perm curlers onstage. In fairness, they’re solid gold, so he gets a pass.
After Bruno Mars comes Lynyrd Skynyrd (it really is the definition of a variety show this evening). Craig Wayne Boyd joins the southern rock band to perform “Sweet Home Alabama,” and drunk sorority girls south of D.C. scream, “It’s my song!” They then see that the band they’ve been downing SoCo and lime to this semester is filled with older versions of pre-makeover Craig, and have a total Thirsty Tuesday meltdown.
No need for gradual transitions on The Voice: Recent Grammy nominee Meghan Trainor performs “Lips Are Movin’” next. Her lips don’t quite move to the exact lyrics of the song, but lip-syncing is a really hard skill to learn, y’all! She’ll get there.
A svelte, body-con clad Jennifer Hudson sings “It’s Your World,” and Damien stands in for R. Kelly’s part. There’s no lip-syncing detected on either diva’s part during this high-energy performance, and it’s one of the more impressive showings of the night.
Former advisor Ed Sheeran, who’s album X was just nominated for two Grammys, performs “Thinking Out Loud,” with the unwelcome accompaniment of wonky audience clapping. It’s beautifully done, although eliminated contestant Luke Wade’s performance of the song earlier this season might have been even better.
Chris Jamison performs “Masterpiece” with yet another 2015 Grammy nominee, Jessie J. One of them is pitchy…and it’s not the amateur. Jessie J gives Chris a double thumbs up after the performance, which is just about the most unexpected move from a musician who previously defined cool.
Finally Coaches Adam Levine, Gwen Stefani, Pharrell and Blake Shelton get up from their red thrones to sing! They get in the spirit, performing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” complete with fake snow falling in the background. Gwen stuns in a red, floor-length mermaid gown, and the guys clean up nicely as well.
Results, you say?
Ah yes, it’s almost easy to forget that this is a results show with all the Grammy nominees in the house. Team Adam’s Damien, Matt McAndrew and Chris Jamison and Team Blake’s Craig Wayne Boyd stand on the final chopping block of the season. Though the odds are ever in Adam Levine’s favor, a Blake Shelton win here would mean an epic comeback he would reference for the rest of The Voice’s life.
Here’s how the contestants placed:
Coming in fourth place is Team Adam’s emotional Damien. In a shocking twist, he sheds 0 tears before leaving the stage.
In third place is Team Adam’s heartthrob, Chris Jamison. He’s still the sexiest contestant alive.
Second place goes to Team Adam’s Matt McAndrew. He may not have won, but he’ll always have that moment he bested Taylor Swift on the charts to keep him warm at night.
First place, then, goes to Team Blake’s Craig Wayne Boyd! The country crooner helped his country coach defy the three-to-one odds to add a fourth championship trophy to the Team Blake collection.
Craig gets to enjoy his trophy for all of three seconds before Carson Daly nabs it from him and shoves a microphone in his hand. Amidst obligatory confetti cannons and lots of hugs, Craig Wayne Boyd sings his winning song, “My Baby’s Got a Smile on Her Face,” with his wife and son on the stage. Heartwarming. Confetti blinding.
The End.
Thus wraps a seventh season of The Voice. There are certainly some opinions on the winners, yes? Rant and rave in the comments below.
