The Voice: Finale Part 2

After months of blind auditions, battle rounds, knockout rounds, double eliminations followed by single eliminations followed by double eliminations, Season 4 of The Voice has a winner. The show was really promoting Michelle Chamuel and all of her uniqueness, and goodness knows the state of Oklahoma was pulling for The Swon Brothers, but in the end….16 year old Danielle Bradbery won it all. The two hour show was jam packed with costume changes, video montages, and performances with more performances. Here are the highlights: 

-- Xtina and Pitbull ared up first to perform their collaboration song “Feel This Moment,” and DAMN does Xtina look good. She knows it too. I spend entirely too much time fist pumping to be mad that the beat from A-ha’s “Take On Me” is the best part of the song....which also might be one of the best music videos of all time. OF ALL TIME!

-- The Swon Brothers bring back Justin Rivers (who?), Holly Tucker (neat) and Amber Carrington (my bitterness returns) for a rendition of Lady Antebellum’s “Stars Tonight.” Justin looks way out of his element, but I could see the remaining four forming a Little Big Town type group. Let’s face it – the finale was really more of a Michelle vs. Danielle competition anyway, so the boys should start thinking of a Plan B. 

-- Michelle Chamuel joins OneRepublic for “Counting Stars,” and since I can’t stand Ryan Tedder…I move on pretty quickly. 

-- It's Blake's birthday!

-- Florida Georgia Line and Nelly perform “Cruise.” The jury is still out on whether we will ever hear anything else from these guys, but hey, Nelly’s still around so there’s hope. 

-- Garrett Garnder, Josiah Hawley, Kris Thomas and Vedo perform “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg.” As I try to figure out how I feel about the performance and this combination of guys I notice….Holly playing the saxophone. Holly plays the saxophone?!?! I’m so excited by this I completely forget about the boys. Holly just earned major, major cool points.  

-- Danielle brings back Amber Carrington (more bitter now), Caroline Glaser (who?) and Sarah Simmons (yay!) to sing “All-American Girl” by Carrie Underwood. Sarah appears to have been running late because her entrance was a bit awkward. I do LOVE the way these ladies sound together though.  

-- Usher likes sock puppets and also admits to ripping his pants on stage frequently. Perhaps it’s time to reflect on fashion choices and go with looser pants, but what do I know?

-- Bruno Mars takes the stage to sing "Treasure" and it's a complete throw back to The Jackson 5 during their "Dancing Machine" days. He OWNS it.

-- The Swon Brothers team up with Bob Seger to perform “Night Moves.” What these guys have going with their trio of guitars in unison is crazy good. This is a subtle performance that really slows the night down but I enjoy it.  
-- Believe it or not, English was not Shakira’s first language. 

-- Cathia, Judith Hill (JUDITH!!!), Karina Iglesias and Sasha Allen (sooo close) perform En Vogue’s “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It” and I have to wonder…what happened to En Vogue? They were pretty awesome and I distinctly remember listening to my “Free Your Mind” cassette tape single so many time that it broke. Anywho, this is sassy and awesome. Have I mentioned Judith is there? Because she is.  

Um, yes.

-- Hunter Hayes and Danielle Bradbery sing “I Want Crazy” and this is so cute it should be illegal. She is so smitten with him (I may also swoon when he smiles with the raised eyebrows). For the first time in a while, Danielle is a teenager having fun and I sing along happily.

-- Michelle brings Team Usher back for “We Can Work It Out” by The Beatles (also covered by Stevie Wonder). This is great and all, but when do we get to…

-- CHER!!!! Effing Cher performs her new single “Woman’s World.” Oh my God. The hair! The outfit! Did we expect anything less? She borrows the girls from Burlesque as back up dancers (I really hope it’s them because I’m not sure how many acting careers took off because of that movie). This song probably could have been released not too long after “Believe” and done really well. I don’t care though – it’s CHER.

And with that, Season 4 is over. Will you miss Shakira? Are you excited for Xtina’s return? Does anyone else think this show should scale back to one season per year to avoid overload? I believe Season 5 is already taping so recaps will resume soon. Til then!