It's time! We've reached the Season 12 finale of The Voice and there are four eager contestants ready to win our votes. Gwen is chillin' in her chair tonight as her team was completely eliminated last week, while Adam, Blake and Alicia are hoping their artists will rise above the rest tonight. The final four will perform three times this evening - one original song, one cover song, and one duet with their coach. Who is most likely to win it all? Let's get to the performances and see how these hopefuls stack up against each other.
Artist: Aliyah Moulden
Team: Blake
Song: Original -- "Never Be Lonely"
The youngest contestant to make it to any finale is kicking off the show tonight with a brand new song. The high school cafeteria setting is cute, as are the teenagers break dancing, smiling and kinda, sorta singing background vocals. Aliyah is really enjoying herself and sounds really good in portions of the song, but she is struggling with her lower register. The tune is catchy and all but I don't think it was the best song to showcase all of Aliyah's strengths.
Coaches Say: Gwen thinks the "funnest thing" has been to watch Aliyah evolve before our eyes. She also likes that Aliyah was her age tonight and didn't come out all done up like an adult. Blake says the song was perfect for Aliyah and compares her performance to something out of Glee. Well, depending on the season, that part of the critique could be true.
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Artist: Jesse Larson
Team: Adam
Song: "Takin' It to the Streets" by The Doobie Brothers
I mayyyy have been a little bitter last week when Jesse won the Stupid Twitter Save. I may still be bitter. For me the performance starts out okay. Jesse sounds good but man I wish he would work on his enunciation. I will say though that Jesse's guitar solo in this performance caught my attention and held it through the rest of the song. He finished strong with awesome vocals and he should feel pretty darn good going into his next performance.
Coaches Say: Alicia calls the performance both fresh and dope. She says what he and Adam have been working on together is authentic and genuine. Adam thinks Jesse has never sounded better and says he genuinely believes Jesse should win the whole thing. Of course he does.
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Artist: Lauren Duski
Team: Blake
Song: "The Dance" by Garth Brooks
Wow. Blake hits the nail on the head in rehearsals when he tells Lauren she is about to take on "one of the most important and greatest country songs of all time." She thinks this song sums up her journey on The Voice in many ways and that certainly comes through in her performance. I'm a huge, massive, unwavering Garth Brooks fan. I've seen him in concert and cried during this song a couple of times. I set all of that aside the moment I hear Lauren sing "looking back..." What she does here is beautiful, classy, polished and wonderful. I'm not sure what will happen in tomorrow's results show but I really hope I hear this girl on my radio soon.
Coaches Say: Adam says Lauren has a voice that is very familiar and comforting and that's why people love her so much. It's getting boring how great you are." Uh, Adam? Are these compliments? Because they kind of sound like "Yeah, you're okay but have I mentioned how unique and amazing my contestant is?" Eye roll. Blake is super excited for Lauren. He tells his contestant that she made him feel like he was hearing "The Dance" for the first time tonight. Now THAT'S a compliment.
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Artist: Chris Blue
Team: Alicia
Song: Original -- "Money On You"
Chris' would be single suits him perfectly. This is a dance tune that allows him to show off his moves, sing his face off, and have an absolute blast on stage. I don't have much else to say about the performance. The crowd seemed to be enjoying the song as much as Chris was, and I imagine we'll be seeing a TON of downloads calculated on iTunes tomorrow.
Coaches Say: Alicia tells Chris that there is an electricity when he walks into the room. She says the stage was 1000% his and he is "ready."
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Artist: Jesse Larson
Team: Adam
Song: Original Song --"Woman"
This tune was written by Chris Stapleton and Jesse is thrilled to be able to have his original song be by an artist he loves so much. My Stupid Twitter Save bitterness still lingers, but this is my favorite Jesse performance of the season. This is a perfect pairing of song and singer and Jesse's two solo performances this evening have been competitive for sure.
Coaches Say: Adam is the only one to speak and I just can't. Next.
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Artist: Aliyah Moulden
Team: Blake
Song: "Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)" by Stevie Wonder
Welp, Blake does this young lady no favors here. I'm not sure why Blake thought this song choice would knock it out of the park - it's the opposite of all of the positive feedback she's been getting for finally being a teenager on this show. There are also raspy, growly things happening in her lower register in this song, and there's just a lot of repetitive choruses that don't really allow her to do anything new with the tune. However, that smile at the end warms my heart and I hope Aliyah is super proud of herself. At 15 I was just trying and epically failing at learning the Tootsee Roll dance.
Coaches Say: Blake thinks the balloons falling at the end of the performance was a sign that the confetti will rain down on Aliyah tomorrow night.
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Artist: Lauren Duski
Team: Blake
Song: Original -- "Deja Vu"
WOW again. Lauren penned this tune herself and as you would imagine, it tugs at your heartstrings. She has been stellar in telling other people's stories all season, but watching her tell a story she wrote is just wonderful. Her vocals are gorgeous, her emotions are all out there for everyone to see, and this is the best of the night for me. Downloading now.
Coaches Say: Blake doesn't even sit down for his critique. He congratulates Lauren in writing her first number 1 song. For her sake I certainly hope so.
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Artist: Chris Blue
Team: Alicia
Song: "Rhythm Nation" by Janet...Ms. Jackson if you're nasty
It's no surprise that Chris gets the pimp slot tonight. He's been touted as the one to beat for many weeks now. But THIS performance is unreal. Don't believe me, just watch (had to).
Coaches Say: Everyone stands but Adam and Alicia might be losing her mind right here on live TV. We're about out of time but says quickly that Chris came out tonight and showed America that he is everything. She wants everyone to be able to say "We started Chris Blue's career TONIGHT!" Woo! Chills.
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As for the duets, Chris and Alicia took on Prince's "Diamonds and Pearls" which was ballsy a tall order. I wasn't loving Chris' lower register in this performance but Alicia and the choruses made me happy. Also ballsy taking on Prince tonight were Jesse and Adam, singing "Let's Go Crazy" and making me yearn for the next song. Seriously guys. Chris and Alicia could mostly get away with "Diamonds & Pearls," but this is one of the untouchable Prince tunes. Moving on. Aliyah and Blake went with "Dancing in the Streets" for some reason which was really odd...but they sure looked like they were having a great time. Blake and Lauren may have had the best duet of the night with their rendition of "There's a Tear In My Beer." Great song choice for them and they played off each other well.
And with that, the contestants have done all they can do. There's no Stupid Twitter Save tomorrow. No 'singing for your life.' Each of the final four has to try to get some sleep tonight and hope they did all that they could do to trigger that confetti rain. Is Chris going to win easily? Did Lauren do enough to edge ahead of him tonight? Is there a hope in hell for the other two? Honestly, I'd be good with either Chris or Lauren winning this season, but I would really enjoy seeing Alicia walk away with a victory. Tomorrow night is the two hour results show with duets, bring backs, guest stars, and filler o'plenty. What surprises does The Voice still have in store in season 12? We'll find out during part two of the finale. Til then!
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