The Voice 10 Recap – Finale Live Blog and VIDEO

The Voice - Season 10

The Voice - Season 10

The Voice 10 Recap Finale Results and Performances

A winner will be crowned on The Voice finale tonight. Who will it be? Team Adam Levine’s Laith Al-Saadi, Team Blake Shelton’s Adam Wakefield, Team Christina Aguilera’s Alisan Porter or Team Pharrell Williams’ Hannah Huston? We’ll find out by the end of tonight extravaganza

Speaking of the finalists, they are set to perform with superstar performers. Hannah will duet with former The Voice coach Cee Lo Green, Jennifer Nettles and Alisan will team up for a rendition of Nettles latest single, “Unlove You.”  Alison Krauss and Adam will perform Little Feat’s 1971 tune “Willin’” and rock legend Joe Walsh will perform his 1973 classic “Rocky Mountain Way” with Laith.

Guest stars tonight include: Ariana Grande, Little Big Town, Blake Shelton, Sia and ZAYN.  Ariana and Christina are set for a duet of the former’s “Into You” and “Dangerous Woman” from her Dangerous Woman album. Little Big Town will perform the original new song “One of Those Days.” Sia will sing “Cheap Thrills” from her new album This Is Acting, former One Directioner, ZAYN will perform “Like I Would” from his debut album Mind of Mine and coach Blake Shelton will sing “She’s Got a Way With Words,” a song on his brand new album, If I’m Honest.

Get set. The fun starts at 9/8c PM.

First up is Little Big Town singing their new song “One of Those Days.”  Didn’t they used to be country singers or something? Hm…..?  This poppy sound is a little unsettling. It’s hard to imagine them making a successful crossover. Where would this song play? Up with People circa 1978. Weird.  Pharrell produced it. Well, that explains a lot.

Host Carson Daly is already introducing filler! It’s a clip that’s all about Hannah and Pharrell’s The Voice journey.  Gosh. Aren’t they cute together. After, Hannah and Cee Lo Green take the stage to sing his massive hit “Crazy.” Remember those days? The mariachi horns are an interesting touch. Hannah is awesome here, showing up Cee Lo pretty handily. Little Miss Quirky. I hope Hannah doesn’t disappear after the confetti flies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDl-1VeFKRI

Next, Alisan brings back Kata Hay, Ryan Quinn and Paxton Ingram for a performance. She and Kata were roommates. She would have “never been able to go on this journey without him,” she says of Paxton. And she calls Ryan (ROOOBBBED) her “male counterpart.”  They sing “Straight On” by Heart.  Kata remains terrible, but the rest are awesome. Ryan in particular–I still can’t believe he didn’t make the lives.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vfWSc0gc_8

The next bit of filler is all about Christina, her quest to break the “girl curse” and her all encompassing obsession with snapchat. Face swaps, funny hats, stupid noses. I. Do. Not. Get. Snapchat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZVCMiIs6YU

Now, it’s Laith and the legendary Joe Walsh performing his 70’s classic “Rocky Mountain Way.” Joe looks pretty good considering the dude has been through the wringer. It must be such a thrill for Laith to perform with a world-class guitar player. It’s a scream fest, with a voice box, basically, but fun.

Filler video courtesy of Adam Wakefield and his coach Blake Shelton. Hardee har har. “He’ll say stuff and you’ll say wait…is he serious?” says Adam.

Sia is next, to perform her hit single, “Cheap Thrills.” She’s in the back in a huge beige getup–bow and wig and her ubiquitous youthful dance troupe front and center, featuring Dance Mom’s and future SYTYCD judge Maddie Ziegler, front and center.  She performed this song on American Idol too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV_zFvqrDyo

More Filler: The Final Four and their coaches deliver a poignant Final Confessional all about their feelings after coming so far on The Voice. The music swells! Tears.

The 27 time Grammy winner, Alison Krauss, and Adam Wakefield sing the classic “Willin'” by Little Feat. If Adam recorded an Americana album, there is a strong possiblity I’d go right ahead and purchase that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhfbMelXvjE

Next, it’s Adam Levine’s ENTIRE LIFE STORY. His dream to be a basketball player, despite being itty bitty. Oh look! It’s Adam’s dad, Fred. There’s mocking his fugly tattoos, and Christina saying she sang on “Moves Like Jagger” because she lost a bet. And of course…THE BROMANCE OF THE CENTURY which led to a losing streak to his brofriend. Ha ha. Ha.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZSzI1qDpXc

Hannah’s Bring Back Performance: Bryan Bautista is one of her closest friends, Katy Peters was her roommate. She LOVES her smoky voice. Brian Nhira is one of the first people she met on The Voice. They have a spiritual connection. The quartet sing Adele’s “When We Were Young.” It’s a beautiful performance. Having said that, I’m waiting for an artist who has actually lived some life to cover this song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd8trZmODSY

Next, a filler clip all about Blake Shelton.  He tries to get The Voice audience to sing along with him. They boo. As instructed by a PA I’m sure. Also, Blake loses a lot of bets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0OWuODPWpY

SQUUUEEEE!!! Next it’s ZAYN ALL CAPS on The Voice stage singing his single “Like I Would.” He won’t love you like I woooooood.  At this point, the chance that One Direction will ever get back together before the inevitable 15 year nostalgia tour, is pretty nil. Having said that. This is actually a really good pop song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is3Xq7M-rQc

Coach Blake Shelton is next with a song off his album, If I’m Honest, “She’s Got a Way with Words.” This appears to be about his ex-wife Miranda Lambert. Or maybe not. But probably. Bitter!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ARAp2vd5TQ

Laith has chosen to sing “Georgia on My Mind for his Bring Back performance.  He loves Katie Basden’s southern rock vibe.  He calls Owen Danoff the complete package.  He thinks Shalyah Fearing could have won the show. Those are the three singers he chose to “bring back.” This is really nicely arranged. The female voices aren’t oversinging. DAMN OWEN WASN’T FEELING WELL AND COULDN’T JOIN THEM. SOB.  Disappointed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMzkA9W5RVM

There is a pattern here: After the commercial break, a filler clip airs. That’s info for planning your next snack break. In Pharrell’s clip, he reads the coaches lyrics to little kids like it’s story time. The children are adorable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWwMuEVeJ_o

Next, it’s all about the Laith + Adam Levine bromance. Laith hated the glam squad, unsurprisingly. He’s sure he chose the right coach. Adam allowed him to be himself!

After, Alisan and Jennifer Nettles sing “Unlove You.” It’s a good matchup, because Jennifer also has a really big voice. The blend is gorgeous. Alisan is a tiny thing next to the statuesque country singer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aY9UIfFeaQ

OK. Less than 30 minutes to go!

In the next clip, Carson drives the finalists to work. PRODUCT PLACEMENT! They sing along to “Satisfaction” in the car. It’s a rip off of carpool karaoke. Until. EACH OF THE FINAL FOUR GET A NISSAN CAR YAY! I knew that was coming. The fireworks go off. The only thing missing is Oprah. Laith’s current car has about 230,ooo miles on it. Also, a viewer won a car via some sort of Nissan sweepstakes.

Adam’s Bring Back performance include some of his favorite singers: Nick Hagelin, Justin Whisenant, and Mary Sarah singing the Spencer Davis Group’s “Gimme Some Lovin'” The song is Adam’s jam, for sure. And that’s about it. The rest are ill suited to rock out on a soul song. Mary is on fire. No seriously. She has a bad case of static hair.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPWRyMR86JA

After Ariana and Christina sing, We find out the 3rd and 4th place finishers!

Ariana Grande and Christina Aguilera take the stage for the VERY FIRST TIME to sing a medley of “Dangerous Woman” and “Into You.” Ariana sings her way through “Into You.” Where is Christina?  She finally comes in on the second verse of “Dangerous Woman,” with a phalanx of dancers.  Let the yell off begin. They sing a chorus and another verse and THE END.

The last bit of filler is all about the bond between mamas Alisan and her coach Christina. Christina calls Alisan “the real deal.” Alisan says, “We’ve become really good friends.”

OOOOO RESULTS! Carson says, the finalist in 4th place is…Laith Al-Saadi Team Adam! The artist in 3rd place is….Hannah Huston Team Pharrell! NO SURPRISES THERE.

Back from break! It’s time to announce the winner! Alisan looks so nervous. The winner of The Voice is…ALISAN PORTER!  THE GIRL CURSE IS BROKEN! WOW WOW WOW!!!! Christina looked like she was about to have a heart attack. Alisan sings out, but can barely get through it, one of her kiddies in her arms singing along. AND THAT’S IT!

Results

4. Laith Al-Saadi – Team Adam
3. Hannah Huston – Team Pharrell
2. Adam Wakefield – Team Adam
1. Alisan Porter – Team Christina – WINNER

UPDATED with a few thoughts: I did predict Adam Wakefield to take the crown. Women are at a disadvantage on singing shows. As long as there’s a dude who can sing, particularly if he plays guitar, or even better if he’s from the south–nothing short of divine intervention will change the course of history.

In Alisan’s case, her prodigious talent and work ethic were helped along by a serious amount of manipulation and pimping on the part of production. She was telegraphed as the winner from day one and the show was pretty relentless highlighting her and Christina’s team. Actually, the overall goal was to have a female coach finally win. If worse came to worse, a male winner from Christina’s team would have been an acceptable alternative if Alisan had flamed out. Christina’s team was purposely stuffed with talent.

Also, I think I underestimated Alisan’s social media presence and her connections. When Adam Lambert and The Kardashians are asking their fans to vote for you, that means something. iTunes standings are an indicator but not a 100% predictor. Other than Adam shooting to #1 last night, he and Alisan were pretty even on the charts.

It’s true. A fifth Blake Shelton win would not have been good for the show in many ways. Blake is a good coach. He knows how to win. But if there is no element of surprise, viewers get bored and turn the channel. It’s already happening. I don’t expect tomorrow’s ratings to best the American Idol finale, actually.

But on the other hand, the ONLY thing surprising about tonight’s outcome was how the winner busted the usual mold. What makes me uneasy was for the third season in a row, Voice viewers were telegraphed the winner on day one and after relentless pimping, what the producers want came to pass. In that regard, Alisan’s win was not really surprising at all.

All the singing shows attempt to manipulate outcomes to the chagrin of many fans. But The Voice has gotten really really really good at it. After 3 successful outcomes for the producers, after finally breaking the “girl curse,” it would be REALLY refreshing for TPTB to allow the singers to compete on a level playing field–as much as they can considering some folks like Alisan and season 3 winner Cassadee Pope for instance–come in with a fan base and/or name recognition.

Seriously, If I’m told who is going to win via a major pimp spot production on The Voice 11 Blind Auditions #1 I’m going to be pissed.

In any case, congratulations to Alisan. She really wanted the win and worked hard for it. Certainly more than Adam who had been expressing misgivings to the press about the trappings of fame. He seemed to be phoning it in this week. I think Laith was just happy for the extra exposure and the opportunity to get better gigs. I sure hope Hannah doesn’t head back to Nebraska. Wouldn’t it be cool if someone signed her? Speaking of which, I won’t be surprised if Alisan is one and done with Republic. That’s the fate of The Voice winners who aren’t country artists, or signed personally by Mark and Roma Burnett. But she was already halfway there before competing on the show. Alisan’s social media presence, and already established connections in the industry, coupled with her now higher profile will lead to better gigs, and perhaps, eventually, a deal with boutique label that gets her. Ultimately, winning The Voice will help her career.

About mj santilli 34842 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!