Adam David Wins The Voice Season 27 and makes history as the first Semifinals Instant Save Winner!
The Voice Season 27 wrapped up in a surprising manner on Tuesday (May 20th) as Team Michael Bublé’s Adam David won the show. He beat out Team Kelsea Ballerini’s Jaelen Johnston (runner-up), Team John Legend’s RENZO (2nd runner-up), Team Adam’s Lucia Flores-Wiseman (4th place), and fellow Team Michael member Jadyn Cree (5th place). (Read our Recap)
Just one week ago, 35-year-old Adam David from Fort Lauderdale, Florida had to battle it out for a spot in the finale, making the middle four where he sang Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” and won the Instant Save to become the last member of the Top 5. Since the five person finales started in Season 18, every season besides Season 23 has had a semifinals instant save winner compete in the finale, and no instant save recipient has finished higher than second place (which was Season 18’s Toneisha Harris).
There have been singers who needed the instant save earlier in the season who have won, but it has never happened when the singer needed it to make the finals. This type of outcome is more likely to happen when it’s a short season such as season 27 with only two weeks of live shows. Fewer performances mean artists have less time to build an army of loyal fans.
A turning point for Adam
On Monday night of the finale, Adam sang “You are So Beautiful” by Joe Cocker for his slower song. For his letter to music during his pre-performance package, he thought back to when he first performed at the age of 8, singing “Sunshine of My Love.” Times become darker for Adam as he battled addiction, but music helped him recover. He has dealt with self-doubt, but the singer just wants to “have fun and be happy, but it’s hard.”
His soulful and emotive performance of the 70’s classic showcased his tone. Out of all the performers, the video clip of Adam’s performance generated the most buzz on Facebook. It was the moment that made it seem possible that Adam might take home the crown. John Legend praised Adam, saying, “You did a beautiful song much justice tonight.” His own coach Michael Bublé called him “one of the greatest musicians” he’s known.
A The Voice journey to remember
Later in the night he sang “Hard Fought Hallelujah” by Brandon Lake, an excellent fit for the singer. During rehearsal, Adam deeply connected to the lyrics. Michael advised him to end the lines hard to emphasize some of the emotion. He re-lived his The Voice journey with his coach and host Carson Daly. Remarkably, Adam sang “Baby I Love Your Way,” and only turned one chair. A turning point for Adam came during the Playoffs, when he covered a Bob Dylan classic, “I Shall Be Released.” A memorable guitar riff during his Semifinals performance of “Bring it On Home to Me” by Sam Cooke came next before winning the Instant Save.
Brandon Lake has been blowing up in the CCM space and has a sound similar to Adam’s in some ways. This performance was a nice contrast to his first performance, featuring more rock elements. He showed off more grit in this performance without overdoing it, making for a tasteful performance while building with a choir-like backing.
With Adam David, Michael Bublé wins back-to-back seasons
On Tuesday night’s results show, Adam and Michael sang “The Weight” by The Band for their duet. Adam stated he has played the song at many of his gigs. They joke and complemented each other in much of the pre-performance package, and we learned Adam plays a lot of instruments. The song was a bit of an odd fit for Michael as it’s not his typical crooning style, but it fit Adam like a glove. Michael still sounded pretty good on it, but it was Adam who truly shined on the piece, and the two had a blast on stage.
Michael has now won back-to-back seasons in his first two seasons. With Niall Horan returning for Season 28 who did the same exact thing his first two seasons, I’m guessing much of the storyline will revolve around a threepete rivalry. The format wasn’t the most satisfying this season, and based on the schedule for next season it’s likely to stay similar with very few live shows, but at least there was some satisfaction in an underdog instant save winner.
