SPOILER ALERT! Recap and Review: THE VOICE Final Four Sing on Performance Finale 12/15; Full Review and Pictures!
By: Matt Tamanini Dec. 15, 2014
Well, nearly three months after Adam Levine, Gwen Stefani, Pharrell Williams, and Blake Shelton first hit their "I Want You" buttons on Season 7 of THE VOICE, we have made it to the finale. 70 artists auditioned for the coaches, 48 were chosen for a team, 20 sang for America's vote, and now only four remain with the hope of being crowned this season's champion. Chris Jamison, Craig Wayne Boyd, Matt McAndrew, and the Wild Card-winning Damien will perform tonight one last time.
As I said last week, I think Chris Jamison deserves to win, but, I would be ok if Craig or Damien took home the title tomorrow as well. Matt has had a good final two weeks, but his early performances during the Live Voting Rounds was less than thrilling. In fact, a few times I thought he deserved to be eliminated. His performance of The Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" bordered on auditory torture.
However, other than DaNica Shirey, who didn't get the coaching from Pharrell that she needed, these are the four that have had the best blend of quality performances and vocal talent all season.
Yahoo Music is reporting that as part of tomorrow night's finale, McAndrew will team up with Fall Out Boy, Boyd will join Lynyrd Skynyrd, Damien will duet with Oscar-winner (and AMERICAN IDOL alum) Jennifer Hudson, and Jamison will sing with THE VOICE UK Coach Jessie J. I kind of wish they hadn't reported that, because now I would far prefer to see those performances than the ones we are sceduled to see.
After the show concludes tonight, I will add short reviews of each performance. Also, when NBC makes them available, I will post pictures of each contestant as well.
Random Observation: If Craig Wayne Boyd ends up winning the title tomorrow over Adam's three finalists, you can officially change the name of the show to THE BLAKE.
Team Adam
Damien
Song: "A Song for You" by Donny Hathaway
Three-Word Review: Grown Up Carlton
Damien performs with such earnestness and sincerity he reminds me of a mellower, adult Carlton Banks. Now granted there is no Carlton other than Alfonso Ribero, but when you look at Damien's red velvet jacket, I could just imagine him giving his entire heart and soul to a Tom Jones classic.
As I said last week, Damien's teary-eyed sentimentality has kind of lost its impact on me. It doesn't annoy me like that type of thing normally would, but it just doesn't tug the heartstrings like it should, because every week we have been subjected to the exact same emotions from him.
Fortunately, he is an incredible singer, otherwise, I would have grown completely tired of him weeks ago. That was a great performance, but I am not sure that it is one that is going to push Damien back into championship contention.
Team Blake
Craig Wayne Boyd
Song: "My Baby's Got a Smile On Her Face"
Three-Word Review: NBC Standards Approved?
I know that Country Music is no stranger to double entendre and innuendo, but this song pretty much just touted Craig's sexual prowess. Seems like an odd move from the Peacock Network... wait, did I just make it worse?
I think the real reason that Blake hasn't recorded that song for himself is because it's kind of a boring song. It wasn't terrible, but it surely isn't going to break through the morass of country music dudedom to set him apart. There were parts of the song that sat a little low in his register, but otherwise he sounded fine, there just wasn't a lot of excitement in the melody.
Original songs on competition shows were a bad idea when IDOL started doing it a few years ago, and it is a bad idea for THE VOICE. On a show's finale, we want to hear these singers perform songs we know, not random tunes that no one who already has a career wants to record.
Team Adam
Chris Jamison with Adam Levine
Song: "Lost Without U" by Robin Thicke
Three-Word Review: The Winner Is...
It sounded to me like Chris' voice was just the slightest bit more worn than we have heard in the past, perhaps a byproduct of rehearsing for three performances tonight and whatever they have planned for tomorrow. That could end up impacting his signature falsetto as the night goes on, but Chris looked and sounded like a Grammy-level artist; especially with the killer false to end the song.
Honestly, if Adam left Maroon 5 and teamed up exclusively with Chris, they could be the biggest male pop duo since Milli Vanilli, or even Wham!
I know I have been on the Chris bandwagon for a while now, and it is only the smallest part because he goes to college a few blocks from where I went to high school, but there is no way that anyone who watched that performance could say he isn't a star in the making.
Team Adam
Matt McAndrew
Song: "Wasted Love"
Three-Word Review: Didn't Expect That!
About a month ago, I had Matt on my "Should Be Eliminated" list, but the last few weeks he has turned a corner in my mind, and tonight was a complete revelation. While that style of music isn't what I would normally listen to, that performance was full of passion and perfectly fit his voice. That was a fully realized performance worthy of someone on the verge of winning the world's biggest singing competition.
He has two performances left tonight, but if Matt ends up winning tomorrow, it will be on the strength of that performance.
On a completely different note, I am all for stagecraft, but when it makes me continually say "Don't fall, don't fall, don't fall," to the TV, you might have gone too far with raked walkway and pyro.
Team Blake
Craig Wayne Boyd with Blake Shelton
Song: "Boots On" by Randy Houser
Three-Word Review: Poor Song Choice
Apparently this is a song that people know, I am not one of them, but beyond that, I can't imagine why Blake thought that this would be a good choice for the finals of a singing competition. I know the old adage is that all you need for country song is three chords and the truth, but when you are trying to show off your vocal talent, you might want to pick a song that has at least a fourth chord.
Was the song fun? Sure. Was it a song that would probably kill in concert? Absolutely. But when you are trying to prove that you are the best singer in the competition, a song that is mostly screamed and growled ain't the way to go.
This song will probably resonate with the country faithful that would have voted for Craig anyway, but I don't know that it will bring new voters on board.
Team Adam
Damien and Adam Levine
Song: "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" by Elton John
Three-Word Review: Step Off, Adam
While it was probably a good coaching choice for Adam to sing most of that song (since it sounded like Damien struggled to stay on pitch throughout), people are going to be voting for the contestants, and they should be the ones featured in the duet performances, not the coaches.
This rendition did nothing to erase the epic version that Sir Elton and George Michael teamed up on, nor would anyone expect it to. In addition to the long Adam verses, Damien's lack of intonation, and some strange harmonies, Damien just didn't seem to connect with this song like he has so many others. This was not the performance that Damien needed from such a beloved song.
Team Adam
Chris Jamison
Song: "Velvet"
Three-Word Review: VOICE's First Superstar!
THE VOICE has never had a superstar come out of the competition; in fact, they rarely even have semi-relevant artists, but I am going to go out on a limb and say that Chris Jamison is going to be the first megastar to come to fame on the THE VOICE stage.
His style, his swag, his looks, his voice; everything about him screams the next Justin, or Bruno, or Robin, just like Pharrell said, he has developed into a major force in the music industry. Whether or not it was when he nailed "Let's Get It On" or not, at some point, Chris went from being an inexperienced kid who wasn't aware of the vocal talent that he possessed to a complete artist who found who and what he was.
As I mentioned in his first performance, some of Chris' falsetto (especially around his break) was a little weak, when he popped up to the very top of his register, it was dynamite. The song would only be a middling, unreleased track on his album, but it proved that he has the ability to do something uniquely his own.
Team Adam
Matt McAndrew with Adam Levine
Song: "Lost Stars" by Adam Levine from BEGIN AGAIN
Three-Word Review: Rather Hear Kiera
A song where the two duet partners sing in unison nearly the entire time probably isn't going to secure a lot of new voters. I love that song, and I really enjoyed BEGIN AGAIN, but I didn't really hear much from Matt. Make no mistake about it, this is a great Adam Levine song, but I don't think that it did much to highlight Matt. The break didn't land well from him, there weren't many moments for big notes, and Adam sounds ridiculous on it. Just like with "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," the focus was far more on the coach than the contestant.
To be fair, I would have far preferred to have Kiera Knightly on the show to sing it over Adam and Matt, but beggars can't be choosers, I suppose.
Team Blake
Craig Wayne Boyd
Song: "In Pictures" by Alabama
Three-Word Review: Tears Equal Votes
Whether it was the emotion of the song, or the nerves of his final performance, Craig struggled going flat throughout nearly the entire song. Unfortunately, tonight has not been a stellar one for the country singer. Based on the recent iTunes results, I think Craig still has an outside chance at winning, but I don't think his performances tonight did much to help him.
The fact that he seemed to squeeze out a few genuine tears at the end probably endeared him to a lot of parents watching at home, but I think he has missed an opportunity tonight.
Team Adam
Damien
Song: "Soldier"
Three-Word Review: Nondescript Inspirational Anthem
Damien seems like a really great dude. He seems to truly feel and believe every word that he sings on stage, and I hope that he never has to do another security pat-down, or check another bag again, but I just don't see him becoming a breakout star. His voice is strong, but his most captivating quality is his emotional availability, but nearly every song that he has done on THE VOICE has sounded the same; they've had similar tempos, they've had similar tones, they've had similar ranges.
An artist can't have an enduring career cranking out different versions of the same song over and over again. Damien could end up having a decent career as a Gospel singer, but I can't image that he is able to break out mainstream.
Special Shoutout: Can we talk about how incredible the stagehands on THE VOICE must be? They are able to get that stage changed in a matter of minutes, sometimes dealing with fire, massive set pieces, musicians, and giant water fowl.
Team Adam
Chris Jamison
Song: "Cry Me a River" by Justin Timberlake
Three-Word Review: Turn Him Up
I don't know if it was because he wasn't as vocally strong as he has been in recent weeks, but I thought that the band was threatening to drown Chris out early in the song. When he hit the chorus though, Chris unloaded some spectacular vocals.
In all honesty, this was his worst performance of the night, as he again sounded a little vocally tired, and I truthfully expected more from this song, but there is no denying the spark that he gives off when he hits those super high falsetto notes.
Team Adam
Matt McAndrew
Song: "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" from THE WIZARD OF OZ
Three-Word Review: Major, MAJOR Mistake
How in the world did Adam convince the producers to give this song the pimp slot? Matt's performance was shaky, uncomfortably breathy, and completely devoid of confidence. Other than about one second of his final note, there didn't seem to be much that highlighted Matt's voice. He struggled to stay on pitch because the lows were too low for him, and the highs were too high for him.
Despite whatever sins she has inflicted on American pop culture with SMASH and SCORPION, Katherine McPhee delivered one of the most special moments in AMERICAN IDOL history when she sat on the front of the stage and sang this song.
Matt did not recreate Kat's moment, in fact, I think that he might have actually hurt his chances. The people who were going to vote for Matt, probably still will, but to have that performance be the one to end the show does not bode well for him.
Should Be Order of Finish
1) Chris Jamison
2) Matt McAndrew
3) Craig Wayne Boyd
4) Damien
Best Song of the Night
1) "Lost Without U" by Chris Jamison
2) "Wasted Love" by Matt McAndrew
Worst Song of the Night
"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Matt McAndrew
What do you think of my reviews and rankings? Who do you think deserves this season's VOICE crown? As I have been all season, I will be live recapping the show, so share your thoughts in the comments below, or on Twitter @BWWMatt.
Photo Credit: Tyler Golden | NBC
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