SPOILER ALERT! Recap and Review: Major Superstars Shine as THE VOICE Crowns Season 7 Champion!

Today I had a lengthy Twitter discussion with a few passionate fans of THE VOICE about the increasingly complicated impact of iTunes purchases on the crowning of a champion. Unlike in previous weeks, there is no iTunes x10 bonus tonight, but the contestants will get cumulative credit for every song sold on iTunes starting with Top 12 week. I wanted to link to the official voting rules on NBC's website, but mysteriously they have taken it down since this morning; adding even more full to the conspiracy fire that always surrounds the finales of competition reality shows. If you want to try and prognosticate based on iTunes rankings from around the end of voting, PopVortex has a good breakdown.

At this point, I think that it is a two-horse race between Matt McAndrew and Chris Jamison. Both of these young men have shown a tremendous amount of growth throughout the season, and have peaked at just the right time. Each has a ton of iTunes downloads, and even more screaming teeny bopper fans. For my money, Chris is the better singer and performer, but Matt has shown very well over the previous month.

As I said after last night's show, Chris and Matt provided the two best performances of the night, but I also thought that Matt's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was the worst of the night. Ultimately, I would be shocked if these two weren't the final two competitors, and I am starting to think that Matt has the inside track to win, despite my preference for Chris.

Craig Wayne Boyd and Damien should round out the Top 4 in that order. The country contingent still could push Craig to a surprise victory, but his middling performances last night didn't do much to win over voters who had previously been on the fence.

As BWW previously reported that as part of tonight's show, 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 In addition Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars will perform "Uptown Funk, and Ed Sheeran will perform as well.

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.

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9:00pm: Alrighty, a little later start than normal, but we are ready to rock 'n' roll (and country and R&B) with THE VOICE's Season 7 finale! I will be giving somewhat snarky six-word reviews of each performance and supplying some well-seasoned insights. So, share your thoughts with me in the comments or Twitter. This should be fun!

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Top 20 Performance
Song: "Pompeii" by Bastille
Six-Word Review: Almost Makes IDOL's Group Songs Listenable

9:12: What did you think of the job Coaches Gwen and Pharrell did this year? Would you like to see them sitting in Christina/Shakira and Cee-Lo/Usher's seats?

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Craig Wayne Boyd's Bring Back Performance

featuring DaNica Shirey, Sugar Joans, and Taylor Brashears
Song: "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" by The Georgia Satellites
Six-Word Review: CWB Could've Used That Personality Earlier

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Hozier
Song: "Take Me to Church"
Six-Word Review: He Looks Like Grunge Weird Al

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Chris Jamison's Bring Back Performance
featuring Luke Wade, Ricky Manning, Taylor Phelan, Ryan Sill
Song: "Dedication to My Ex" by Lloyd featuring André 3000 and Lil Wayne
Six-Word Review: The Backstreet Boys on the Block

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Random Question: What are the chances that these "Bring Back" artists were actually picked by the singers? I'm feeling some producer manipulation going on here.

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Matt McAndrew and Fall Out Boy
Song: "Centuries"
Six-Word Review: I Admit, Totally in Matt's Wheelhouse

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Random Note: This song samples "Tom's Diner" by Susanne Vega, which six-years-old me thought was the creepiest song in the world when it first came out. I'm not exactly sure what why; just her weird delivery, the odd lyrics, and the haunting "do do do do do do do do." I still get the willies when I hear it.

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Special Ladies Performance

Song: "Bang Bang" by Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj
Six-Word Review: Terrible Dancing; Insanely Good Vocals/Harmonies

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Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson
Song: "Uptown Funk"
Six-Word Review: If Prince & Michael Had a Baby

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Random Observation: Seeing Bruno perform reminds you just how far these contestants have to go to be superstars. They have moments every week where something doesn't go exactly right, but Bruno just gave a master class on singing, dancing, and performing. That guy is absolutely insane. Hopefully the finalists took some notes.

Random Observation: Hey Chris, I appreciate the fact that you think the Altima is going to take you back to Capital University, but you aren't going back to school anytime soon.

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Craig Wayne Boyd and Lynyrd Skynyrd

Song: "Sweet Home Alabama"
Twenty Six-Word Review: I appreciate that a lot of people love this song, but can we move on from a song that includes a line celebrating a segregationist governor?

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Meghan Trainor

Song: "Lips Are Movin'"
10-Word Review: Isn't This Just "All About The Bass" with Different Lyrics?

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Reworded Observation: The risk of bringing on all of these superstars for your reality show finale is that it will expose just how not ready for primetime your contestants actually are.

Official Offer: After seeing Adam get dismembered in AMERICAN HORROR STORY and become a heartbreaker in BEGIN AGAIN, I am officially extending the offer for him to pick a musical, and The Broadway will make it happen.

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Damien and Jennifer Hudson

Song: "It's Your World"
Six-Word Review: Forget Levine, JHud Come to Broadway!

What do you think Simon Cowell things of Jennifer now? Also, I would have liked Damien a lot more if he had mixed in an upbeat song now and then. Emotional anthems only get you so far.

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Ed Sheeran
Song: "Thinking Out Loud"
Six-Word Review: I Like Ed Sheeran, Who Knew?

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Matt McAndrew's Bring Back Performance
featuring Taylor Phelan, Mia Pfirrman, Taylor John Williams, Sugar Joans
Song: "Go Your Own Way" by Fleetwood Mac
Six-Word Review: No You, Go Your Own Way

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Damien's Bring Back Performance
featuring Anita Antoinette, Elyjuh René, DaNica Shirey
Song: "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
Six-Word Review: Sounds Great, Could Use More Harmony

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Chris Jamison and Jessie J
Song: "Masterpiece"
12-Word Review: How Have I Not Been in Love with Jessie J Until Tonight?

It looks like Jimmy Fallon's editors have turned their attentions from Brian Williams to Blake Shelton. I love it!

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Coaches Performance
Song: "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"
16-Word Review: I LOVE Gwen, but when she seriously sings, she kind of reminds me of Miranda Sings...

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Fourth Place Finisher
Damien

Third Place Finisher
Chris Jamison (WHAT?)

Runner-Up
Matt McAndrew

THE VOICE Season 7 Champion
Craig Wayne Boyd (Hahahahahaha, Go Team Blake!)

Best Performances of the Night
1) "Uptown Funk" by Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson
2) "Masterpiece" by Jessie J and Chris Jamison
3) "It's Your World" by Jennifer Hudson and Damien

Best Contestant Only Performances of the Night
"Bang Bang" by DaNica Shirey, Bryana Salaz, Jean Kelley, Mia Pfirrman, and Sugar Joans

Like I said in my preview, you can't underestimate the power of the country music fans, or the ridiculous pull of BLAKE SHELTON! How ticked off does Adam Levine have to be right now?

Do you think the show finally found a superstar? Which performance was your favorite tonight? Were you surprised, shocked, or dumbfounded by the results tonight? Share your thoughts in the comments below, or on Twitter @BWWMatt.

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Photo Credit: Trae Patton | NBC

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