Usher broke into the club of winning coaches Tuesday when his finalist Josh Kaufman, the white soul man from Indianapolis, won season six of “The Voice.”
Baby-faced country hulk Jake Worthington from Blake Shelton’s team came in second; Adam Levine’s choice Christina Grimmie came in third.
“I can’t even talk,” Kaufman said in the final seconds between the announcement and the show’s end. “I’m overwhelmed. I’m surprised. I’m happy. I’m relieved.”
It was much more of an experience than he ever expected, he said, as Usher picked confetti out of the winner’s hair.
The prize was a recording contract, but Levine, perhaps sensing imminent defeat, began the padded, two-hour finale by saying that even if Christina lost, he’d sign her to his own label anyway. Which certainly must have sweetened losing for her even as it sapped all tension for viewers.
The other odd thing early in the finale was the admission that some sort of glitch happened on iTunes Monday, preventing fans from downloading one of Kaufman’s performances, “Set Fire to the Rain.” So for fairness, host Carson Daly said, all the iTunes votes (and their multiplying effect for those that reached the Top 10) were thrown out for the finale’s sake. But, he added perplexingly, doing that didn’t change the ultimate results anyway.
Usher broke a show-long history of finale wins for either Levine (seasons one and five) and Shelton (seasons two through four). It came as he is about to be cycled off the show, where he and Shakira will be replaced by Pharrell Williams and Gwen Stefani in the fall. Usher and Shakira had also judged in season four, filling in for Cee-Lo Green and Christina Aguilera.
All three finalists were something of an Island of Broken Toys. Kaufman had been dropped by Levine in the battle rounds, only to be “stolen” by Usher. Just a week ago, Grimmie was eliminated by voters only to be saved by judges. And Worthington was sent home by judges in season five after his blind audition didn’t turn any chairs.
It was strange that none of the three got to sing solo in a show that ran for two hours. But all three got to sing with big recording artists in the finale, though they seemed more excited about singing with returning contestants who had been eliminated earlier in the season.
Kaufman, for his part, was low key in his duet with Robin Thicke on his “Get Her Back,” singing it as if they were Hall & Hall. Worthington teamed up with the grandfatherly Alabama for a rendition of “Mountain Man.” Grimmie joined Ed Sheeran – in one of his two performances of the night – on “All of the Stars.”
Guest stars on for the sake of pushing new albums and killing time before the announcement also included OneRepublic (which increasingly seems like OneGuy) doing “Love Runs Out,” teensy country star Justin Moore doing “Lettin’ the Night Roll,” and, completing the abundance of oversized cowboy hats Tuesday, Tim McGraw doing “City Lights.”
The much hyped performance by Coldplay of “A Sky Full of Stars,” which began with a film of Chris Martin singing before cutting to actual Chris Martin singing live.
The group numbers would have been better had there been more rehearsals.
As it happened, Worthington’s performance of Kenny Chesney’s “Summertime” with Audra McLaughlin, Kristen Merlin, Morgan Wallen, Ryan White Maloney and Kat Perkins missed cues. Worthington had a leaner crew for his “Bring Back” performance, with Sisaundra Lewis, Stevie Jo and TJ Wilkins joining him on Nico & Vinz’s “Am I Wrong.”
It was a girls night out (with a male chaperone) when Grimmie teamed with Bria Kelly, Tess Boyer and Jake Barker on Lorde’s “Team.”
But the group performances that didn’t include finalists were even worse, with Delvin Choice, Stevie Jo, Morgan Wallen, Jake Barker and Patrick Thomson going all Hal & Oates on “She’s Gone” and Dani Moz, Deja Hall, Madilyn Paige, Tess Boyer and Melissa Jimenez dismantling Rihanna’s “Umbrella.”
If all this time (and spirit) killing wasn’t enough, there were the usual interminable cutesy salutes to judges and nonstop product placement, from inconsequential Sprint-sponsored fan video to letting the final three pick out new Kias. But at least they’ll all get something tangible. Even Korean-made cars are probably worth more these days than a recording contract.