Cassadee Pope, the 23 year old pop-rock singer from West Palm Beach, Fla., who left her band to compete in “The Voice,” won the title and its $10,000 recording contract in the finale Tuesday.She had already fulfilled a dream earlier in the show by singing a duet with her idol Avril Lavigne, grinning through “I’m With You” like the fan she is. She also got a new car, as did the other finalists, classic rocker Terry McDermott, who finished second, and Nicholas David, the soulful singer with a beard and unique sense of stye, who came in third.
Bragging rights came bigtime for country star Blake Shelton, who has now mentored a winner two seasons in a row; in addition, both of the top two finalists Tuesday were from his team. David was Cee-Lo Green’s first artist in a finale. Of the other pop star judges, Adam Levine had a singer win the first year; only Christina Aguilera has never had a member of her team make a finale.
Pope didn’t know quite what to say when she was given the news. Before long she launched into thank yous to the voters, the judges, the band and host Carson Daly — twice. Then it was time for her to sing through the confetti. and credits. But it was too late, they had filled up the two hours with so much padding — three hours if you count the Monday recap at 8 — there was little time to properly savor the win at the end.
The finale included just about all the Top 20 on the show, including some who hadn’t been on in so long they were hardly recognizable (or could have been cast offs from the rival “X Factor” for all we know — they’re all starting to look alike).
Aside from a foursome chosen by David to sing ‘End of the Road,” most of the groupings of returning singers were reminders why they had been kicked off previously.
Once more the finalists (three this time instead of two) got to sing with recording stars working in similar styles.
So in addition to Pope being paired with Levigne; McDermott had a duet with classic rocker Peter Frampton on a slowed down version of his “Baby I Love Your Way.” David got to do “Cruisin’” with Motown legend Smokey Robinson. None of the pairings made much sense harmonically; in most cases, the voices didn’t blend at all.
Guest stars enlisted to fill out the finale included Rihanna singing “Diamonds” and Bruno Mars doing “When I Was Your Men.” The Killers performed “Here With Me” with Pope; Pope then returned to sing “Catch My Breath” with Kelly Clarkson and Terry McDermott. Pope was popping up so often to perform in the show, it might have been a harbinger of her eventual victory.
The judges also performed together, making a big deal of their third season together with taped profiles of each of them (and a birthday greeting for Aguilera) and a joint performance of Green Day’s “Time of Your Life.” It was a reminder that Billy Joe Armstrong was an incongruous guest mentor for Aguilera’s team earlier in the season.
He didn’t return for the finale, though Clarkson who was also a guest mentor, did. Also missing from the finale: winners from the first two seasons. Apparently nobody on the show could remember their names either.
There was a glimpse of the new set of stars who will fill in on “The Voice” when it returns March 25 — a promo that featured Usher and Shakira, who, tellingly, had to ride in the back seat of a truck driven by returning judges Levine and Shelton.
There was a glimpse of the new set of stars who will fill in on “The Voice” when it returns March 25 — a promo that featured Usher and Shakira, who, tellingly, had to ride in the back seat of a truck driven by returning judges Levine and Shelton.
The other vehicular moment of the evening was also the most surreal: When Green wheeled up as the black haired St. Cee-Lo to hand out a present: a new Kia for each finalist. The way things are going in the music industry, that may end up being worth more than the $10,000 recording contract.