And your winner of Season 2 of The Voice is…
Jermaine Paul
It took a ridiculous 2 hours to get down to a five-minute reveal of the voted-on order of the final four contestants. In the end, a journey that began – at least for the audience – three months ago after the Super Bowl came to a finish with the former back-up singer standing above all. While I’ve been critical of Jermaine throughout the season with not seeming to invest his performances with geniune and open emotion, one can’t deny that he gave his heart to his rendition of “I Believe I Can Fly” on last night’s performance show. One also can’t deny how touching it was seeing Jermaine struggle through singing the song again in a victory lap as he waded through a sea of people to hug and thank. In particular, the moment he shared with his wife in his arms as he sang was one of the best moments of the entire season.
When the evening began, I wasn’t aware that the finale was going to be a two-hour affair, even with being cognizant of the fact that NBC had moved the show Fashion Star from its usual 10pm slot to be the lead-in tonight. I was scratching my head as to what they would do to fill an hour’s worth of show to get the results let alone two hours.
In kind of nice consolation, each of the four finalists was given the opportunity to sing a final song with any number of the other contestants from the season. Each managed to shine in their own way, with the “boy band” created by Jermaine with Jamar Rogers, Pip, and James Massone being perhaps the standout. In fact, their straightforward take on the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” was one of the best performances of the season and it’s a bit sad that we don’t get to see more from the four. Jamar came back to sing alongside teammate Juliet Simms on a fun take on Joe Cocker’s version of the Beatles classic “With a Little Help From My Friends” – also featuring Erin Willett and RaeLynn – and practically stole the night from everyone.
Padding out the rest of the evening, big names like Flo Rida – offering a medley of two songs from his upcoming album and featuring Juliet on the main guest vocals of “Wild Ones” – Lady Antebellum, and teen idol Justin Bieber present their latest tunes. The oddest of the bunch, though, is the performance by Hall & Oates of their classic “Rich Girl”. The weird arrangement of the song drags into a more contemporary soft rock feel that takes much of the punch – and the fun – out of the song. It also reduces the three male finalists to a doo wop chorus. It wasn’t a retched song but it felt out of place amidst the rest of the spectacle.
Finally getting to the results, host Carson Daly reveals the fourth place finisher, Chris Mann, and the third place finisher, Tony Lucca, first, leaving the inevitable showdown to Jermaine and Juliet. It would not have been a surprise to see the vote go either way, as Juliet was arguably the more talented of the two. Jermaine had a strong following and it got him the contract.
That’s your season, folks!
A few personal highlights from the finale results show…
* Tony’s and Jordis Unga‘s duet on Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way” featured a wonderful blend of voices and proved that Jordis was dismissed far too early
* The harmonies that made the best use of the discordant voices of Chris Mann, Lindsey Pavao, and Katrina Parker on The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony”
* Chris’ oozing confidence throughout the evening, which was quite a growth from earlier in the season
* Jermaine as ringleader during the Jackson 5 cover, with Pip’s and James’ voices used wonderfully
* Juliet offering her best Joe Cocker
* A few of the behind-the-scenes pieces that gave a humorous look at the judges/coaches throughout the season (Though, Purrfect is still lost on me. And I’m a cat person!)
* Jamar, Jamar, JAMAR!
Did the results surprise you? Did it all shake out like you expected it would? Who do you think will have the most successful career out of the finalists? Or out of all the contestants this season? Feel free to share in the comments below.
