On Tuesday night, May 8, 2012, hundreds of thousands of viewers tuned in to watch the premiere finale of the American show, The Voice. It was shot live and aired in New York, at around 6PM, but the West Coast finally got their chance to watch their four favorite finalists compete in the soulful battle to win the title as The Voice of America, $100,000, and a grand record deal with Universal Republic – at around 9 PM. I sat ready to immerse myself completely into the grand performances, but by 11 PM after it was all over, I had to say I was disappointed with the lack of grandeur and over-hyped ending. Where did it all go wrong after an amazing season of capable contestants?
To start off the night, all four artists were granted a chance to sing their final song, with anyone from season 2 of the voice that had been formerly eliminated. Jermaine Paul, Alicia Key’s ex-backup singer wowed the crowds with the catchy hit “I Want You Back” aimed at and with his former buddies – Pip, Jamar Rogers, and James Massone in flashy gold jackets. The performance definitely put a smile on my face as the memorable Pip and Jamar were able to dominate the stage once more. The other contestants also brought back blasts from the past as Christina Aguilera’s opera singer – Chris Mann – belts out “Bittersweet Symphony” alongside Lindsey Pavo and the passionate Katrina Parker. Another great performance, but I was personally rooting for Chris Mann after the phenomenal performance of “You Raise Me Up” at the semi-finals. Next up on stage was Juliet Simms who sang “With a Little Help from My Friends” with actual help from Jamar Rogers (a popular choice), Erin Willet, and RaeLynn. Lastly, Adam Levine’s top star Tony Lucca envelops himself into “Go Your Own Way” with the ever soulful Jordis Unga. This performance, though left the artists in tears, didn’t seem to touch the audience on such a deep level, and before we could process any emotions, cut – to commercial.
And as The Voice finale was a whopping two hours, of course many guest performances were invited, including Flo Rida’s hit “Wild Ones” astonishingly featuring our very own Juliet Simms (who didn’t do the song justice, in my opinion) for the wild chorus and the ever-popular Lady Antebellum. But who could outshine Justin Bieber in his fresh, golden “kicks” and his flashy leather jacke with his debut performance – of the slightly off-key, new hit “Boyfriend” – except for the one and only winner of The Voice: Season 2….Jermaine Paul!
Coming in fourth was the visibly devastated and slightly dazed Chris Mann, third was Tony Lucca, who managed to accept the news slightly better, and finally, the first runner-up was Juliet Simms, way to represent the ladies, Juliet!
Not only were guest performances incorporated into The Voice, but Cee Lo also got to create mini-episodes of fun incorporating “Purrfect” the cat who Christina Aguilera dubs “a motivation and support system for Cee Lo”. Though, undoubtedly, it must have weirded a number of viewers out as much as it did, me.
Overall, it wasn’t the greatest season finale ever, and commercial breaks were probably on more than the actual show, but it happened, and the great perks that will leave people re-watching and dissecting it made it the season finale of The Voice: Season Two.
