'The Voice' finale: Girl power prevails
Cassadee Pope takes the Season 3 title, Blake Shelton repeats as winning coach
By John Kubicek
It's been a long road on Season 3 of "The Voice," from the blind auditions to tonight's finale. The very first singer we met was Scottish rocker Terry McDermott, and he's made it all the way to the end. We've seen a pink cockatoo replace a cat, steals, implosions, stellar performances, Christina Aguilera performing half her new album, a shirtless Adam Levine in a wig and one contestant daring to sing the theme song from "Titanic."
Bing: 'The Voice' | Photos: See more action from Season 3
This was a fun ride, but Season 3 is over after a two-hour results show where (most likely) Cassadee Pope will be crowned the winner. Come on, we all know that's what's gonna happen. So I'm treating this finale like a Harlem Globetrotters game: Sure, we know the outcome, but let's still enjoy ourselves.
More: 'The Voice' on Buddy TV | Video: Watch clips and more
The finale will include performances by Rihanna, Bruno Mars, the Killers and Kelly Clarkson, plus special all-star duets for the final 3. Terry McDermott will team up with Peter Frampton; Nicholas David will go soul to soul with the legendary Smokey Robinson; and Cassadee Pope will duet with one of her favorites, Avril Lavigne. Cassadee has already performed two Avril songs this season, and my fingers are crossed that they'll duet on "Sk8er Boi," though I acknowledge that is highly unlikely. "Complicated" is a close second.
One last time, sing it with me: This is "The Voice"!
Wardrobe Watch: Cee Lo Green is wearing giant white football shoulder pads with spikes and chains on them. Is he a member of the Legion of Doom? It makes Adam Levine's ridiculous, white bow tie seem reasonable. Also, it's Christina Aguilera's birthday. Will Adam Levine jump out of a cake?
"Diamonds" by Rihanna
Rihanna's awesomeness reminds me of Amanda Brown. This is the kind of artist Amanda would/will be. I promise I'll try to limit the number of bitter "Amanda Brown should've been in the finale" comments to under a dozen tonight. Back to the song, I think "Glee" should do a mashup of it with the Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." It would make as much sense as Nicholas David's "Great Balls of Fire" and "Fire" medley.
Coach Chat: Adam liked that Nicholas David didn't really care about the competition last night and instead just let loose and had fun. Blake had a hangover this morning. Good to know.
Terry McDermott and Friends: "Rock and Roll All Nite" by Kiss
Terry's bringing back an all-star group of rocker contestants with Rudy Parris, Amanda Brown, Bryan Keith and Michaela Paige. In case you don't remember Rudy, he's the Fat Criss Angel whom Terry beat in the Knockout Rounds. This is just plain awesome. Rudy gives it his all, and Michaela's mohawk is always welcome. As expected, Amanda positively steals the spotlight when it's her chance to sing. She really should be in the finale. That's bitter comment No. 2.
"Cruisin'" by Smokey Robinson with Nicholas David
It's great to see Nicholas with this Motown legend, especially because it makes complete sense given Nicholas' voice. All too often, reality singing competitions bring in legends for the finale to duet with contestants, but they're just absurd pairings. Nicholas feels like he time traveled here from the heyday of Motown.
Adam Levine: Not just another pretty face
There's a filler segment in which all the coaches talk about how Adam Levine can play every single instrument ever invented. And he can whistle. Carson Daly reminds us that last night Adam played guitar without wearing a shirt. Don't worry, Carson, we haven't forgotten about that.
"Here With Me" by the Killers with Cassadee Pope
This is way too mellow for my taste. It's hard enough to stay awake for two straight hours recapping this show without this type of song. Luckily, Cassadee shows up to make it a little interesting.
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Heartbreakers: "Stacy's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne
For some reason Mackenzie Bourg, Diego Val, Julio Cesar Castillo, Cody Belew and Dez Duron are teamed up to make the ladies swoon. Um, is Julio really a heartbreaker? Same question for Diego "Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg from 'The Fifth Element,'" Val and Mackenzie. Don't get me wrong, I love the Bourg, but he's a total nerd. The song is a bit of a mess, but Dez and Cody kick butt. Oh, Dez Duron, how I love you.
Blake Shelton: The flirt
The next coach filler segment is all about how Blake Shelton is attracted to everyone: man, woman or Cee Lo. Cassadee Pope thinks there might be a mutual attraction between Blake and Michael Bublé.
"The Voice" Season 4 preview
We get a special commercial for the next season. Blake and Adam pick up new coaches Shakira and Usher in Blake's truck to drive to the auditions, and they bicker over the radio before all singing along to "Total Eclipse of the Heart." I'm definitely excited to see what Usher has in store. After all, he did discover Justin Bieber.
Christina Milian and the final 3
Cassadee says she loves how weird the other two guys are. Terry wins an award for best quote by responding, "I'm not weird, I'm foreign." Then Nicholas gives us one last '"Holy buckets!" and Cassadee says happy birthday to her boyfriend Ryan.
"The Voice" confessional
What would the finalists and coaches do if they were to win? Terry would signal his homeland that stage 1 of the Scottish invasion of America is complete. Cee Lo Green would do a cartwheel and quit his second career as a male exotic dancer.
"Catch My Breath" by Kelly Clarkson with Cassadee Pope and Terry McDermott
Man, Cassadee is showing up everywhere tonight. First with the Killers, now with Kelly Clarkson. I find it amusing that Kelly Clarkson -- the first "American Idol" winner, who started this reality singing show boom -- is such a huge superstar. Her success really gave credibility to this entire genre of reality TV.
Cassadee Pope and friends: "It's Time" by Imagine Dragons
She's bringing back Melanie Martinez, Liz Davis and De'borah. De'borah! I'm totally down with this performance and this impressive group of ladies. I also appreciate that there are no Mini Xtinas in the mix, like an Adrianna Louise.
"Baby, I Love Your Way" by Peter Frampton with Terry McDermott
This is some easy-listening nonsense that isn't what I want from Terry at all. I want him to go full-on '80s rocker, fronting a classic band.
Christina Aguilera: The birthday girl
Her filler segment is all about how everyone loves her, and how she loves to sing. It also humanizes her when she talks about her favorite cartoon character being "Scoobs," and then follows with a dead-on Scooby-Doo impression.
The mini Xtinas: "Best of My Love" by the Emotions
Joselyn Rivera, Loren Allred, Sylvia Yacoub, Devyn DeLoera and Adrianna Louise team up for this disco song. I call them the mini Xtinas, because they all do the growls and the runs that Xtina does so well. Loren is the only one who doesn't quite fit, but the rest of them are completely and totally indistinguishable from one another. I'm not sure I could differentiate Adrianna from Devyn if my life depended on it.
Everybody gets a car!
St. Cee Lo Green shows up on a sleigh. He then sends it to Christina Milian, dressed in a sexy Christmas outfit, to announce that Nicholas, Terry and Cassadee all get free cars! Oprah kind of ruined giving cars to people. Nothing will ever match that moment.
"When I Was Your Man" by Bruno Mars
So, are we all agreed that Bruno Mars is the new Lenny Kravitz? He's just 12 kinds of awesome. Also, I like to imagine that he's Veronica's cousin. The song is beautiful, obviously.
Christina Milian and Kelly Clarkson
Christina calls Kelly "the biggest artist on the planet." Even Kelly Clarkson is like, "Are you trippin'?" It's awesome. They also talk about "American Idol" without actually mentioning the show by name.
Nicholas David and Friends: "End of the Road" by Boyz II Men
Nicholas brings back Trevin Hunte, Dez Duron and Amanda Brown. Wow, this is the best group of super friends yet. It's pretty awesome, though I'd like to point out Terry and Cassadee both got to sing three times already tonight (with one more number yet to come for Cassadee), but this is only the second time for Nicholas, meaning he's sung as many times in the finale as Amanda Brown and Dez Duron.
"I'm With You" by Avril Lavigne with Cassadee Pope
Seriously, how can you not love that Cassadee gets to sing with her heroine, even if you find it kind of odd that her musical idol is a 28-year-old Canadian? As I previously stated, I wish they were singing "Sk8er Boi" or "Complicated." Oh well, I guess I'll go listen to those on my own after the finale.
Cee Lo Green: The weirdo
Adam Levine describes Cee Lo as "Buddha meets Isaac Hayes" and "an alien preacher." Cee Lo claims he's a genie in a bottle ... a 3-liter bottle. This filler segment gives us one last chance to see Lady the pink cockatoo.
The coaches: "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" by Green Day
Like at a high school graduation, the best way to say goodbye to the season (and to Cee Lo Green and Christina Aguilera for Season 4) is with this incredibly cliched song. Seriously, we need to permanently retire this song's use in farewell montages and the like.
The results
Finally, after two hours, 13 musical performances, four filler segments about the coaches and more, it's time for the results.
Before the results are read, Carson talks to the finalists and coaches. Nicholas uses the word "dream" about 30 times. Adam Levine speaks for the coaches by saying the contestants are all winners, and this result is just a technicality. Dude, I know you're trying to be nice, but don't negate the entire competition.
The singer in third place is ... Nicholas David!
So Team Blake claims the top two spots. Congrats to Blake Shelton on being a repeat winning coach.
The winner of "The Voice" Season 3 is ... Cassadee Pope!
Hooray! Sure, we all knew it would happen, but it's nice that it actually did.
That does it for Season 3 of "The Voice." Blake Shelton wins again, a female singer finally shatters the glass ceiling and Cee Lo and Xtina are out to make room for Usher and Shakira. I kind of wish Season 4 was starting next week and not in three months.
BuddyTV: The 33 best performances from "The Voice" Season 3
"The Voice" returns to NBC for Season 4 in March 2013.
A lot of viewers saw what i saw in regards to Ms. Pope.
That young lady had a lot of itune and band followers and behind the curtain support.
This singer was NOT the best vocal person to win. Sorry no sour grapes here Just the obvious stated. I have no idea why ms. pope won but, it had nothing to do with talent.
very disappointed that Nick did not win. It goes to show that talent is not going to win this contest. There were alot better singers that C. Pope. You just watch, Nick will be the one sell more records than C. Pope. For the young female, there is too much competition out there and this young female vibe will fade away. One of the females I wish would go away is Taylor Swift. who is is just as bad as C. Pope. The only good thing TS has going for her is she has a great PR person.
Blake Shelton knows how to play the game. I was upset in the beginning when he let most of the country singers slip by, but when I saw what he was doing with Casadee, I realized he was playing the game to win. He said from the beginning that he wanted to see a country singer when compitition. He just had to create a Country/Pop crossover to do that.
Those of you who promise to not watch the show again becuase your favorite singer didn't win the game, all I can say you are sore losers. I will say my favorite didn't win either, I was hoping for Amanda Brown, but Adam ruined her chances to win. After she was gone, I knew Casadee would take it all.
The reason why Nick and Terry did not win was becuase there music is not current. 70's soul and 80's rock have come and gone. Same thang with the 90's grunge, Thank God! Sorry folks, no matter how much you liked it back in the day, unless there is a current market for it, its not coming back. All I can say is buy an XM radio and listen to the classics.
Now lets see if Blake will take Casadee under his wing and push her to stardom, becuase that is what it will take for her to be sucessful.
The powers that be have spoken (oh my), C. Pope has won. it was promised to her.
Unfortunately she is not a great singer a good singer on her better days but not a standout. Limited talent and sounds generic nothing special. Sorry to say but ITune downloads do not make a successful career in entertainment. I think Ms Pope will be a dime a dozen. She is NOT a Carrie Underwood (luv her).
It had been a done deal a long time ago for her to win!
I did NOT watch the last 2 shows and will not watch the Voice again. Talent does not mean anything any more.
cee lo cost nick the win. some of us know who jerry lee lewis and jimi hendrix are but i doubt the kids do. he shudda done a boz scaggs song. wait, thats their parents era. wont work either.
maybe its best xtrina and cee lo take a hiatus. let shakira and usher (who was good as a mentor on IDOL) do it. guaranteed no DIVA-like problems like with xtina. usher will pick better songs.
primetime tonight
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Deanna Barnert | Los Angeles, Calif.
Entertainment journalist Deanna "TVDeeva" Barnert visits sets, interviews industry players and critiques the final product. Buzz's daytime TV queen covers it all for MSN TV, but loves her sitcoms, soaps and any juicy drama that doesn't call itself Reality TV.
