'The Voice' Season 4, Episode 27 Recap: Adam Levine Predicts Danielle Bradbery Will Win
(NBC) The day has finally arrived: The Voice finale is upon us. On Monday night, the Swon Brothers, Danielle Bradbery, and Michelle Chamuel delivered their final performances to determine who will take the fourth season. Now It's all on you, America!
So — who's it going to be? Will it be the unflaggingly genuine brothers from Oklahoma? The pretty young blonde who still giggles at compliments? Or the wildly energetic fan favorite who feels like the soul of the season?
Here's what happened on Monday night's episode.
For the first time since the season premiere, coaches Usher, Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, and Shakira join forces to sing "With a Little Help From My Friends." Usher hits a mad falsetto, Shakira sways seductively (in thigh high boots, no less), and Blake and Adam charm everyone and their mom with little effort.
The Swon Brothers are up first, singing the Eagles' "I Can't Tell You Why." Zach notes that he's "hoping [they] can bring an extra little spark of special to the song," which perhaps explains his flashy new earrings. Colton brings the harmony in at its highest, and you can practically hear the entire state of Oklahoma cheering in admiration. Usher jokes, "All I think that was missing was the third Bee Gee." Shakira waves a cute little Okie flag and says she's a fan, but her praise is so boring it's hard to believe she was really that into it. Adam, an avowed Eagles fan, says he really appreciated their work, and Blake insists, "I seriously think this is the best season of The Voice that we've had so far."
In the finale, each of the artists gets to reprise the song their coach believes was their "defining moment" on the show. The first to do this is Team Usher's Michelle Chamuel, who sings Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble." The performance is even more electrifying this time around, with Chamuel delivering the second verse directly to the coaches. This is why Michelle is brilliant: She really PERFORMS. It's not just about the delivery of the notes — which she does perfectly — but her intensity, her energy controlled just so to make maximum impact when it matters most. Yeah, it's pretty obvious who my favorite is. After the crowd finally quiets, Shakira calls Michelle "extraordinary," noting, "Your energy is crazy, contagious." Blake calls her a "rock star that's happening right in front of our eyes," adding, "This is reality for you now." Usher cockily proclaims her the winner and no one claps and it's embarrassing.
Danielle Bradbery and Blake's duet on "Timber, I'm Falling in Love" is introduced with a rather sweet video in which Blake Shelton candidly discusses his pride in Danielle with her parents. Then they sing together, and it's… well, it's a little weird that they're singing a love song to each other, since she's underage. You just know there's some weirdo out there who's gonna write fan fiction about the way they looked at each other on the final note. Yikes.
Next up is the Swon Brothers' performance of "Danny's Song," which Blake considers their finest moment of the season. It is indistinguishable from the version they delivered just last week. They're surrounded by candles this time. Usher says that they've "personalized" the song. "It's almost like I disappeared for a moment and we weren't here," he explains. Blake insists that the next time he's back in Oklahoma and he turns on the radio, he's going to hear their version of the song.
The mirrors are back for Michelle Chamuel's performance of Annie Lennox's "Why," playing off a gimmick that Usher used with Michelle in early rehearsals — only this time the mirror isn't really her reflection! It's who she used to be. Ooooh. Chamuel strays from Lennox's delivery quite a bit, hitting notes that I've never been able to in karaoke renditions. It's gorgeous. Shakira pops some glasses on in support (she looks adorable in them, of course) and tells Michelle that she's a wonderful, humble human being. "It's one thing to conquer people's hearts," Shakira notes, "and another thing to stay in their hearts."
Before Blake's duet with the Swon Brothers, we're shown a clip of him meeting their parents, who are kind of awesome. Apparently when Zach and Colton would argue as kids, their father would punish them by forcing them to go into a room and write a song together. Blake and the boys take the stage to sing Brad Paisley's "Celebrity" in front of a bunch of American flags — a weird set choice considering the song has lyrics like "Can't wait to wreck a Ferrari / On my way to rehab." Whatever, country music! It's patriotic even when it's... really not.
Blake Shelton has Danielle Bradbery singing "Maybe It Was Memphis," as he thinks it was the first time she really showed America "how honest and country she is." The set designers break out the smoke machines, and Danielle delivers perfect vocals like everyone knew she would. Shakira sports a cowboy hat during her remarks, saying that Bradbery has "gone straight to the vein of America." Adam calls her voice "unbelievably perfect" and predicts that Danielle will win. Blake calls Danielle "one of the most import ants" to ever take the Voice stage and Danielle giggles through a thank you.
The finalists team up to sing Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes' "Home," and are joined mid-song by the rest of the top 16 contestants. It's a really sweet moment, particularly when the singers exchange hugs at the end of the song.
Before Usher's duet with Michelle, we see the moment he met her cousin and her mother, who is a refugee from Egypt. He gushes during the meeting that Michelle has helped him to grow, too, and he predicts that they'll all have more dinners together in the future. Aww. The two sing U2's "One," and they have remarkable chemistry. Hopefully someone writes fan fiction about them, because they give me goosebumps.
The night's final performance is Danielle Bradbery's rendition of Sara Evans' "Born to Fly." In rehearsals, Blake confidently assures Danielle that they'll be plotting out a performance at the Grammys soon enough (something Adam might actually agree with him on, for once). It's vocally strong, but lady doesn't really move. Then again, she doesn't really need to… her voice is pure enough on its own. She's going to make it with or without this show. "Your perfection is almost kind of boring me at this point, it's too perfect," Adam Levine jokes. Blake rubs his beard really hard as he states, "Honestly, it's hard for me to even look at you, I'm one of the millions of people out there that you have wrapped around your finger." Danielle giggles and flips her hair.
View Danielle Bradbery Pictures »