Episode 'The Voice' Season 1, Episode 11 - 'The Finals' Recap

Last week saw Frenchie, Xenia, Nakia and Casey eliminated by a mix of audience vote and coach scoring. That means the field is down to just four: Beverly McClellan for Team Christina, Javier Colon for Team Adam, Dia Frampton for Team Blake, and Vicci Martinez for Team Cee Lo.

The episode starts off with Carson telling us that the coaches decided "just a couple of hours ago" to put a song together. I don't know if I believe that, but Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton all come out and sing "Under Pressure" by Bowie. I know, I know, some of you heard that bass line and were hoping it was going to be "Ice Ice Baby," but sorry. No dice.

Maybe they did decide just a few hours ago: the performance is very simple, with the four coaches taking turns with their verses and "ba doom ba deps." Christina also has a shiny red mic stand, because she's special.

That brings us to a recap of the season, reminding us of the talent that has come and gone. Remember Serabee? She was weird. Carson also explains the coming events, which include the contestants singing a duet with their coaches and premiering an original song.

Dia apparently didn't get the memo about wearing black and white. We get a quick interview with the four finalists, and the crowd surprisingly cheers loudest for Dia and Vicci. This last round will be up to the audience vote entirely, which is the only thing giving this any sense of unpredictability...Javier is pretty clearly the biggest talent, but it could go another way.

Regarding the screaming from the audience, Carson makes a "TRL" joke. Carson's always seemed annoyed with the audience, but now the coaches seem annoyed as well. Some screeches while Christina is talking makes her pretty much roll her eyes.

In the V Room, Alison Haislip tries to make the interviews interesting, bless her heart. She drops a "Highlander" reference, reminding us of her nerdly G4 roots.

Javier Colon (Original):

Javier will be the first one up performing an original, and during the recording, Adam gives him the same note he always gives him: keep it simple, at least at the beginning. The song is called "Stitch by Stitch," and it's a pretty standard R&B/pop ballad. The melody is nice, but the song never really gets to a truly powerful moment, or lets Javier show off what he can really do. It seems like Javier might actually be a little nervous.

Blake liked it, and noted that Javier is also "a really good dude." Christina says the song suited him, and Cee Lo notes how he embodied the song that was written for him as if he wrote it himself. Adam gets a little choked up, maybe not enough to put a point on the Cry Counter™.

Dia Frampton (Duet):

Blake and Dia are going to team up and sing "I Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty. A nice pick for the two of them: something that makes total sense for Blake, but is a little unexpected for Dia. Dia gets choked up while talking about Blake and his mentorship. Cry Counter™ score: 1.

The two are dressed in Heartbreakers attire, complete with dark Ray Bans. Plus, they have their matching camo guitars, Blake's in green and Dia's in pink. The whole thing is kind of adorable. The song is enough of a departure from the original to be interesting, and Dia and Blake are definitely having fun with it.

Vicci Martinez (Original):

Vicci is working with the guy who produced and wrote for Pink and Dashboard Confessional, the latter of whom Vicci cites as a "guilty pleasure." The name of the song is "Afraid to Sleep," which as far as I can tell is not about Freddy Krueger. But maybe it's just a very veiled metaphor.

The song is a dark rock ballad, and seems to suit Vicci very well. It has a nice build, starting quiet and ending with Vicci really belting it out the way we know she can. With just her alone on stage, she breaks out the "war dance," reminding us that she can perform as well as sing. At the end, Cee Lo nonchalantly plays with his bracelet.

Adam "bought every single second" and apparently gave Vicci a pair of jeans today. Blake jokes about Vicci not having been in his pants, and calls her "inspiring." Christina mumbles through some praise...she seems like she's in a horrible mood today. What's going on there?

Pitbull and Ne-Yo are here, lasers and all, to sing "Give Me Everything" while their dancers prowl around the judges. The song is a thinly-veiled anthem about doing the nasty. Ne-Yo, ever the gentlemen, kisses Christina on the hand. Okay, I'm done with this. Somebody ring the gong.

Beverly McClellan (Duet):

Carson said that Beverly and Christina would be singing one of Christina's own songs, and I mumble "Beautiful, duh" to myself. Sure enough, that's their choice. To be fair, though, even the rehearsal sounds pretty great. They've set up some kind of Stonehenge of chairs on stage to bring things down a notch.

Both singers are taking their time with the song, giving it a different interpretation from the original, which is good. I never really bought this song coming from Christina, the platinum blonde pop star, but coming from the tattooed, bald lesbian lady the message rings much truer. Yeah, she's different, but she won't let that affect her. The two take maybe a little too much time with the song, but it's still a nice performance.

Katherine McPhee is here to plug "Smash," NBC's stab at a musical show about a Broadway company. Apparently Katherine will be singing "Beautiful" as well on her show. Tie-ins, y'all! A sneak peek pretty much confirms that those who like "Glee" will probably like "Smash" too.

Dia Frampton (Original):

Dia is coming back up to sing her original, "Inventing Shadows," and it looks like Dia's going to start things off at the piano. The song does some interesting things with its melody, but it's really Dia's unique voice that's selling it. It's a little Michelle Branch-ish, but still seems to suit Dia fairly well. I keep waiting for the shadow dancers to spell something out, but sadly they don't. What a waste.

Christina liked it, but gets on Blake's case about the shadow boxes. Cee Lo loved it, and coos "you pretty little thing, you." Adam liked the song as well, but called the dancers "distracting." Blake burns him by saying that it's going to be really distracting when Dia's song is way up higher on iTunes than the other coaches' songs.

Javier Colon (Duet):

Javier and Adam take on a challenge by choosing "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson for their duet. It's not unexpected, as the two were probably going to sing something in a higher register, considering their girl voices. The two don't take too many liberties with the song, but with their talent it's still a good performance.

Brad Paisley, who Carson informs us is the CMA Entertainer of the Year, is here to perform "Don't Drink the Water." Now, when I heard the title I thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be funny if this song was about getting diarrhea?" And it turns out that's exactly what it's about: not drinking the water in Mexico. Oh, country music. You slay me.

Anyway, Blake gets up in the middle of the song to join Brad and do a little air guitar. A cut to Christina shows that she's really not enjoying her night.

Beverly McClellan (Original):

"Lovesick" is the name of Beverly's song, which sounds like yet another rock ballad in rehearsal. Luckily, when Beverly starts performing it's clear that it's a full-on rock song. Thank goodness, if not for this all four of the finalists would have been singing ballads. Beverly does does her thing, kicking and jumping around on stage. The song definitely sounds like something written by the guy who worked with Stone Temple Pilots and 311 in the past. It gets pretty good toward the end, when Beverly gets back to the piano for the bridge before the final chorus. It's a lively number, and a welcome change of pace.

Cee Lo really enjoyed it and expresses his love for Beverly. Adam notes how much fun she had with it. Blake tells Beverly that "if music was crack, you would have a serious problem." Christina gushes about Beverly...looks like she's feeling a little better (at least when the camera is on her).

Vicci Martinez (Duet):

Cee Lo and Vicci are going to sing "Love is a Battlefield," and encourages all the younger fans to "find out exactly who Pat Benatar is." Cee Lo has some seriously crazy stuff planned for this performance, as the stage is set with flaming trash cans and kids dressed in "Mad Max" style, post-apocalyptic outfits. Cee Lo, of course, has another crazy wig on: this time it's a red mohawk, to go along with his football pads with spikes and chains.

The singing is great of course, but those little kids have some serious moves. They even bust out some backflips! That was nuts. Cee Lo remains in character even after the song ends, which is beyond hilarious. I love this guy.

That's all for the final performance episode. Tomorrow will bring the final results of the audience vote and name the winner, along with more appearances from major music legends.