'The Voice' Video Watch the Finalists' Performances Recap
by Andy NeuenschwanderWith the second season of "The Voice" coming to a close, the four finalists took the stage Monday night to perform for your votes. Each contestant prepared three songs for the evening: a solo performance (downloads of which on iTunes will count as votes), a cover of one of their own mentor's songs, and a duet with their mentor.
So, how did they do?
Tony Lucca gave the most creative cover of the night, though it was borrowed from a singer called Hugo, who was featured in the movie "No Strings Attached." Despite the fact that it might not have been purely Tony's idea, the bluegrass/country cover of Jay-Z's "99 Problems" was still a solid one, giving Tony a bit of a boost.
Chris Mann decided to stick with his roots for the most part, performing an Andrea Bocceli duet with Christina Aguilera. But for his solo song, Chris split the difference between opera and pop by singing the Josh Groban ballad "You Raise Me Up." The performance had Christina in tears.
Juliet Simms was considered a favorite going into Monday's performances, but ended up fighting a cold while she sang. That lead to performances that were less than her best, as she missed the pitch a bit and generally seemed to be lacking the vocal oomph that she usually has. Her choice of "Freebird" may not have been the best, either, as the real hook to that song is the guitar solo, not the vocal. Right time period for Juliet; wrong song.
Jermaine Paul was the big surprise of the night, as he was not favored going into the evening. Jermaine has been consistently strong, and has a powerful voice, but has lacked a clear identity that made him stand out. Tony had his Mouseketeers thing, Chris was the opera guy, and Juilet had that Janis Jopling thing going on, but Jermaine had an underplayed tie to Alicia Keys, and that was about it. Still, his performance of "I Believe I Can Fly" by R Kelly may have been the strongest of the night, and that could make him an underdog gunning for a possible upset.
Check out the performances from all four contestants below: