And the winner is... Craig Wayne Boyd. After months of competition, The Voice season seven came to a conclusion on Tuesday night (Dec. 16) and Blake Shelton's classically rooted country singer beat out Damien, Matt McAndrew and Chris Jamison to become the seventh "Voice."
The show kicked off with the top 20 performing Bastille's "Pompeii," and wow, there were some people on this show that were just so wholly unmemorable. Who was the dude with the dark brown hair? And the chick with half her hair shaved? Wow. This season really went on forever, didn't it?
The covers continued, with finalist Craig Wayne Boyd teaming up with some of his old pals, Sugar Joans, DaNica Shirey and Taylor Brashears for a sassy rendition of Georgia Satellite's "Keep Your Hands to Yourselves." Chris Jamison teamed up with his buddies Luke Wade, Ricky Manning and Ryan Sill (yuck) for a performance of Lloyd's "Dedication to My Ex." Matt McAndrew brought his friends for Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way" and Damien brought Danica, Anita Antoinette and Elyjuh Rene for "Ain't No Mountiain." They were all very good.
The ladies of The Voice, who were unrepresented in the final four, got their own special moment with a cover of Jessie J and Ariana Grande's "Bang Bang." And, well, there's a reason why these ladies didn't crack the top four. While this cover wasn't painful, per se, it wasn't executed wholly well - but J and Grande didn't need The Voice to break into the industry, so, well, you know...
In a series of more exciting team ups, Matt McAndrew joined forces with Fall Out Boy for a performance of "Centuries," and, well, he's no Patrick Stump. In an expected match up, Craig Wayne Boyd joined forces with Lynyrd Skynyrd for "Sweet Home Alabama." Though expected, Boyd actually fit in well with the classic southern rock band, injecting his strong tone into the hit seamlessly. Damien and Jennifer Hudson attempted to outsing each other, before Jessie J returned to The Voice, but it was like, actually her. She paired up with Chris Jamison to perform her latest single "Masterpiece," and their chemistry was palpable.
And some special guests on the finale were a little above performing with a Voice contestant. Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson injected the show with some much needed "Uptown Funk," Meghan Trainor got the audience moving with "Lips Are Movin'." Ed Sheeran, probably because he was covered more than enough on The Voice this year, also went for it solo, performing his latest sleepy and romantic hit "Thinking Out Loud."
And, then, the big moment arrived... the announcement of the winner of The Voice. Host Carson Daly announced the men in order: Damien came in fourth, Chris Jamison in third, leaving the final moments down to Craig and Matt. Matt, longtime the seeming favorite of The Voice seemed to be a clear choice... until Craig Wayne Boyd's name was announced. And, then, a teary rendition of his new single "My Baby's Got a Smile on Her Face."
And that's a wrap.
