Two hours later, one singer emerged a victor.
Who was crowned the winner ofThe Voices ninth season?
Before he or she can be revealed, lets talk about those performances.
Credit: Tyler Golden/NBC
Carson promised us an epic finale, and he wasnt lying.
(In all seriousness, Missy and The Weeknd both crushed it.
They are transcendent live, and the energy of their performances was the highlight of the episode.)
Where was this distinctive, confident sound during the semifinals?
She comes spitting fire, they bring the puppets from the video, and its a masterpiece all around.
Then Jordan gets to perform with a celebrity partner: Usher!
They sing Without You, David Guettas song, which Usher is featured on.
It is far and away the best celeb/finalist pairing of the evening.
Without You builds to an epic conclusion marked by the longest note Jordans held all season.
Usher actually starts looking at his watch in disbelief because he is adorable.
His Break Up in a Small Town is mostly talking, interrupted by a serviceable chorus.
Moving on, Jeffery teams up with Tori Kelly on her single Hollow.
Just like his duet with Madi, a Jeffery/Tori Kelly performance sounds like a pretty perfect idea.
When its his turn to sing, he sounds easy and less forced than on his standard lovesick ballads.
But this performance reinvigorates the entire evening.
I nominateTthe Weeknd for guest coach next season.
Rihanna can come, too.
NEXT: We have a winner
Jordan is down to his finalVoiceperformance, which is his Bring Back.
The very last finalist to perform is Emily Ann.
Justin apologizes one more time, and then, suddenly, were here.
Weve arrived at the moment weve all dreamed about since September.
Were standing at the precipice of a new world order dominated by the latestVoicechampion.
Carson announces the third runner-up: its Jeffery Austin.
Barrett takes second runner-up, and then its just down to Jordan and Emily Ann.
Its a very expected, but also very touching, conclusion to season 9 ofThe Voice.
