This past spring, The Voice had to complete season 18 from home due to the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic is still here, but they’ve been able to enforce strict protocols in order to return to the studio this season. So for the first time in a year, The Voice is back to crowning a winner in-person. The coaches and their artists won’t be able to hug after the celebration, but everyone’s doing their best under the circumstances.

Last night, the Top 5 on The Voice season 19 performed for the final time for America’s votes. Over the course of tonight’s two-hour finale, the coaches, finalists and various superstar singers will perform for our enjoyment. And, of course, at the end of the night, we’ll finally know the winner.

The finale starts with the Top 20 performing “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” getting everyone ready for the holidays. I can’t believe that Christmas is next week.

Nelly and Florida Georgia Line perform “Lil Bit.” Those country boys love to duet with other stars (both country and non-country)–and they’ve done really well for themselves as a result.

Lewis Capaldi performs “Before You Go.” Whenever I hear his name or see him on TV, for some reason I’ve had it in my mind that he came from a British singing competition show like The X Factor or something, but that’s not true. I looked it up recently to confirm. I have no idea why I kept thinking that, but now I know.

24KGoldn and Iann Dior perform “Mood.” I have no idea who they are. A quick Google search tells me this song became popular on TikTok. No wonder this is the first time I’m hearing about them. I have yet to get on the TikTok bandwagon.

Kelly Clarkson and Desz perform “I’m Every Woman.” I said last week, “I want her to do a duet with Kelly during the finale.” And look! It’s happening! It’s a fantastic song for them to perform together, and of course they kill it. To be clear, there was never any doubt.

Lauren Daigle performs “You Say,” which is a fantastic song, of course. When I first heard this song, I thought it was some new song by Adele that I had never heard before; did anyone else think the same thing?

Jason Derulo performs “Let Me Take You Dancing.” I’m not a fan of Jason (as a person), so I’m just going to move on…

John Legend and John Holiday perform “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” This is one of my favorite songs ever! These coach/contestants tonight have been superb so far.

Apparently, the winner and runner-up will earn a trip to Universal Studios. Good luck trying to do that anytime soon. Maybe Florida is open (I’m not sure), but I doubt California is.

Dan + Shay perform “Take Me Home for Christmas.” With the fireworks, this is like a mash-up of Christmas and the 4th of July! They’re one of my favorite country music acts.

Blake Shelton and Ian Flanigan perform “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys.”

Blake and Jim Ranger perform “Streets of Bakersfield.”

Is it just me or did those two duets sound exactly the same?

Julia Michaels and JP Saxe perform “If the World Was Ending.”

Carter Rubin and Gwen Stefani perform “You Make Me Feel Like Christmas.”

Keith Urban and Pink perform “One Too Many.” This is a fun, laidback song. It’s really cool that they teamed up to record a song together.

After almost two hours of filler, it’s finally time for the results!

The fifth-place finisher is…John Holiday. I personally would have put Jim in this spot when looking at the overall season, but he obviously peaked at just the right time.

In fourth place is…Desz. That’s really disappointing. I know that Jim’s last-minute surge would likely hurt someone like Desz, but I didn’t think it would result in her being all the way back in fourth.

The third-place finisher is…Ian Flanigan.

This is now a race between Jim and Carter (and between Blake and Gwen). If Jim wins, it’ll only be because he peaked at the right moment. If Carter wins, it’ll be because he completely deserved it after a season full of fantastic performances.

The winner of The Voice season 19 is…Carter Rubin!

The runner-up is Jim Ranger.

I said last night, “Can one of the other coaches take the trophy away from [Blake]? Please, America–can you do that?!” And y’all did! Thank you!

Gwen Stefani has been a coach for five seasons on The Voice, and this is her very first win. And fun fact: this means that each of the current coaches has won once during the past four seasons–John Legend in season 16, Kelly Clarkson in season 17, Blake Shelton in season 18 and now Gwen in season 19.

Here’s how the coaches stack up to each other in their wins: Blake is in first with seven wins; Kelly and Adam Levine are tied for second with three wins each; and Usher, Pharrell Williams, Christina Aguilera, Alicia Keys, Mr. Legend and Gwen are tied for third with one win each.

Cee Lo Green, Shakira, Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Hudson and Nick Jonas have never won.

Speaking of which, Nick Jonas is coming back as a coach next season alongside Kelly, John and Blake. It’ll be a big milestone: season 20!

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Image: NBC