And the Winner of ‘The Voice’ Season 11 Is…
Television/music history was made Tuesday night, when Team Blake’s Sundance Head became the first American Idol alumnus to ever win The Voice.
Upon hearing the news, Sundance doubled over in shock, then took off his cowboy hat and looked heavenward, eyes brimming with tears, before his family (including his famous father, Roy Head) joined him onstage in a blizzard of confetti.
“I just want to thank you for being such a great guy and being so sweet to me, man, when I know you don’t have to do that,” Sundance told his coach, Blake Shelton. “You do this for a job, you know, but you really are such a genuine person, man, and I thank the Lord that he put you in my life.”
When Sundance, the son of “Treat Her Right” singer Roy Head, competed on Idol nine years ago, he wasn’t quite ready for prime time. He had yet to find his unique soul-country niche; his most memorable moment was a stiff dinner-theater rendition of “Nights in White Satin,” which he performed while rocking a headful of prickly Guy Fieri pomade and a Men’s Wearhouse suit. He only made it as far as the top 16. He was even a Vote for the Worst poster-boy, at one point.
What a difference a decade makes. Sundance was one to watch from the very start of this Voice season. And when he took new coach Miley Cyrus’s Hannah Montana movie theme “The Climb” and transformed it into a credible country/folk ballad without any accompaniment besides his acoustic guitar, he became a frontrunner. Sundance soon established himself as one of the few contestants of Season 11 to take actual risks and, as they say in the biz, “make a song his own,” with creative choices like “No One” (by this season’s other new coach, Alicia Keys), a gender-flipped “My Church” by Maren Morris, and Tom T. Hall’s semi-obscure “Me and Jesus” from 1972.
Of course, The Voice never mentioned Sundance’s Idol past, just as producers have conveniently “forgotten” that other past contestants — like Jamar Rogers, Colton Swon, Keith Semple, and even Jon Peter Lewis (a top 10 Idol finalist who actually toured with Fantasia and Jennifer Hudson) — had cut their teeth on Fox’s rival show. (And just like Fox never mentioned this year that finale Idol winner Trent Harmon once competed on The Voice. These singing-show contestants get around!) But that’s OK. The omission in this case even makes sense… because Sundance is not that old-fashioned fellow we saw on Idol Season 6. He’s a changed man, a real artist with a real point of view — and one with a real shot at mainstream country music success.
Incidentally, Sundance’s win was a big win for his coach Blake as well — this was Blake’s fifth victory, thus strengthening his Voice track record as the series’ most successful coach. (Adam Levine has won three times; Usher, Pharrell Williams, and Christina Aguilera once each.)
Sundance may have been a frontrunner this season, but he wasn’t exactly a shoo-in. Season 11 was one of the most competitive and suspenseful seasons in recent Voice memory, with no one contestant dominating the proceedings — not even Billy Gilman, a Grammy-nominated former child star with gold and platinum albums to his credit. As it turned out, Team Adam’s Billy made it to second place Tuesday, while Team Alicia’s Wé McDonald, another early favorite, came in third. Dark horse Josh Gallagher, a country singer who lost in the Knockout Rounds to Sundance but was stolen by Adam Levine and later squeaked through to the top four via the semifinals’ Instant Save, rounded out the finale in fourth place.
Other highlights of Tuesday’s grand finale were Sundance jamming on “Detroit Rock City”/”Rock and Roll All Nite” with KISS, while Miley Cyrus rocked in the front row and waggled her tongue in a Gene Simmons-like fashion; Bruno Mars performing “24K Magic” while sitting in a red chair as if he were screentesting to be coach on a future Voice season; Billy bringing back castmates Christian Cuevas, Courtney Harrell, Ali Caldwell, and Sa’Rayah for “Proud Mary,” then teaming with Kelly Clarkson for an emotional rendition of “It’s Quiet Uptown” from The Hamilton Mixtape; and Wé bringing back Brendan Fletcher, Aaron Gibson, and Darby Walker for a stormy and unexpected cover of Kanye West’s “Love Lockdown.” It just may have been the most star-studded Voice finale ever, with additional performances by the Weeknd, Sting, John Legend, Cam, and Stevie Wonder with Ariana Grande.
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