Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Voice coaches Kelly Clarkson, Blake Shelton, Ariana Grande and John Legend. If tradition holds, they’ll get more airtime than the finalists on Tuesday’s season finale of The Voice. (NBC Photo)

Once upon a time, The Voice season finale was a celebration of the season just completed.

Remember how the entire Top 20-24 used to return to perform? Remember how each finalist got to sing a duet with a celebrity? Remember how each finalist got to perform with a hand-picked group of friends?

No more.

In fact, with the exception of the final 10 minutes, recent finales have barely been worth watching.

And The Voice can’t even get the last 10 minutes right, shoving the trophy into the hands of the season champ as the credits roll, allowing no time for a victory song, no time for fans to savor the triumph.

Instead of celebrating the current season’s cast, or the show’s past standouts, The Voice summons celebrities to perform on the finale, often celebrities with no link to the show.

There’s not a single celebrity performance planned for Tuesday night that I’d tune in to see.

So I’ll be doing something else while the show airs in the background Tuesday night, paying close attention only when one of the Top 5 shows up on screen to perform.

Each finalist — Girl Named Tom, Wendy Moten, Jershika Maple, Paris Winningham and Hailey Mia — will get to take the stage with their coach. That’s mentioned briefly in the 32-paragraph press release touting the show’s star-studded finale.

For those who care, here’s who we’ll see:

* Coldplay will perform “a very special performance” of “My Universe.” The song is a collaboration with BTS. BTS won’t be on hand. Does that make it “very special”?

* Ed Sheeran will be performing “Shivers.” Well, at least he was the Season 21 mega mentor.

* Alicia Keys will perform her new single “Old Memories.” Which is consistent with The Voice’s preference to feature old coaches rather than past contestants. Hey, Carson Daly, remember Brooke Simpson, a Season 13 finaist. She did really well on America’s Got Talent this summer. It even airs on NBC. And she’s got a new single out too.

* Walker Hayes will perform his country hit “Fancy Like.” Well, it’s not like The Voice could invite back Morgan Wallen, their biggest post-show success. He’s still in the doghouse he built for himself.

* Keke Palmer and Tori Kelly will perform a duet of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).” At least the Top 13 will participate in this performance. Of course, it’s also an in-show promo for “Sing 2,” as though a two-hour episode of The Voice doesn’t already include enough commercials.

* Carrie Underwood and John Legend will perform “Hallelujah,” an original co-written by John and featured on Carrie’s Christmas album, “My Gift.”

Remember, folks, Tuesday’s show starts an hour later than normal, at 9 p.m. eastern time.

See also …
Ranking the Top 5
Song by song grades for the Top 8
Chart rankings after Top 8 week
Top 10 week chart results
Top 11 week chart results
Top 13 week chart results