Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Zach Seabaugh performs with Barrett Baber during on of Tuesday night’s bring-back performances in The Voice Season 9 finale. (NBC Photo)

Jordan Smith was named the Season 9 champ, just as the show apparently planned all along.

But that doesn’t mean the two-hour show wasn’t without several enjoyable performances.

My picks for the best follow:

Best use of a moment in the spotlight: Mark Hood sounded brilliant on the one solo line he got to sing when the Top 24 performed “Lean On into the Sun.” Given his stage presence, I’ll really surprised he didn’t go deeper into the Season 9 finals.

Brightest future for a non-finalist: As I was watching Barrett Baber’s bring-back performance of “Forever and Ever Amen” I couldn’t help wondering what might have happened if Zach Seabaugh had waited a couple of years and gotten a bit more experience before auditioning. The teen has a very pleasing tone and, more importantly, tons of natural charisma.

Best comedy skit: The comic bits where The Voice pokes fun at the coaches has become a finale tradition, one of the best parts of the show. My favorite this year was the Country Mafia clip, with contestants bringing gifts of cowboy boots to Godfather Blake Shelton. But his reign ended when the Godmother of the Country Mafia showed up — none other than Dolly Parton.

Best bring-back performance: Jordan invited back Korin Bukowski, Regina Love, Evan McKeel, Mark Hood, Amy Vachal for a performance of Journey’s “Anyway You Want It.” It offered a unique opportunity to hear Amy perform something upbeat, and she sounded great. It also offered Regina Love a chance to cut loose with that big voice of hers. Kudos to both Jordan and Emily Ann for bringing back more than one past contestant to perform with them.

Best pairing of celebrity and finalist: Does anyone out there remember when Tori Kelly was a contestant on American idol? It was back in Season 9, and she wasn’t deemed good enough to make the semifinals. The joke is on Idol. Wow, did Tori sound amazing on that performance of “Hollow” or what? And the song was a nice fit for Jeffery Austin. Then, just when you thought it couldn’t get better, they went a cappella for a brilliant ending. It was my favorite performance of the night.

And, finally, a thought in closing …

Shame on The Voice: Featured during the finale were Coldpay, Sam Hunt, The Weeknd and Justin Bieber, none of whom need help selling music. The Voice couldn’t find a single performance spot for a past artist. Despite the fact that several past finalists released music this year. Despite the fact that Melanie Martinez released an album that debuted higher on the Billboard 200 than any post-Voice album yet.

If you’re wondering about that music — and there’s been some truly great music released by former contestants in 2015 — head here to listen to a song from each of the 40-plus albums and EPs released so far this year.