Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of Kiss pose with The Voice judges following the Season 11 finale Tuesday night. (NBC Photo)

There were no new vehicles to pass out to the Top 4.

And The Voice made the unfortunate decision to limit the bring-back performances to the Top 12.

But that didn’t keep the show from serving up some memorable moments during the Season 11 finale.

Not the least of which was Carson Daly’s announcement that the most deserving contestant — Sundance Head — won the grand prize.

Here are my picks for the night’s most memorable moments.

Best vocal: It came when Kelly Clarkson — yep, the original American Idol — joined Billy Gilman for his contestant-star duet. Both were pitch perfect on Kelly’s latest single, “It’s Quiet Uptown” from The Hamilton Mixtape. But it was the ache in Kelly’s voice that made this extra special. Billy should take note. That’s how you put emotion into a performance.

Best comic bit: The many strange wardrobe malfunctions of Blake Shelton as he donned clothing similar to what Miley has worn during her inaugural season on The Voice. After a season spent in the shadows of new coaches Miley and Alicia Keys, it was nice to see Blake and his sense of humor take center stage again during the finale.

Most fun performance: Lots of folks probably thought it was a misprint when they saw the pairing of Sundance Head and Kiss for his contestant-star duet. It wasn’t. Fortunately. Their performance of “Detroit Rock City” and “Rock and Roll All Night” was unquestionably the most memorable moment from the Season 11 finale. Though poor Sundance looked like a dwarf on stage since the members of Kiss still wear those silver platform shoes when they perform.

Best bring-back performance: Billy Gilman had a hand in this one as well, selecting Christian Cuevas, Sa’Rayah, Courtney Harrell and Ali Caldwell to join him for a cover of “Proud Mary.” It served as a great reminder of the great R&B female talent The Voice introduced us to in Season 11. And I still think Ali would have made a better finalist than the eventual third- or fourth-place finishers.

Best guest star performance: I guess I’ll give this one to Stevie Wonder and Ariana Grande for their performance of “Faith” from “Sing.” But that’s only because the performance allowed the Top 12 to take the stage with them. I pretty much outlined my objection to guest stars on the season finale here. In my opinion, the stand-along performances by Bruno Mars, The Weeknd and Sting added absolutely nothing to the evening.

Shame on The Voice: While refusing to promote any of its past contestants for the wonderful original music they’ve released in the past year, the show found time to pimp cover-king Jordan Smith once again. I only hope Miley Cyrus meant what she said about helping Aaron Gibson and Ali launch their post-show careers. Unless they change their names to Jordan Smith they’ll get no help from The Voice production team.

Ariana Grande embraces Stevie Wonder as members of The Voice Top 12 looks on. (NBC Photo)