Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Two hours from now, The Voice will have a Season 4 champion.

And my guess is that champion will be 16-year-old country singer Danielle Bradbery.

Danielle should have headed into last night’s show with an edge based on iTunes downloads of past performances.

The final three on The Voice, The Swon Brothers, Danielle Bradbery and Michelle Chamuel. (NBC Photo)

And what we saw today on iTunes confirms what I suspected last night. Neither of the other finalists — Michelle Chamuel or The Swon Brothers — delivered the knockout performance needed to wrestle the title from Danielle.

In fact, 10 hours after voting ended, Danielle’s newest Voice song, “Born to Fly,” is still tops among last night’s performances on iTunes, hanging on at number four.

That’s just ahead of The Swon Brothers and “Danny’s Song,” and they’re just ahead of Michelle Chamuel’s “Why.”

Lots of guest stars on tonight’s show, from Pitbull performing with Christina Augilera to Cher.

Christina Augilera performs with Pitbull on The Voice Tuesday night. (NBC Photo)

Carson Daly tells us the title is anyone’s, and Adam quickly takes back his prediction that Danielle will win. I wouldn’t read too much into either of those statements.

What would you expect them to say?

The first bring-back performance will star the Swon Brothers, who have invited back Justin Rivers, Holly Tucker and Amber Carrington, to join them on Lady Antebellum’s “Stars Tonight.” Fun performance, and Holly and Amber sounded great … and they didn’t even make the Top 3. Which reminds me how much deeper The Voice Season 4 was in terms of talent than American Idol Season 12. Very nice.

Justin Rivers, Amber Carrington, The Swon Brothers and Holly Tucker perform Tuesday night on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

Next up, Michelle Chamuel singing “Counting Stars” with One Republic. Now that was hot. Wow. Michelle needed a number like that to tear up the stage last night. I’d download that before any of the performance from last night’s show … though the duet featuring Michelle and Usher came close.

Michelle Chamuel performs with One Republic on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

Next bring-back performance features Vedo, Josiah Hawley, Kris Thomas and Garrett Gardner on “Ain’t To Proud To Beg.” And check out Holly Tucker on her sax. Josiah sounded very good on that; Kris did not. But all in all, another solid performance. I really think The Voice could have forgotten the special guests and let its cast provide the music.

Vedo and Kris Thomas perform Tuesday night on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

Now it’s time for Danielle’s bring-back performance. She’s chosen to sing Carrie Underwood’s “All American Girl” with Caroline Glaser, Sarah Simmons and Amber Carrington. Nice to see Caroline back on The Voice stage. I really like her pre-show singer-songwriter music. Not sure this is a song Sarah would have chosen to sing. But Amber is in fine voice again.

This should be good. The Swon Brothers are joined by Bob Seger for a rendition of his classic hit, “Night Moves.” For those wondering, Bob is 68. Yep, nice rendition of the song. And Zach sounded great on his solo lines. Lost with the fun-loving nature of The Swon Brothers is the fact that Zach is a very good singer.

Now four of The Voice’s powerhouse female vocalists take the stage — Judith Hill, Sasha Allen, Cathia and Karen Iglesias. Remember when Sasha and Judith appeared to be the Season 4 favorites in what looked like it might be a knock-down, drag-out fight between R&B vocal powerhouses? Then came Danielle and her country colleague to foil that little dynamic.

Now, a young country star with a young country star to be. That means Hunter Hayes and Danielle Bradbery singing “I Want Crazy.” Dang, Danielle really does have a great country voice. I still find her poise incredible for someone so young.

Danielle Bradbery and Hunter Hayes perform Tuesday night on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

Next up, Michelle is joined by her Usher teammates Josiah Hawley, Vedo and Cathia on Stevie Wonder’s version of “We Can Work It Out.” Not sure this is going to jell quite as well as some of the other group numbers tonight. That’s quite a diverse group of singers on the stage.

And, after a performance by Cher, trying to look much much younger than her 67 years, dressed in a suitably outrageous outfit … well, we’re down to the point where it’s time to find out who wins The Voice Season 4.

Finishing third on The Voice … The Swon Brothers.

Finishing second on The Voice … Michelle Chamuel

And that means The Voice winner is … Danielle Bradbery.

And, yep, that marks a third straight victory for Blake Shelton on The Voice, with Danielle following Jermaine Paul and Cassadee Pope.

But more remarkably, we just witnessed something I didn’t think was possible on The Voice, a show that features a wide range of veteran performers.

A virtual novice, a 16-year-old high school kid who hadn’t released so much as a pre-show single just proved you don’t need years of experience to win on The Voice.

Using her pure country sound and a poise beyond her years, Danielle came out of nowhere to defeat the likes of Michael Jackson protege Judith Hill and former Broadway lead Sasha Allen.

In the process, she cracked the iTunes Top 10 on six different occasions, more often than any other artist.

And this just in. The Voice released season compilation albums for the final three today.

Danielle is already number 15 on the top albums chart, followed by Michelle at 23 and The Swon Brothers at 31.

Well done, Danielle.

Well done, The Voice.

Danielle Bradbery, shown performing with Hunter Hayes Tuesday night, was named Season 4 winner of The Voice. (NBC Photo)