The Voice season finale recap: Cassadee Pope wins season 3

America’s with you, Cassadee! Tonight, the presumed frontrunner became season 3’s big winner, beating out the more idiosyncratic likes of Terry McDermott and Nicholas David (who were awarded second and third place, respectively).

Cassadee Pope’s victory will surely lead to grumbling that the fan base for her old band, Hey Monday, gave her an unfair advantage over the competition — but anyone who’s been paying attention to the show for the last month or so could have seen this one coming. Ever since Cassadee’s first misty-eyed performance of Blake Shelton’s “Over You,” she’s been the act to beat — and when strong contenders like Amanda Brown and Trevin Hunte fell by the wayside, her ultimate triumph seemed even more inevitable.

But despite its outcome and a lot of its content — video packages asserting that Adam is talented, Blake is a flirt, Cee Lo is a weirdo, and Christina Aguilera was born [throat clearing noise] years ago — the finale still had a few surprises in store. For example, I could not have predicted that Cee Lo would storm the stage in a Jesus costume in order to give each member of the final three a brand-new Kia™ (tough luck, Trevin), or that Christina Milian would freak out Kelly Clarkson by calling her “the biggest artist on the planet.” (Xtina heard you, Other Christina, and she’s fuming.) And then there were the finale’s bushel of musical performances, each of which deserves its own superlative:

Most Surprisingly Intense: Rihanna, “Diamonds”

Ri-ri can look pretty wooden onstage, so I appreciated all the dramatic cheek-stroking and eye-closing she did during this performance. It wasn’t as nutty as the psychedelic nightmare version of “Diamonds” she presented on SNL last month, but maybe that’s a good thing. Also, props to Carson Daly for actually pronouncing the singer’s name correctly: It rhymes with “banana,” not “banana” the way a British person would say it. The more you know!

Most Community Theater: Terry McDermott, Rudy Parris, Amanda Brown, Bryan Keith, and Michaela Paige, “Rock and Roll All Nite”

Apologies to all involved, but this song is so cheesy that it’s tough to sing it with a straight face — which may be why everyone save Terry performed like he or she was auditioning for the touring production of a different Broadway musical. Michaela was clearly trying for Sherrie in Rock of Ages. Amanda wanted the part of Mimi in Rent. Bryan was going for something, anything Jersey Boys, which is why he and this song were such a weird match. And Rudy’s destiny, obviously, is to star in I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That): The Meat Loaf Story, a bio-musical that exists only in my dreams. For now.

Best Throwback: Nicholas David and Smokey Robinson, “Cruisin'”

Get it? His name is Smokey, and when he came out, the stage filled with smoke. But visual punnery aside, these two really clicked during their big duet — just ask Cee Lo, whose chair-dancing and lyric-mouthing was approaching proud stage mom levels. And when you’re wearing Bowser‘s football pads, that sort of enthusiasm can be dangerous.

NEXT: What hath “Stacy’s Mom” wrought?

Least Successful Lyrics: The Killers and Cassadee Pope, “Here With Me”

Is Brandon Flowers human, or is he dancer? We may never know — but I can say with certainty that “Don’t want your picture / On my cell phone / I want you here with me” is one of the lamest choruses in recent memory.

Worst Throwback: Dez Duron, MacKenzie Bourg, Julio Cesar Castillo, Cody Belew, and Diego Val, “Stacy’s Mom”

Season 3’s “biggest heartbreakers” performed this goofy 2003 hit on a set… designed to look like a ’50s diner? And… they were done up to look like extras in Grease? And… MacKenzie still isn’t capable of just singing the damn melody? The Voice‘s surprise tribute to Happy Days (by way of Fountains of Wayne) was a mess, but at least it was an interesting mess. Especially after that truly ear-splitting key change.

Best Ice: Kelly Clarkson, Cassadee Pope, and Terry McDermott, “Catch My Breath”

Leave it to Kelly to show these would-be inheritors of her throne how it’s done. Who else could stand on a platform surrounded by four giant fans and manage not to get a single hair blown out of place? But the true highlight of Clarkson’s performance was the glimpse it gave us at her gigantic new engagement ring — as well as how giddy she got when she caught herself talking about her fiance after the performance. Aw, America’s best friend is getting married! How fun is that wedding going to be?

Timeliest: Cassadee Pope, Melanie Martinez, Liz Davis, and De’Borah, “It’s Time”

One night after Gossip Girl‘s series finale used Imagine Dragons’s “It’s Time” to great effect, The Voice bestowed the song upon Cassadee and a few of her favorite female powerhouses. As giant clock faces swirled around them, each of the ladies did her thing: Cassadee played anchor, De’Borah pounced on every note, Liz over-emoted, and Melanie whisper-sang like the kooky tree sprite she is on the inside. And the outside. And secret places we don’t even know about.

Best Throwback, Rock Edition: Peter Frampton and Terry McDermott, “Baby, I Love Your Way”

Who doesn’t like this song? Nobody, that’s who — especially when it’s sang simply and sweetly by both its author and an up-and-comer who’s clearly jazzed to be performing with Peter Frampton. Sure, “Baby” was maybe a little too mellow and mature for a show that stars Cee Lo Green — but at least it made for a pleasant listen.

Most Likely to Become One Direction: Joselyn Rivera, Sylvia Yacoub, Adriana Louise, Loren Allred, and Devyn DeLoera, “Best of My Love”

Hear me out: Individually, none of these ladies was strong enough to get very far in the competition (or to be asked to perform with one of the finalists tonight). But when channeling a soulful five-part girl group, they sound kind of great — and I can totally see them touring together, engaging in an endless battle for melismatic dominance. No? Just me?

NEXT: The coaches had the time of their lives… sniff!

Biggest Heartthrob: Bruno Mars, “When I Was Your Man”

Forget the so-called heartbreakers who murdered “Stacy’s Mom” — did you hear how nuts the crowd was going for Bruno? Maybe it was because the lyrics of his song were created in a lab to make girls swoon (“Too young, too dumb to realize / That I should have bought you flowers and held your hand”), or because they were trying to persuade him to ditch those Cee Lo shades and show off his pretty face.

Best Throwback, R&B Edition: Nicholas David, Trevin Hunte, Dez Duron, and Amanda Brown, “End of the Road”

Fact: It is impossible to hear this song and not immediately yearn to slow dance at an awkward middle school Spring Fling, regardless of how old/unborn you were in 1992. The quartet performed it pretty well, too, even if Trevin’s verse was completely incomprehensible and Amanda’s strong vocals are a little too overpowering in a song that relies on blending harmonies. I hope that somewhere, ex-Sing-Off judge Shawn Stockman was watching and smiling.

Least Surprising: Avril Lavigne and Cassadee Pope, “I’m With You”

Has Avril grown weary of singing songs she wrote when she was 17? No matter — of course she’d show up to perform one of her biggest singles with Cassadee, her spiritual successor, and of course she’d wear what appeared to be silver sequined chucks while doing so. The only quasi-shock here was that Cassadee yielded to her idol on those big, climactic “I’M WITH YAA-HOOO-OOOO”s.

Most Moving: Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Cee Lo Green, and Christina Aguilera, “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”

Aw, Christina and Cee Lo are graduating from The Voice — for one season, at least. To celebrate their imminent departure, the coaches got together for a performance of every graduate’s favorite and least favorite song. (Perhaps they couldn’t get the rights to Vitamin C’s “Graduation (Friends Forever.)”) And while this tune is about as manipulative as Scarlett O’Hara in a dress made of curtains, it still packs a legitimate emotional punch — even when one fourth of it is sung by an alien preacher wearing a spangly zebra-printed romper.

So there you have it: Season 3 has come to a close, and season 4 — which will replace Cee Lo and Xtina with Usher and Shakira — is quickly creeping up on the horizon. Are you satisfied with Cassadee’s win, or were you hoping for someone else to take the crown? Which finale performances had you tapping your toes, and which had you covering your ears? Do you think the new judges will have chemistry with Adam and Blake, based on that cheesy ad for season 4, or are you worried about the future of the show? And finally: who got that last brand-new Kia? There were four cars onstage, but just three finalists! You can’t pull the wool over our eyes forever, Carson!

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