The Voice named Craig Wayne Boyd its seventh-season champion during Tuesday night's live finale broadcast of the NBC reality singing competition.
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Craig won the title of "The Voice" and a recording contract after receiving the most home viewer votes cast following Monday night's Top 4 final performance show.
Craig's victory came as a bit of a shock since he had been dubbed "the underdog in the finals." Craig had previously lost his "battle" round when he was on Blake Shelton's team. After being stolen by coach Gwen Stefani and given a drastic makeover, Craig later failed to win his "knockout" round as well, prompting a regretful Blake to steal the country artist back for his own team.
Craig cried at Carson Daly's victory announcement but then finished the night strong with a reprise performance of his new original single "My Baby's Got a Smile on Her Face," which was written and produced for him by Blake and other music industry professionals.
Craig being crowned champion marked Blake's fourth The Voice win as a coach.
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The pair's victory was also a huge upset for coach Adam Levine, who had a whopping three artists in the finals -- Matt McAndrew, Chris Jamison and Damien. Matt and Damien, especially, had been declared frontrunners for most of the seventh-season competition. Chris also found himself when it came down to the wire and emerged as a huge threat in recent weeks.
Although clearly disappointed and deflated, Adam applauded Craig's success and gave his friend Blake a big congratulatory hug.
Matt, a versatile performer who covered a wide variety of musical genres this season, finished The Voice's seventh season as the runner-up. His original song "Wasted Love" blew the coaches away during Monday night's final performance show, which had featured each of the Top 4 artists taking the stage three times.
Third place went to Chris. The smooth singer will be remembered for his impressive falsetto and Justin Timberlake-like vibe.
Lastly, the soulful Damien finished the competition in fourth place. Damien had been The Voice's "Wild Card" finalist. He initially did not get voted into the Top 3 by home viewers, however, America re-voted him into the Top 4 after he competed against eight other Top 12 artists for the only spot. Damien's rendition of Bruno Mars' "Grenade" had done the trick.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski