The Voice 7 - Live Blog And Recap - Live Final Performances (VIDEO)

Welcome to the live blog and recap of The Voice 2014 Season 7, "Live Final Performances"!

It's night one of the finale! It's Team Blake vs. Team Adam, as Craig Wayne Boyd is in the mix along with Chris Jamison, Matt McAndrew, and wildcard choice Damien.

But who will shine on tonight's show? Each artist will be singing three songs: one regular pick, one original winner's single and one duet with their coach!

Tonight's performers and song spoilers are...

NOTE: Click on the artist's track title to download their single in iTunes! (Winner's single for each artist listed first)

Team Adam Levine:
Matt McAndrew ("Wasted Love")
Matt McAndrew ("Somewhere Over the Rainbow")
Matt McAndrew and Adam Levine ("Lost Stars"

Damien ("Soldier")
Damien ("A Song for You")
Damien and Adam Levine ("Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me")

Chris Jamison ("Velvet")
Chris Jamison ("Cry Me A River")
Chris Jamison and Adam Levine ("Lost Without U")

Team Blake Shelton:
Craig Wayne Boyd ("My Baby's Got A Smile On Her Face")
Craig Wayne Boyd ("In Pictures")
Craig Wayne Boyd and Blake Shelton ("Boots On")

I'll be posting individual videos as the night rolls on. Until then, add your thoughts in the comments below, and keep refreshing for analysis, thoughts, and links to videos of the night's performances as they become available.

Let's get this show on the road!

RECAP

-A big hype package starts us off, as we go into the live studio, where Carson introduces the rest of the Top 20 in the audience. Hey there, Jean Kelley!

He then confirms that each artist will sing three times, one coach pick, one coach duet, and the original winner's single. But without further adieu...

DAMIEN (TEAM ADAM LEVINE) opens the show!

-For the round one VTs, Carson interviews Adam and Damien about Damien's journey on The Voice. It's really heartening to see how far Damien has come, and I completely forgot that he was chosen over Toia Jones despite all three of the other coaches feeling she should have advanced over him. Damien is thankful that Adam believes in him, and plans to do everything in his power to get that record deal, and he's going to do it by singing what Adam calls "one of the most glorious songs ever written": Donny Hathaway's version of Leon Russell's "A Song for You". Adam is absolutely right about this being a glorious song, and I'd be shocked if it didn't fit Damien's voice perfectly.

-Well, this was about 99% good. But Damien ends up slipping up and forgetting the lyrics at the start of the second verse, leading to an awkward couple seconds of dead air. But man ALIVE, did he ever make up for it with the rest of the performance. He did some absolutely gorgeous, effortless runs, as if he knew he had to make up for the flub with pure passion. By the end of it, I didn't even care if he messed up or not. I think this may have been Damien's best vocal, neck-and-neck with "She's Out of My Life".

-Blake wishes he could be critical, but he just can't say anything bad about Damien or this performance. Pharrell says we need more of the church-infused passion that Damien delivers each week in his vocals. Gwen says that sounded like Damien's record, and she could imagine that being on his record. Adam, meanwhile, admits he made Damien sing so many songs he didn't know over the course of this competition, so for this week, he just wanted to do something with Damien that everyone would expect. And he's happy with the choice, because Damien absolutely killed it, offering up one of his best ever performances. Strangely, none of the coaches mention the lyric flub, which makes me wonder if it might not have been a purposeful artistic choice to simply elide that lyric. Either that, or the coaches just don't get hung up on details. Who knows?

WATCH: Damien, "A Song For You"

-We return from break with a plug for the Red Thumb campaign to put down phones while driving. A worthy cause. Use the #redthumb to get the word out.

CRAIG WAYNE BOYD (TEAM BLAKE SHELTON) is up next!

-Blake wants to give Craig "My Baby's Got A Smile On Her Face" as his winner's single, since it's a song he's been carrying around with him for years. He says the only reason he hasn't recorded it is because it's so damn hard to sing, yet he has no worries about Craig's ability to shred this. We go behind the scenes of his music video shoot for the track, as he asks Blake for advice on what it was like to record his first single. We get a scene of Blake in his music video for "Austin," and holy crap he looks young. I swear, he looks like a kid. I feel like I have to watch this video now. You know, some other, less busy time.

-I don't really care for the song, but honestly, it does sound like it could be a hit on country radio. And Craig DOES sing the hell out of it, so no complaints from me here. I think this is likely the kind of song Craig would put on his album, so this is ultimately a good pick, even if I'm not over-the-moon about the track itself. Kudos to Craig.

-Pharrell is eager to download the track, while Gwen enthusiastically tells Craig to get a good nanny, since he's going to need one on the tour bus with him when he brings his baby on tour (to a town near you!). Blake says the song was destined to make its way to Craig, and that it fit him perfectly. Well, I really can't disagree with him there, in all honesty. As we go to break, we get a preview of the official music video for "My Baby's Got A Smile On Her Face," and he DOES look like a natural in a music video context.

WATCH: Craig Wayne Boyd, "My Baby's Got A Smile On Her Face"

CHRIS JAMISON AND ADAM LEVINE are up next!

-Adam has a video message for Chris, talking about how proud of him he is, and noting that he knew they'd be a perfect fit from the moment he first heard him sing. He wishes Chris all the best, and expresses his excitement at getting to sing "Lost Without U" by Robin Thicke with him. I'm stoked to hear it, honestly. Hell, I'm always stoked to hear Adam sing in acoustic settings. Granted, he's singing three times tonight, so this is aces for me (even though he might as well be a contestant himself at this point!).

-I never noticed how much Chris and Adam sound like each other. I mean, I know they both have killer falsettos, which is why Chris was able to tackle "Sugar" so effortlessly. But here, it was really pronounced. They could be brothers. If nothing else, they're dressed like twins. This is a really challenging song, and these two made it look like cake. Loved this performance. In fact, I forgot how much I liked this song. I'll probably end up downloading it.

WATCH: Chris Jamison and Adam Levine, "Lost Without U"

MATT MCANDREW (TEAM ADAM LEVINE) is up next!

-Matt is happy to finally record his winner's single. He's done covers, but now he has to rely on his own artistry to sell a song that people don't know. Matt and Adam chat about what it takes to make it in the business, and throughout, we see clips from Matt's music video (seems strange to have a song that sounds so dark and grimly reflective take place almost entirely in sunlight, with smiles and loving tumbles into the couch). In a neat moment, Adam actually gets in the studio with him. It's an absolutely gorgeous song, and might be the best original winner's single they've had since season one. Granted, more than half the seasons haven't even had original winner's singles, but still, season one's songs are still the standard, for me. I STILL listen to "Inventing Shadows" and "Stitch by Stitch".

-I absolutely love this. It's dark and soulful, but with a soaring, hopeful tone. In one of my favorite moments of the season, Matt falls to his knees with the chorus behind him, as Adam can be seen mouthing the words to the song from his chair. Matt's tenderness towards the end of the song contrasts well with the power he exhibited throughout the majority of it, and illustrated why he's just so damn good. He really earned his standing ovation from all four coaches.

-Pharrell says that all of Philadelphia is standing up for Matt, and adds that we couldn't ask for a better teacher for the kids of Philly. Gwen loved the track, unsurprisingly, and praises Matt's performance. Adam, meanwhile, says he and Matt worked on this 24/7, since he wasn't going to let Matt put out an original unless it was going to be amazing. "Matt McAndrew sang his own song that was not only his own song ... but one of the best songs I've ever heard in my life," Adam declares. He goes on to say that he's a huge fan of Matt "and he isn't even done winning yet!" Adam then says he's so proud of Matt that he's near tears (drawing a big "awwww" from the front row).

WATCH: Matt McAndrew, "Wasted Love"

-Back from break with Danielle Bradbery, who got a tattoo praising God. I swear, she actually looks younger now than she did when she was on the show. Perpetual babyface.

CRAIG WAYNE BOYD AND BLAKE SHELTON are up next!

-Blake offers a video message for Craig in which he talks about how proud he is, and how honored he feels to be sharing the stage with an artist the caliber of Craig Wayne Boyd. He says they'll be singing "Boots On" by their friend, Randy Houser. Wait, you mean the song that kind of sounds like "Achy Breaky Heart"? For the record, this is not a complaint.

-This manages to be a pretty fun performance. It's not really a singer's song, so I'm not sure it does him a whole bunch of favors in a competition ostensibly named The Voice. But Craig performs it so well that he actually overshadows Blake, who's no slouch as a singer. I ended up being pretty impressed by the end of this, and I think this could help Craig scoop up more than a few votes.

WATCH: Craig Wayne Boyd and Blake Shelton, "Boots On"

DAMIEN AND ADAM LEVINE are up next!

-In his video message, Adam talks about how eager he is to sing "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me" with Damien, since it's one of his favorite songs, and one of the deepest, most emotional songs ever written. Adam then tells Damien he deserves all the success he's had. "I love you," he says, in a sweet little moment that doesn't sound forced at all. His genuine nature is one of the things I find so endearing about Adam. Actually, all of the coaches feel endearingly genuine in a way the judges on some other singing competitions don't. I think it's part of why the show has been such a success. But I digress. (And rhyme)

-Damien outsang Adam! I mean, I'm sure there aren't a lot of people who will be surprised by that, but I'm a pretty big fan of Adam's voice, and dude just got eclipsed by Damien here. This was a majestic performance, although I could have done without all the crazy, symphonic volume. It all seemed like a bit much, to where it felt like these guys were being swallowed by the band. I wish this had been a more low-key arrangement, but I understand that was never going to happen with this song. At least what we got lived up to its potential.

WATCH: Damien and Adam Levine, "Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me"

CHRIS JAMISON (TEAM ADAM LEVINE) is up next!

-In the studio, Adam is stoked to give Chris his winner's single, "Velvet," saying it's "soooo legit." And he's not kidding. At the risk of committing minor blasphemy, the chorus sounds like something straight out of Michael Jackson's early solo catalogue. I genuinely love this song. Adam notes that he wanted to do his best to pick a song he'd pick for himself, and I believe him. This sounds like something Adam would totally do. I want to buy this thing now.

-Chris gets swallowed up a bit by the band, but he makes up for it by really working the stage. I continue to be absolutely stunned by how far he's come as a performer. He's really got something, and honestly, I wouldn't be surprised to see him finish pretty high tomorrow night (I'd be a bit surprised if he won though, but I wouldn't be knocked out of my boots or anything). His voice kind of peters out at the end, but I just thought this had so much swag. I couldn't possibly hate on this.

-Pharrell details the "metamorphosis" of Chris ever since "Sexual Healing," and declares that a star has been born tonight. Adam, meanwhile, apologizes for insinuating that Matt would win, since all three of them deserve to be there, and deserve to win. He talks about how proud he is of Chris, and how much he loved the performance. We then get a sneak peek of Chris's music video, and if ever an original song from The Voice had a shot at being a hit, it's this.

WATCH: Chris Jamison, "Velvet"

-Back from break with some of the Top 20 in the Sprint Skybox. Taylor John Williams talks about winning The Voice videogame at The Voice tailgate earlier, while Sugar Joans plugs a girl group performance tomorrow night. DaNica, meanwhile, is just excited to see Jessie J tomorrow. But back to music!

MATT MCANDREW AND ADAM LEVINE are up next!

-Adam goes into why he picked the next song for the duet. It's "Lost Stars" from his big-screen debut, the movie Begin Again. Strangely enough, this song was just nominated for a Critics' Choice Movie Award today, which boosts its profile for possibly getting nominated for an Oscar. Not so strangely, I absolutely adore this song and hope it wins things. If nothing else, I hope Matt and Adam sell a lot of copies of this duet. It's a song that deserves to be heard by way more people than it has been (really, more people should just go see Begin Again).

-I didn't think I could love this song more, but here we are. Matt has a lovely falsetto, and he really tears into it with Adam. They both play guitar, and you know what? I'd pay to see these two as a duo on tour. This was just terrific, and sounds a bit harder and more intense than the original. I dig it.

WATCH: Matt McAndrew and Adam Levine, "Lost Stars"

CRAIG WAYNE BOYD (TEAM BLAKE SHELTON) is up next!

-In the VT, Carson interviews Craig and Blake, detailing Craig's strange journey from Team Blake to Team Gwen and back again, complete with a Top 2 single on iTunes. Craig says topping the iTunes charts felt like validation. In detailing the song he'll be singing ("In Pictures" by Alabama), Craig says he'll be thinking of his father, who often had to travel. He didn't understand as a youth, but understands now, and can only hope his son will understand too. Blake says Craig is an underdog, and he likes an underdog.

-Oh, don't do this to me. The feels, man. Blake is a diabolical genius, the likes of which we haven't seen since Dr. Claw. This song choice is utterly BRILLIANT, and I say this as I'm starting to well up. It's an emotional track, and brilliantly sung by Craig. I know it's a cover, and wouldn't be an original track, but can this be his winner's single instead?

-Gwen recalls pushing her button for Craig, and says this kind of performance is why. She says that even if he doesn't win, he's already won. Blake, meanwhile, seems to be fighting back his emotions in order to praise Craig. I'm fighting back emotions just trying to write this. I could easily see this carrying him to the win. Not saying it will, necessarily, but I wouldn't be surprised.

WATCH: Craig Wayne Boyd, "In Pictures"

DAMIEN (TEAM ADAM LEVINE) is up next!

-Damien gets into the studio to record his winner's single, "Soldier," which Adam chose after listening to something like 100 songs. He coaches Damien on how to sing it, saying he needs to stab more on the lyric "Heaven," and make it more urgent (a solid bit of advice that instantly improves the song). We see clips from Damien's rain-soaked music video, and honestly, this sounds exactly like the right song for Damien. Kudos to Adam for finding a track that sounds like something Damien would have picked for himself. Damien asks Adam what it was like when he recorded his first single, and we get a flashback to Adam recording "Harder to Breathe," and I swear, Adam looks like a teenager. It's crazy how young he looks.

-Damien really gets into the song, and I don't blame him. It's a great track. He goes hoarse in some places, but once again, it's not something I think is a dealbreaker. His passion and talent have carried him this far, and I'd argue he deserved to make it this far (even though I was a pretty big Taylor John Williams fan). I really like Damien, and I'll be interested to see what he does once this show is over (assuming he doesn't win. For all we know, we may be looking at our winner. After Jermaine Paul, I don't predict anything when it comes to this show).

-Adam praises Damien for taking his guidance and growing as a performer and as an artist. He says he couldn't possibly be prouder of his team. And now we're running out of time, as we throw to commercial break with a clip of Damien's music video. SO much rain, you guys!

WATCH: Damien, "Soldier"

CHRIS JAMISON (TEAM ADAM LEVINE) is up next!

-Carson goes over Chris's Voice journey with he and Adam, as Chris details what it was like to wake up and find that he had two singles in the Top 10 last week after having none in the Top 10 all season ("Holy Moly!" quoth Chris, because of course he would say that). Carson asks Chris how he overcame his shyness, and Adam steps in and says he brought that out of Chris, and it's evident from the footage we see. There's already a world of difference between "Gravity" and "Jealous". For his final song, Adam is giving Chris one of his favorite songs, "Cry Me A River" by Justin Timberlake. Here's hoping it lives up to all its potential.

-I'm surprised Chris even has a voice right now, considering he's been working that falsetto to the bone all night. He just makes it all sound so smooth and effortless that I couldn't help loving this, even if I would have picked a different JT song for him ("Another Song All Over Again" would have been an all-time Voice performance, man).

-After the performance, Carson notes that all four artists' original songs are charting on iTunes. Meanwhile, Adam is standing on his chair in honor of Chris. He congratulates his "young Jedi" for an outstanding performance. This was a great note for Chris to close on.

WATCH: Chris Jamison, "Cry Me A River"

MATT MCANDREW (TEAM ADAM LEVINE) closes the show!

-We recap Matt's Voice journey, as Carson notes that Matt is the only artist this season to crack the Top 10 three times (well, prior to now anyway). These flashbacks to Matt's time in the competition illustrate that while he hasn't grown a whole lot, that's actually not a bad thing. He's been consistently "ready" since Day 1, and this could end up being his best moment. Matt will be singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," which is possibly the least subtle "THIS IS YOUR WINNER. VOTE FOR THIS GUY" pick of all-time. Doubly so, considering he's going last. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. But come on, Voice. You don't have to force this one.

-Such a lovely vocal. It wasn't as majestic as I hoped it'd be, but I was still impressed at the versatility Matt showed here. The closing note wasn't perfect, but I'm not sure that many people have shown as many different shades of artistry as Matt has in his brief time in the competition this year. He's a total package artist, and I'll be stoked to see him finally check off the box tattoo on his arm once he finally gets signed. My favorite moment, however, is the end of the song, when we cut to his mother and girlfriend applauding through their tears.

-Gwen is stunned that Matt sang that song, but she loved it. Before going to Adam, Carson randomly decides to go to Pharrell, who basically declares that Matt is one of a kind, and that we need more artists like him. Adam feels like "the whole universe paused for a second" just to enjoy something so pure. He's so proud he got to do this with Matt, and thanks him for it.

WATCH: Matt McAndrew, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"

And that's a wrap! What did you think of tonight's show? Sound off in the comments and tell us who you think will win by voting in our poll! Until tomorrow night, thanks for hanging out!

GOODNIGHT!