Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

'The Voice' finale: The unusual way that winner Chris Blue made show history

On Tuesday night, Chris Blue (a 26-year-old worship leader from Knoxville, Tenn.) walked away in first place, landing a record deal and $100,000 prize.

On Tuesday night, Chris Blue (a 26-year-old worship leader from Knoxville, Tenn.) walked away in first place, landing a record deal and $100,000 prize. His win wasn't surprising. With a stunning voice and lots of charisma, he was pegged as a frontrunner leading into the finale. However, Blue was not in the season's first audition episode — and unlike any other winner in the show's history, he was actually featured in the last one.

"The very last artist selected in the blind audition process goes on to win it all!" host Carson Daly marveled in the closing moments of the finale, clearly excited about this fun fact, as confetti rained down and Blue sobbed on stage.

Over the rest of the show's run, two winners (Jermaine Paul and Tessanne Chin) appeared in their season's second blind audition episode. Three winners (Craig Wayne Boyd, Josh Kaufman and Cassadee Pope) have been showcased in the penultimate blind auditions.

So why is Blue's last audition status significant? Sure, not a big deal in the grand scheme of things — but it shows viewers that even though competition reality show structures can get predictable over time, you never know when a contestant without as much fanfare might wind up winning it all.