“The Voice” season 19 finale will take place over two nights this week on December 14 and December 15 on NBC. Singing for the championship on Monday night are at least one artist from each coach’s team: DeSz for Team Kelly Clarkson, John Holiday for Team John Legend, Carter Rubin for Team Gwen Stefani, and both Jim Ranger and Ian Flanigan for Team Blake Shelton.
With only two weeks of Live Playoff performances under their belt — and only two weeks of seeing which artists earned the public’s vote — it’s tough to say with confidence which artist is best poised to win on Tuesday night. In the final predictions of this year’s derby, we’ve got Carter with the best combined odds to win at 16/5 currently. DeSz is polling second with a respectable 18/1 odds, Ian is in third with 35/1 odds, Jim is in fourth with 62/1 odds, and John would be a long shot winner with his 100/1 odds.
With the odds, and a possibility of a shocking upset, in mind, we power rank the five finalists’ chances of winning from best to worst:
1. Carter Rubin
It’s no surprise that Carter leads the combined odds to win the season. The 15 year old has been a powerhouse on Team Gwen since his Blind Audition of “Before You Go,” which he actually sang for the coaches at the age of 14. With a big voice like season 9’s Jordan Smith and the youthfulness of season 14’s Brynn Cartelli, Carter exhibits many qualities of former winners all in one package. If he wins, Carter would bring the trophy to Team Gwen for the first time in her five years of coaching. Unlike the others, who we think have to overcome some sort of hurdle in order to win, Carter should maintain his frontrunner chances of being crowned.
2. DeSz
Because she’s coached an artist to the win in three of her sixth seasons, Clarkson should never be underestimated in the finale. DeSz is arguably the strongest vocalist Clarkson has ever had to work with, which is why predictors are giving her the second best odds to win. Her Blind Audition performance of Toni Braxton‘s “Unbreak My Heart” was one of only three four-chair turns and remains one of the best vocals we heard this season. Song choice will be an important decision for DeSz in the finale and we think finding an emotional ballad that the audience can connect to could push her chances to win from “good” to “great.”
3. John Holiday
If there’s going to be a shocker in the finale, it will be that John overcomes the odds to earn Team Legend its second trophy. With a dedication to the oldies and as an opera singer, John has shown that no era or genre of music is outside the realm of popularity on the show. Singing the ballads of artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and Coldplay, John has already left a mark on the series with his vocal range and incomparable tone, but in order to win we think he’ll have to push the boundaries even further by taking a bigger risk with an unexpected song selection and absolutely nailing it.
4. Ian Flanigan
5. Jim Ranger
After last week’s semi-final it was Jim that earned the most votes on Team Blake, automatically advancing to the finale while Ian had to sing for the Instant Save. In the week prior, the opposite was true–Ian earned the public vote and Jim was hand-picked for the coach’s save by Blake. Because the two have criss-crossed atop Team Blake in the last two weeks, it’s possible that when pitted against the artists of other teams for the first time they will split the vote and come out at the bottom of the pack.
What makes Jim and Ian different from Blake’s ability to get both Todd Tilgham and Toneisha Harris to the first and second place finishes last year is that, unlike with Todd and Toneisha, Jim and Ian are very similar artists. Both guys sing within the country rock genre and have shown they can spin well-known pop songs (Ian doing Sarah McLachlan‘s “Angel,” Jim doing Harry Nilsson‘s “Without You”) in a way that sound their own. With similar styles, the two artists likely share a core audience base both by genre and as members of the same team.
Be sure to make your predictions to influence our reality TV racetrack odds. You can keep changing your predictions until just before the live results episode airs on NBC. You’ll compete to win a $100 gift card each week and a spot on our Season 19 leaderboard. See our contest rules and sound off with other fans in our reality TV forum. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.
