The Voice Season 19 Finalists Reflect on Their Journey: 'Nobody Can Take This Away From Us'

Chris Haston/NBC (5) The Voice final 5

The countdown until The Voice crowns a new champion is on.

On Tuesday night, the season 19 winner will be revealed — but first, finalists Jim Ranger, Ian Flanigan, Desz and John Holiday are taking a look back at their journeys on the show. (Carter Rubin was unavailable for an interview during the virtual press junket held after Monday's show.)

As Ranger, 38, put it, competing on the show amid a global pandemic came with its challenges, but he doesn't "regret one thing about it."

"We got here in July, so I have spent five months away from my family this year," he told reporters. "It's a huge sacrifice. But this has been the time of my life, for sure."

Throughout the competition, Ranger said he's felt "great by proxy."

"When you're around greatness — the other contestants, the coaches, the band and the vocal coaches — you pick up unbelievably invaluable information," he said. "Then for myself, you always wonder, 'Could I do this?' I just did it! Like, I finished. I experienced it. I went to the mountaintop, and it was beautiful."

RELATED GALLERY: A Complete Guide to Every Winner of The Voice

Ranger also said he has his coach, Blake Shelton, to thank for getting him here.

"I don't think people get to see because it's behind the scenes so much, but [Blake] is a really brilliant producer," he said. "He's not trying to make you something you're not, and he just wants you to be next level you, like you got to power up for something on a video game. He creates a little happy tension so that you can really get the best out of yourself. He really is a great coach. It's not just about the stuff you see on TV, it's the behind the scenes stuff where he's unbelievably encouraging, but also he pushes us."

Win or lose on Tuesday, Ranger said he already feels like a winner.

"We've all won, all five of us," he said. "We've made it to the finale, and nobody can ever take that away from us."

Ranger's fellow team Shelton member, Ian Flanigan, said he hopes that viewers take one thing away by watching his journey: "Don't give up."

"It's okay to be an underdog," he said. "There's as many people that don't like my voice that do like my voice, and that's fine. I appreciate both sides. For other people, I hope they do audition, especially songwriters like myself who never thought they would ever do this."

Flanigan, 31, said he's "grown as an artist" since the beginning of the show.

"I definitely came in here coming from a very live music world where all I do is live shows, and each one is completely different," he said. "Being here has pushed me into more of a professional world where everything is exact. It's pushed me to be clearer with my songs and the way I sing and be a lot more present."

Regardless of what happens during the finale, Flanigan said he'll "probably be on the road touring for the rest of my life anyway."

If team Kelly Clarkson's powerhouse singer Desz wins, she said she doesn't quite know what kind of record she wants to make yet — but she definitely wants it to be "strong."

"I want it to display my complete personality — I'm dorky, I'm confident, I'm sexy, I'm all of these things," she said. "It really would have to be how I'm feeling in the moment, but I definitely want it to be a strong, memorable record. All of the songs I've been able to cover on this show have been staple songs that any and everyone knows no matter what age. I just want to make a song that can stand the test of time."

RELATED VIDEO: Gwen Stefani Shows Off Her Engagement Ring from Blake Shelton During The Voice Live Shows

Gwen Stefani Shows Off Her Engagement Ring from Blake Shelton During The Voice Live Shows

The country star popped the question to Gwen Stefani in Oklahoma in October

Since the beginning of her journey, Desz, 30, said she's learned how to take "constructive criticism."

"I was this 30-year-old girl from Houston who was singing in clubs and things of that nature," she said. "I've always been in this small bubble with just myself and what I like and what my small bubble of fans in Houston like. So I've been able to be mature and take all of this like a sponge and apply it to my own artistry to become this strong singer."

As to what she's learned from Clarkson that she'll take with her throughout her career, Desz said it's to be "unapologetic."

"[She taught me to] use my emotions in my songs, and don't let anyone change you," she said. "With Kelly, what you see on TV is definitely how she is off-screen. It's okay to be yourself because the world is going to fall in love with it."

During Monday night's show, Desz had Clarkson in tears with the performance of her original song, "Holy Ground."

"My life story comes with happiness, sadness, pain — it comes with all of these things," Desz said. "For me to be able to translate it through a song, and for someone to recognize it, it's validating that I'm on the right track and that what I'm doing is sincere."

RELATED: The Voice Contestant John Holiday Brings John Legend to Tears with Emotional 'Fix You' Cover

Team John Legend's John Holiday similarly had his coach in tears with his performance of Coldplay's "Fix You" last week. Holiday dedicated the performance to Legend and his wife, Chrissy Teigen, following their September pregnancy loss.

"It's the closest I felt to John all season because he had been so open with me," Holiday said. "He hadn't been closed off to me at all, but in that moment, I got to really see who he is as a human being and as a father and as a husband. He was just a human being experiencing a loss. We can all relate to that, and I felt really privileged to bring some solace to him and to Chrissy and their family. It was a beautiful moment, and I will never forget that performance."

Through his journey on the show, Holiday — a teacher at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin — said he's learned to apply a statement he always tells his students.

"I always tell my students, 'You can do any good thing,'" he said. "This show has taught me that also applies to me and that there are no more boxes. There are so many labels that people have tried to put on to me my entire life, and some I put onto myself ... I've learned that I can do anything and that there is nothing impossible if only you work for it. You have to work hard, believe in yourself and God will do the rest. I've learned that there are no limitations."

John Holiday

Holiday, 35, said his performance of the original song "Where Do We Go?" on Monday night's show represents how he's feeling about the competition coming to a close.

"I was so intrigued by the title, 'Where Do We Go?'" he said. "It was a question that I had been asking myself of my newfound fans and my crossover status, like, 'Where do we go from here?' This has been such an amazing journey, and I wanted, in a lot of ways, to ask the question of my fans, 'Where do we go?' Yes, it's a love song. But I also feel like it's about the newfound fan base that has come my way."

"I've never felt the love like I feel right now," he added.

The Voice finale airs Tuesday, Dec. 15, at 8 p.m. EST on NBC.