‘The Voice’ season 23 Live Finale, Part 2 recap: Who was crowned the winner? [UPDATING LIVE BLOG]

John Benutty and Denton Davidson
·6 min read
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Tonight on “The Voice” live finale, host Carson Daly reveals who America has chosen to be the winner. The star-studded celebration includes special performances by chart-topping artists, finalist/coach duets and surprises to celebrate Blake Shelton as he says a final goodbye. Will he walk away with a record-extending 10th victory? Or will Chance the Rapper, Niall Horan or Kelly Clarkson spoil his swan song?

Below, read our minute-by-minute “The Voice” recap of Season 23, Episode 17 to find out what happened Tuesday, May 23 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT. Then be sure to sound off in the comments section about your favorite artists on NBC’s long-running reality TV show, which coach you’re rooting for and who you think will ultimately join “The Voice” winners list for this 23rd season.

More from GoldDerby

TEAM BLAKE: Grace West, Noivas

TEAM NIALL: Gina Miles

TEAM CHANCE: Sorelle

TEAM KELLY: D.Smooth

SEE ‘The Voice’ finale predictions: Who will win Season 23?

Keep refreshing/reloading this “The Voice” live blog for the most recent updates.

9:00 p.m. – “Previously on ‘The Voice’!” In Episode 16, the Top 5 performed for America’s vote in the “Live Finale, Part 1.” Who will be crowned the Season 23 champ? It’s time to find out!

9:02 p.m. – Blake was all smiles as he entered the studio from backstage with Adam Levine calling his entrance like a sports announcer. Adam continued to wish him well on his last show and advised him to “don’t screw it up.” Then, CeeLo Green — another original coach from season 1 — came on stage to sing an 80s medley including “Jack & Diane,” “Don’t You (Forget About Me),” and “Livin’ on a Prayer” with Blake’s season 13 winner Chloe Kohanski and season 20 winner Cam Anthony as well as Wendy Moten from season 21 and bodie from season 22.

9:09 p.m. – Niall was the first coach to take the stage with their finalist for a special duet. He and Gina Miles chose “New York State of Mind” from her list of songs she wanted to perform on the show so this was the perfect opportunity to show more of who she is as an artist.

9:19 p.m. – Next to take the stage was hip hop artist Toosii with “Favorite Song” that was originally a viral track on TikTok and is now a single from his debut album. Afterward, we were treated to a clip package of Blake and Gwen Stefani building their relationship throughout the course of doing the show together. Gwen thanked the show for bringing them together and Blake for changing her life forever, including expanding her music career to include country.

9:30 p.m. – Blake and Noivas chose to sing “Home” for their duet because Noivas felt like it meant a lot to him personally and it’d be an honor to sing one of Blake’s songs with him.

9:39 p.m. – The next superstar performance was from Diplo and vocalist Lily Rose with their song “Sad in the Summer.” It was followed by the United States Army Field Band with “I Live.”

9:52 p.m. – Dolly Parton, Peyton Manning, Jimmie Johnson, Lindsey Vonn, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and Wayne Gretzky all recorded videos wishing Blake well on his retirement from the show followed by a retirement of “the Blake Shelton jean jacket” with the nine seasons he won the show listed on the back of it (2, 3, 4, 7, 11, 13, 18, 20 and 22). Carson promised that the jacket will remain hanging in the studio into the future. As for his chair, that was delivered to his home where Gwen was there to receive it as a surprise to Blake.

9:58 p.m. – “Miss Kelly” and D.Smooth joined on stage for their duet of “Slow Dancing in the Dark.” Kelly told him that she’s envisioned him singing the song ever since she heard his voice and so she was excited to perform it with him.

10:08 p.m. – Sorelle and Chance celebrate all his different hats before they sang “Ooh Child” as a quartet. After the performance, Rutledge Wood, host of the new Hot Wheels show, ran a quick race to predict which coach would win the season. The fastest Hot Wheel car down the slope was Blake’s!

10:18 p.m. – Blake closed out the duets with Grace West and their performance of his song “Lonely Tonight.”

10:27 p.m. – Adam returned to the stage with Maroon 5 to perform their new song “Middle Ground.” Then, in a continuance of the Blake and John Legend sitcom spoof from last season, Blake received a note that John left the apartment only for Niall to arrive as Blake’s son.

10:40 p.m. – The former coaches that weren’t able to attend the finale in person also sent video messages to Blake, including Miley Cyrus, Camila Cabello, Jennifer Hudson, Usher, Pharrell, Nick Jonas, and John. They all acknowledged him as the “greatest coach” and the “heart and soul” of the show. That package was followed by a rendition of “Good Riddance” with some of Team Blake’s greatest artists Bryce Leatherwood, Jermaine Paul, The Swon Brothers, Raelynn, Danielle Bradberry, Craig Wayne Boyd, Sundance Head, Todd Tilghman, Cassadee Pope, Dia Frampton, Ian Flanigan, and Xenia. The last special gift to Blake was a video message from country legend George Strait congratulating him on his next journey.

8:53 p.m. – In the final minutes of the show, the finalists returned to the stage to give their thanks to the coaches for their mentorship, guidance and support that they offered all season. Carson revealed that the fifth place finisher was Noivas. Next, Carson revealed that fourth place was Sorelle and third place was D.Smooth. With Grace and Gina as the final two, Carson revealed at last that in the closest margin of victory in series history the winner of season 23 was Gina! That’s a big win for Niall in his first season and will propel him into his second season next Fall!

SEEexclusive predictions: Who will win ‘The Voice’?

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 21 leaderboard. See our contest rules and sound off with other fans in our reality TV forum. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions

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