'The Voice' Final 4 Recap: Sawyer Fredericks Is a 'Ray' of Hope

Some artists wait all their lives for the chance to record a single penned by Ray LaMontagne or Pharrell Williams. But The Voice Season 8 finalists Sawyer Fredericks and Koryn Hawthorne didn’t even have to wait till they were out of their teens. When the young Team Pharrell contestants debuted their original singles on Monday night’s Voice part one finale, Sawyer sang an unreleased tune by his idol, LaMontagne (whose classic “Trouble” he covered earlier this season), and Koryn belted a song written by her own superstar-producer coach, Pharrell.

Meanwhile, the season’s two more seasoned finalists, Team Adam’s 37-year-old Joshua Davis and Team Blake’s 29-year-old Meghan Linsey, received a different sort of opportunity, one rarely afforded to any singing-show contestant of any age: They got to perform songs they actually wrote themselves.

So, which contestants had the bigger advantage leading into Tuesday’s grand finale? Well, obviously, the original songs weren’t the only factor. This Monday, the final four contestants also performed two other times: one solo cover song and one coach duet each. Here’s how they fared in all three rounds:

ORIGINAL SONGS ROUND

Sawyer Fredericks (Team Pharrell) – “Please”

Sweet Sawyer’s teenage dream came true when his above-mentioned hero Ray LaMontagne handed him this fantastic track. It almost felt like he’d already won. And with a song like this, Sawyer very well could win Season 8. This was the best original single of the night; basically, it was this season’s “Wasted Love.” But while Sawyer may have lucked out with such a gorgeous song, to his complete credit, he did a gorgeous job with it. He may not have written this, but it sure sounded like he did. Sawyer even sang his own lovely harmonies on the studio recording, which I enthusiastically encourage all of you to download now. And if Sawyer’s album after the Voice sounds like this — and I sincerely hope he’ll be releasing an album after the Voice, whether or not he wins — I know I’ll be downloading that, too.

Here’s Sawyer’s studio recording and accompanying official music video:

Koryn Hawthorne (Team Pharrell) – “Bright Fire”

Pharrell clearly has a bond with Koryn, maybe even more so than the one he shares with Sawyer. It’s not exactly a minor thing that he gave Koryn one of his own tracks; this is a man who’s written and produced for everyone from Britney Spears to Daft Punk to Ed Sheeran, after all. True, “Bright Fire,” seemingly tailored to fit Koryn’s churchy, evangelical side, wasn’t exactly up there with the best of Pharrell’s discography; it barely had a hook, and it felt like one of his leftovers. (Pharrell admitted that he’d been trying to finish the song for a while.) But Koryn gave a fiery “Bright Fire” performance, appearing as thrilled as she would have been if Pharrell had given her “Get Lucky.” Maybe she’ll get lucky on this show after all; even if she doesn’t win, it’s looking likely that Pharrell will want to work with her in the future. I just hope he gives her a catchier song next time.

Here’s Koryn’s official music video for the studio recording of the song:

Meghan Lindsey (Team Blake) – “Change My Mind”

This Meghan co-write, inspired by a bad breakup (presumably her split from Joshua Scott Jones, her former partner in country duo Steel Magnolia), delivered a positive message: that no woman should ever change just to please a man. Blake Shelton said she “wrote the hell out of that song,” and I think she sang the hell out it, too. But the ironic thing is, Meghan has changed a lot since her Steel Magnolia days, largely abandoning country music (and possibly her country fanbase) for soul. “Change My Mind” was a straight-up soul song, and a rather old-fashioned one at that, with not even the slightest hint of Nashville twang. And the problem is, Meghan’s most popular tracks on iTunes have been her country performances. So while I haven’t changed my own mind about Meghan — I still think she’s awesome, and she’s probably the best technical vocalist of this Voice season — I’m not sure if this was the best song choice to secure the public vote.

Here’s Meghan’s “Change My Mind” music video:

Joshua Davis (Team Adam) – “The Workingman’s Hymn”

This Detroit everyman offered up a self-penned, very Springsteenian ode to the working class. It wasn’t the side of Joshua I like best; I wish he’d written/performed something with that hushed, acoustic coffeehouse vibe that he pulls off so well. Come to think of it, I wish he’d gotten a Ray LaMontagne song, like Sawyer did. But that being said, as pedestrian and derivative as “The Workingman’s Hymn” was, it was pretty darn catchy. I actually found myself humming it later (something I didn’t do with Meghan or Koryn’s songs). “You’re a great songwriter, dude. That song’s freakin’ stuck in my head,” said Blake. If “The Workingman’s Hymn” works its way into voters’ heads, Joshua could pull ahead in this game.

Here’s Joshua’s official music video:

SOLO SONGS ROUND

Koryn Hawthorne – “It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World”

Many a singing-show contestant has had a breakthrough with this James Brown classic, including American Idol’s Joshua Ledet and The Voice’s own phenomenal Juliet Simms. Voice coach Christina Aguilera had a major moment herself with “Man’s World” at the 2007 Grammys. Koryn’s version didn’t quite approach that level of iconic greatness, but it came mighty close, and this will still go down in Voice history as one of the best performances of Season 8. Koryn was a woman, not a girl, in complete control of her voice, of the house band, of the stage, and of her destiny. Suddenly, it seemed like she could pull off an upset.

Joshua Davis – “Hallelujah”

Apparently, Adam Levine doesn’t watch too many TV singing competitions — not even the one he’s been on for eight seasons. If he’d been paying attention, he’d know that this Leonard Cohen standard has been covered multiple times on American Idol (Jason Castro, Lee DeWyze, Tim Urban), The X Factor (Alexandra Burke, Josh Krajcik, Carly Rose Sonenclar, Jeff Gutt), and yes, The Voice (Matthew Schuler, Nicole Nelson, even Adam and his fellow coaches on a Season 3 tribute to Newtown). And of course, it has also been recorded, amazingly, by Jeff Buckley, John Cale, Rufus Wainwright, and k.d. lang, to name but a few. Joshua’s own version was fine, with some compelling emotional moments in the second verse… but I’m sorry, my “Hallelujah” fatigue set in long ago. I can barely stand to listen to Cohen’s version anymore, and even Cohen went on record complaining that too many people have covered “Hallelujah.” Adam could, and should, have come up with a more creative song choice for Joshua; there was no way Joshua could make this song his own at this point. Maybe Joshua should have covered “Famous Blue Raincoat” instead.

Meghan Linsey – “When a Man Loves a Woman”

This was another safe, tried-and-true song choice. Meghan sang it beautifully, and I could feel her love for hew new boyfriend coming through, but I do wish she’d taken more of a risk, instead of falling back on a song that’s been done so many times before. Blake claimed this was the performance that could change the course of this season, and I think he may have been right, but NOT in the way he meant: I think Meghan has been one of this season’s frontrunners, but she had a slightly off night this Monday and lost some momentum. Now I’m beginning to worry that she’ll go home in third place this Tuesday.

Sawyer Fredericks – “Old Man”

Sawyer is a young boy with an old, old soul, so this rustic Neil Young ballad was perfect for him. I do wish he’d been allowed to strip this production back a bit, like he did with “Please,” because sometimes that obnoxiously bombastic Voice band drowned him out. Really, the best part of this performance was the near-a cappella ending; the whole song just should have been like that. But overall, this was lovely. Sawyer is still many years away from the “24” mentioned in “Old Man,” but he’s one of the few 16-year-olds on the planet that could sing this song and actually do it justice. Pharrell proudly told Sawyer that he’s “living the dream.” I’ll be living the dream on Tuesday, if Sawyer wins this competition.

COACH DUETS ROUND

Sawyer Fredericks & Pharrell Williams – “Summer Breeze”

I’m not sure if the coach duets have that much impact on the show’s outcome; officially, the duet downloads don’t count as votes at all. That’s a good thing for Sawyer, because this hokey performance really could have sabotaged him. I have no idea why Pharrell thought it was a bright idea to croon this Seals & Croft ‘70s lite-AM radio dreck — while surrounded by tambourine-rattling, bean-bag-reclining hippies, yet. Nothing about this performance made any sense, nothing about it was cool or contemporary, and neither Sawyer nor Pharrell delivered a strong vocal. Not that a lightweight song like “Summer Frickin’ Breeze” calls for a strong vocal, mind you, but still. Sawyer deserved better than this.

Koryn Hawthorne & Pharrell Williams – “We Can Work It Out”

If you’re into conspiracy-theorizing (and I know I am!), then you can put on your tinfoil hat now and start wondering why Pharrell chose such a superior duet song for his other team member. The funky Stevie Wonder version of this uptempo Beatles crowd-pleaser was a much better fit for Koryn than that sleepy Seals & Croft yacht-rock number was for Sawyer. True, this was a far-from-perfect duet, but that was because Koryn pretty much wiped the floor Pharrell, who’s not exactly a powerhouse vocalist. This almost felt like a landslide-victory Battle Round between Koryn and Pharrell. But they at least seemed connected and appeared to be having some fun. They worked it out.

Meghan Linsey & Blake Shelton – “Freeway of Love”

This was another example of a contestant totally singing circles around her coach. But maybe that was Pharrell and Blake’s strategy in this round — especially Blake’s. Why else would this country dude subject himself to the public humiliation of trying to sing a mid-‘80s Aretha pop hit? Blake seemed like such a karaoke-night amateur here… but in the process, he made his girl Meghan look and sound good. Yeah, that probably was the whole point.

Joshua Davis & Adam Levine – “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes”

This was the one duet of the evening where the song fit both contestant and coach. The jaunty Paul Simon ditty worked especially well with Joshua’s husky tone, but Adam’s falsetto complemented Joshua’s rasp nicely. This didn’t exactly set the stage or the night on fire, but it was enjoyable, and it at least made sense.

So now, it is prediction time. Who’s going to win Season 8? If Tuesday’s outcome was based solely on Monday’s performances, I’d say it was a nail-bitingly close race, since all four of these contestants had their good and bad moments. But we can’t ignore the cumulative iTunes totals, which play a major part here. Sawyer has been the “king of iTunes,” as host Carson Daly put it, all season long, and as of this writing, “Please” is at No. 2 on iTunes and “Old Man” is No. 4. So, yeah, I’m predicting that Sawyer will run away with this thing.

That’s totally fine by me, and not just because I like the idea of Ray LaMontagne collecting some royalties. There’s never been a winner quite like Sawyer Fredericks on The Voice or any other singing show, and he may be the golden child that FINALLY becomes The Voice’s first big breakout recording star. And after eight seasons, it’s about time that happened. Please.

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