The Voice Season 19 is headed to an end, and like many things in 2020, it's been one to remember. This season has faced many challenges from a technical standpoint, but one element that has not suffered is the talent. The incredible talent of the Top 5 competitors has brought the show some of its best performances, most notably one by finalist John Holiday that he dedicated to coach John Legend.
John Holiday brought the house down during his Top 9 performance when he performed Coldplay's "The Scientist" and dedicated the performance to John Legend and his family after the loss of their unborn son in September. I got a chance to speak with Holiday during a press roundtable for The Voice following Part 1 of the Season 19 finale, and he said he felt "privileged" to offer some solace to John Legend and others with his singing. Holiday explained:
I felt really privileged being able to help bring some solace to him and to Chrissy and their family. It was a beautiful moment. I will never forget that performance. It was all over the place for me emotionally, but I did it for him and for all the people who have ever felt broken because I certainly have felt that. I’m thankful to God that I was able to do that in that moment, just for a little bit of time.
John Holiday's performance brought coach John Legend to tears, and Kelly Clarkson remarked that it "broke her." It was an emotional and moving performance that instantly put Holiday on the radar of The Voice fandom, and certainly one of the top choices as a winner for Season 19.
For John Holiday, however, the moment was about more than that. Holiday remarked that the performance was the "most vulnerable" he's been on stage and that it allowed him to see coach John Legend in a way he hadn't seen before.
That was an incredibly emotional moment because I felt it was something he needed. I remember he spoke to me about that in the rehearsal. Before we even had the song ["The Scientist"] chosen we talked about it, and just in him speaking about this song to me he began to weep. Before he had ever heard me sing it. To see him stand up and then to sing it with me, that was the most vulnerable I’ve ever been in a performance. It’s the closest that I felt to John this season because he was so open with me. In that moment, I got to really see who he is as a human being, as a father, as a husband. The singing was in the back if that makes any sense. He was just a human being experiencing a loss and talking about the loss he experienced in his life.
John Holiday is in The Voice's Final Five and will find out tonight alongside Ian Flanigan, Desz, Carter Rubin, and Jim Ranger who will be the winner of Season 19. Even if he's not crowned, it's possible that Holiday still has a promising future in music, though it certainly wouldn't be surprising to hear he took the whole competition.
The Voice Season 19 finale airs Tuesday, December 15 at 9:00 p.m. ET. Continue to stick with CinemaBlend for more on the franchise for more on the finalists, and for the latest news happening in television and movies.
