The Voice ended things on a high note last night when host Carson Daly revealed Jermaine Paul as the winner.
Only four percentage points separated him from the runner-up, Juliet Simms. It was a tight race and even Carson was kept in the dark when it came down to the final results.
“I was going to look and see who the winner was, [but] at some point during the afternoon I decided I wanted to be as surprised as humanly possible,” Carson recounted this morning on AMP Radio. “So the stage manager Gary handed me the envelope with minutes to go and I learned just a couple minutes before everyone else did.”
The former Alicia Keys backup singer had a hard time holding back his emotions when he heard his name called, but he sung through the tears.
“The last five minutes of the show, you could not have scripted that any better and it was all just so organic,” Carson said. “And he just was crying and he was singing and hugging, and his parents were there. What you just heard, all of his emotion and his message, it was great.”
Jermaine’s been an underdog throughout the entire season and when he stopped to chat with AMP Radio on the red carpet after the big finale, he was overwhelmed by all the attention, “I’m on cloud 13! It feels so good just to be here and you know to have this opportunity and just to be talking to you guys.”
Both Alicia Keys and coach Blake Shelton couldn’t have been any prouder of Jermaine. They tweeted their support for the husband and father of four:
Fans of Juliet Simms shouldn’t be too disappointed. Carson explained there’s a silver lining to coming in second place.
“When Juliet Simms wakes up this morning, she has, if not the exact same, very close to the same opportunities to make it in music. She’s going to get in any meeting she wants today, if she wants to go meet with rock producers, whoever she wants. She’s going to be able to have that same clout, but she’s got zero pressure.”
Last night wasn’t just about Jermaine and the other 3 finalists. The episode featured performances from Flo Rida, Lady Antebellum, Hall & Oates, and Justin Bieber’s first live television performance of his new single, “Boyfriend.” Carson described Bieber’s smoke machine and laser show as “surprisingly cool.”
Listen to the rest of Carson’s thoughts about the season finale of The Voice below!
To see photos from the post-show red carpet, click here!
-Sarah Carroll, 97.1 AMP Radio, Los Angeles
