After three months, some nervy moments, and a celebrity-stacked finale, The Voice named Aiden Ross as season 28 champion.
Ross was crowned late Tuesday night, Dec. 16, following a festive rendition of Wham’s “Last Christmas” with season 23 winner Gina Miles.
Earlier on Monday night, Ross featured among the Top 6 finalists, each of whom was tasked with performing two songs — one contemporary and one classic. Ross went with ABBA’s classic “The Winner Takes It All,” and opened his finals run with JVKE’s “Golden Hour.”
Each coach entered the finale with one artist selected from the Playoffs: Ralph Edwards for Snoop Dogg, Aubrey Nicole for Reba McEntire, Ross for Niall Horan, and Jazz McKenzie for Michael Bublé. Two additional finalists — Max Chambers from Team Bublé and DEK of Hearts from Team Niall — earned their spots through viewer votes.
When America’s final votes were counted, Horan once again got the rub of the green. The former One Direction star can now boast three consecutive wins as a coach, becoming the first coach in the history of the show to win their first three seasons. The Irishman is just the second coach (after Blake Shelton) to win three in a row.
Ross enjoyed a standout run on The Voice, from the start to finish. For his Blind Audition, a performance of Adele’s “Love in the Dark,” he scored a four-chair turn.
And with his Knockout round performance of Billie Eilish’s “When the Party’s Over,” he knocked it out the park. Mid-performance, Bublé threw his pen at Horan. “Usually I write notes, but I lost my pen, so I didn’t,” he said at the time. “Your performance was so good, I threw my pen at Niall. I threw it in anger and a little bit of jealousy.”
Celebrity performers for the final included XG, Zac Brown and Noah Cyrus, Khalid, and others.
As winner of The Voice, Ross receives a prize package that includes $100,000 cash and a recording contract with Universal Music Group.
