‘The Voice': Bryce Leatherwood Wins Season 22
The Voice has named the winner of Season 22. Bryce Leatherwood of Woodstock, Ga., has been crowned the Season 22 champion. His fate was revealed during the last seconds of the special two-hour finale, which aired live from Universal Studios Hollywood, in Los Angeles, Calif., on Tuesday night (Dec. 13).
Leatherwood, 22, who competed on Team Blake, emerged victorious over his fellow contestants: Team Blake's Bodie and Brayden Lape, Team Camila's Morgan Myles and Team Legends Omar Jose Cardona. His win marks Blake Shelton's ninth overall win, continuing his streak as the coach with the most wins in the history of The Voice. Leatherwood's victory also follows Season 21 winners Girl Named Tom, who competed on Team Clarkson in 2021.
For the highly anticipated announcement, longtime host Carson Daly invited all Top 5 finalists to the stage before he read off the nail-biting results. Daly also heard from each contestant as they prepared to find where they placed in the show.
Turning to Leatherwood, Daly asked, "What lesson will you take away from being coached by Blake?"
“The biggest lesson I'll take away is, be myself, be yourself and be who you are. Number two, have fun, man. We’re all here and this is the greatest experience I've had in my life," Leatherwood replied.
Leading up to the grand finale, Leatherwood earned the majority of America’s votes, thanks to his two standout performances he debuted the night prior as part of the pre-finale show.
Tasked with singing a song as a thank you to the places and people he loved the most, and also singing an up-tempo selection, he first took the stage with a rendition of Keith Whitley’s “Don’t Close Your Eyes.” He later took the stage to sing Travis Tritt’s “T-R-O-U-B-L-E” — a song that showcased a different side to the country artist.
“Gosh! My real thoughts were, 'If you don’t win The Voice, you just won a career,' because that was so beautiful and perfect. I loved every second of it,” Gwen Stefani told Leatherwood during the pre-finale show.
“I’ve never seen you perform like that. I love hearing you on an up-tempo song like that. I love to hear your voice do those rhythmic, fast parts. You’re just a star up there,” Camila Cabello told Leatherwood of his “T-R-O-U-B-L-E” debut. “It was so fun to watch!”
Leatherwood's journey on The Voice started on a high note. He earned a three-chair turn with his blind audition performance Conway Twitty’s “Goodbye Time.” Cabello was the only one who didn't turn for him, as she admitted he would be better suited on Team Blake. Throughout the reality TV competition series, Leatherwood stuck with singing songs in his wheelhouse, including George Strait’s “Amarillo by Morning” and Justin Moore’s “If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away.”
Tuesday night’s telecast was a star-studded affair, featuring performances by special guests: Kelly Clarkson, Kane Brown, Maluma, OneRepublic, Adam Lambert, Breland and Girl Named Tom. Additionally, all four coaches — including Shelton, Stefani, Cabello and John Legend — also took the stage to perform with their teams.
The Season 22 The Voice finale aired live on Tuesday (Dec. 13), from 9-11 PM ET on NBC. and will be available for streaming on Wednesday (Dec. 14), on Peacock.