The Voice Has One More Number to Close Out Successful Debut Season

The Voice finale brings an end to one of the year's big surprise hits. Since NBC hasn't had a hit in ages, and fans have looked for the next American Idol for years, The Voice has been elevated into the next big thing. This week is the last test for how huge it can be now that the winners from Teams Adam, Blake, Christina and Cee-Lo are ready to square off in the finals.

No one knows who the winner will be, but the final four made their last case Tuesday with some special help from their mentors. After Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton and Cee-Lo Green guided Javier Colon, Beverly McClellan, Dia Frampton and Vicci Martinez all season, the judges finally got to perform with them.

The duets between the judges and their team winners began a two-night spectacle to cap off The Voice's debut season. It further showed how different this competition show is from the others, since one would never see Simon Cowell or Ryan Seacrest sing with the Idol finalists.

With its star-studded musical panel, the "Team" formats, and its word-of-mouth buzz, The Voice has defied expectations to become a hit. But now that it has been labeled a hit, NBC is virtually guaranteed to run it into the ground,as the network has very few high-ratings shows to brag about.

It isn't the only summer talent show on NBC, as it also has America's Got Talent on Sunday nights. Yet this program has far more water cooler and blogosphere buzz, being of the few musical talent shows other than American Idol to succeed.

The show has good timing, since it started near the end of Idol's latest season and is ending with the spotlight all to itself. Given that Idol is showing its age, this is the ideal time to find a successor, or at least something that comes close. But after the finale, the show will have to prove that it is more than a one-hit wonder.

Things may be tougher next season, which starts early in 2012, instead of in late April. In fact, it will move to Monday night and go right up against Dancing With the Stars, also airing in the midst of Idol season as well. But it will get help from new musical drama lead-in Smash, which star Katharine McPhee promoted on Tuesday's episode.

However, while the fate of Season 2 is a ways off, The Voice still has to choose a Season 1 winner in the finale. The final four will find out their fate -- after their duets with Miranda Lambert, Stevie Nicks and more -- Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

Sources

TV Line- "The Voice: Who Deserves To Win? What Was The Best Finale Performance? Take Our Polls!"

The Hollywood Gossip- "The Voice Lines Up Star-Studded Finale"

TV Examiner- "Katharine McPhee promotes NBC's Smash on The Voice"