To most viewers, newly crowned The Voice champion Aiden Ross might have seemed like an obvious frontrunner throughout Season 28. After all, his four-chair Blind Audition was the first to air on the premiere; his social media and YouTube stats were always among the contestants’ highest; and of course, he performed in the finals’ coveted “pimp spot,” spectacularly closing the show with “The Winner Takes It All.”

That song, of course, seemed prophetically titled. But Ross tells Lyndsanity that he chose the deceptively bittersweet ABBA ballad because “it’s not a song about winning at all. It’s a song about the loser’s perspective — about losing everything.”

Ross elaborates: “I did ‘Mamma Mia in high school my junior year… the song always spoke to me, the lyrics. That meant a lot to me, because being a senior in high school, knowing what I wanted to do, but being too scared to do it — the whole music thing — I threw in the towel. And I went to go be an engineer at A&M [University], which ended up being a great decision because I made incredible friends, learned a lot about myself. … But I never want to forget that feeling like I had lost everything.

“I had just been ready to let go of music and just go be an engineer and just go live that life — which I don’t think would be a bad life, but I don’t want to forget that feeling, because that reminds me of why I’m here and why I’m now pursuing what I love,” he continues. “And so, I wanted to share that with people and I wanted people to be able to relate to it, because everybody’s been a loser at some point. You can’t be a winner without losing at some point.”

The 20-year-old pop stylist and college sophomore, who grew up on a strawberry farm in College Station, Texas, had performed in theater and a cappella groups through high school, but he never realistically thought he could do music for a living — which is why he had given up that dream at a surprisingly young age to pursue an engineering degree instead.

“I’m not from Nashville or L.A., so I don’t have any neighbors that are just super-successful in music, that are artists, or that are even in the music industry. So, there was no light at the end of this tunnel,” he explains. But then, when Ross submitted a Voice audition video during his freshman year at A&M and made it through, “a candle was lit. And that candle turned into a flame, come the Blind Auditions. And it began to burn brighter and brighter, until I won the show. And win or lose, I’ve proven to myself that music isn’t just something I love, but it’s the thing I’m meant to do. And so, that’s really just been my calling, and the decision that I’m at right now.”

Ross actually first auditioned for The Voice during his senior year of high school (he received a callback, but didn’t make it onto the air), but he never considered giving any other TV talent shows a shot (unlike this season’s runner-up, Ralph Edwards, who’d not only tried out for The Voice a whopping 11 times, but had also auditioned for American Idol, America’s Got Talent, The X Factor USA, and even The Four).

“The Voice was the only one I ever auditioned for. I would definitely watch the others, but my family and I, we grew up watching The Voice,” says Ross, who’s been a fan of the show since Season 1, when he was just 6 years old. “American Idol was cool, but it was a little bit messier — which is kind of entertaining sometimes! But I appreciate how The Voice, they only want to get the best of people, which I really respect about them. They don’t want the drama. They want to be of service to you and of your brand, and I really respect that about them and their community. And so, it was a no-brainer for me.”

Ross saved the drama for the stage, starting with his stunning four-chair audition of Adele’s “Love in the Dark.” And he felt an immediate “big brother/little brother connection” and sense of Voice community and mutual respect with the coach he picked, Niall Horan, that was “really, really special” — particularly because Horan had competed on a similar talent show, The X Factor U.K., at a young age.

“I think one thing [Horan] really helped me with was with these songs and these competitions where they’re set up, I have two minutes to essentially pour my heart on the floor and do all these things, and so I’m quick to do all these big runs and all these high notes and stuff like that. But I would be quick to sometimes lose sight of the story, and he would keep me grounded. He would be like, ‘Look, man, the heartbeat of the song is what makes the song,’” Ross reflects. “It’s not ‘don’t do the runs’ and ‘don’t do the big notes,’ but do them within the context of the song and when it feels right to you — do them because it fits this song, not because you need to show off, essentially.

“And that was the best advice he gave, as well as just enjoying the moment, being happy to be here and loving what I’m doing. Your best performance is going to be the one where you’re having the most fun and you love what you’re doing. I think that’s advice that he learned from being on his show —  that he wishes he would’ve slowed down then and just loved the moment and loved the time, rather than taking it so seriously.”

Horan saw a bit of himself in Ross, and he believed in Ross so much that he designated him as his one Team Niall pick during the Playoffs, thus fast-tracking Ross straight to the finale. But this was a double-edged sword, in a way. Because this Voice season was truncated, with four of the top six finalists being handpicked by their respective coaches, Ross advanced all the way to the finals without ever once having to perform for America’s votes. So, he had no idea what sort of fanbase he had when he finally did have to compete this week — and he truly didn’t see himself as a frontrunner.

“That was a little bit scary, because I wasn’t voted for anything else, because I didn’t have the chance to be. It was a little bit of unproven, this. I hadn’t been voted for something yet, so I didn’t really know. I hadn’t seen the votes in real time, and so that was a little bit of uncharted territory,” Ross admits. “And so, in some ways I was less focused on whether or not I thought I would win, and more so focused on ‘I want to leave everything I have out there on that stage. Win or lose, I’m happy to be here.’”

Ross says he still wants to take online classes at A&M University “just because I think it’ll be good for my brain,” and he actually believes that his engineering studies gave him an advantage on The Voice with “arranging these songs and navigating and being able to figure out, even from an emotional standpoint — how I connect to this song and where I should do my runs and my big notes and where it makes sense I think engineering has really helped with that.” But he confidently vows that he’s now “ready to give everything to music.” And in retrospect, he realizes that even if he hadn’t made it onto The Voice, let alone won, he would have eventually pursued this Plan A dream.

“I’d like to think that there would’ve been another candle that was lit in some other resource, in some other space,” muses Ross, who recently released the song “Everything and More” and teases that “some really, really special content” will be coming out in a few days, with a new single slated for next month. “If I hadn’t gone on the show, I would love to teleport to that universe and tell myself, ‘Dude, you don’t need The Voice.’ The Voice has been an incredible opportunity, it’s been such a platform, but the success doesn’t just come from the show. It comes from me and do I believe in myself? Do I want to do this?

“And yes. I absolutely want to do this.”

Six years ago, Adam David had just played Austin’s South by Southwest festival for the first time, an opportunity that should have been an exciting career breakthrough for the rising roots-rock singer-songwriter. But because he was in the depths of his addiction back in 2019, things went awry. However, this rock-bottom moment was a breakthrough of another kind — one that led to David penning his new original single, “Savior,” and then, after starting out as a one-chair, Instant-Save underdog, becoming the surprise champion of The Voice Season 27.

“I felt really good about myself [after playing SXSW], but I was using heavily and I didn’t sleep for days — which was normal for me at the time,” recalls David, now age 35, who’s “definitely still a bit in shock” as he processes his hard-won Voice victory. “And on the way home, I was just coming down and feeling really, really awful. And I was crying on the plane watching Elf, just to give you an image — it’s my favorite movie, still my go-to for a plane ride. And I got home and I had no money. My car had been broken down before I left, so I essentially was stranded at the airport. And I realized I don’t want to come home to do the exact same thing, like, ‘I am so tired.’ And I didn’t know how I was going to get out of that. I felt very much trapped. And I called my mom. My mom’s always been there. She’s the one I called. She knew I was struggling. And I was like, ‘I think I’m done. I need to figure this out.’ And that began the process of reaching out to MusiCares and starting the application process. And in a couple weeks, I was in treatment.”

Before that epiphany, David “had made a lot of 5 a.m. phone calls to treatment centers: ‘Hey, so how much do you guys cost?’ ‘Oh. Cool. Yeah, I’ll look into it…’” When he finally got in touch with MusiCares and was waiting for his application to be approved, those were “probably the most dangerous two weeks [of my life]. I was in full-on senioritis, very one-track-mind, like, ‘OK, whatever I gotta do to make it through.’  Two weeks can kill someone, you know what I mean?” But it was while David was in that scary holding pattern that “Savior,” a song he didn’t actually release until he was in the middle of his Voice season in spring 2025, was fatefully created.

“‘Savior’ was a song that I wrote the night that I sent off the initial [MusiCares] application. I wrote half of it that night,” David reveals. “It was like 5 in the morning. I sent [the application] off, and the first half of that song just fell out of me. I just wrote it down. It was talking to me. And then I went to treatment, and I was trying to finish it, but it wasn’t coming. And the day that I got out of treatment, my mom was picking me up to get out of treatment, and I was in the treatment center and I finished the second verse. I finished the song. And that’s ‘Savior.’ That’s a very important song to me.”

David admits, “I’m very much very protective of myself,” and he is aware that reality shows like The Voice can sometimes exploit a contestant’s sob story for TV gold. But it never dawned on him to not be open about his history of addiction and recovery. “It’s a part of who I am. It’s part of my story and it’s been such a major part of my life,” he explains. “I really wasn’t trying to play a character. I was just trying to be myself.” And while David never wanted to exploit his story for ratings or votes, he does admit that it probably endeared him to Voice viewers and, along with his peaking-at-the-right-time Season 27 performances, “maybe played a factor” in helping him win.

“People are suffering; they want to see someone who has suffered do well,” he muses. “I believe very strongly that when you are vulnerable, you’re open and honest, you are yourself, you’re authentic, that the universe responds in kind. I think that we’re living in a really weird time, and I think that all of these things, like addiction, it’s a family disease. Everybody is touched by it in some way, and every time I’m open about it, someone says, ‘Hey, I’m actually in recovery,’ or, ‘My father struggled [with addiction] and passed away.’ It’s affected everybody. … I think underdogs are more common than anything else.”

Now David is finishing up some new tunes (“I’m working with a couple of different writers and we’re getting a camp together,” he says), and as a “performer” first, who “grew up playing” and was well-prepared for The Voice due to his years of touring and working the bar-band circuit, he’s “going to hit the road as soon as possible, just start playing everywhere. That’s my goal.” But David will never forget where he came from, so he’ll continue to work closely with the Recovery Unplugged charity, and he hopes to work with MusiCares as well. And he hopes that his redemption story will resonate with the public, long after The Voice Season 27 finale confetti is swept away.

“When I did get clean, my purpose changed,” he says. “It’s not grandiose or anything. I just think I’ve had so many experiences where when I leaned into the scary, when I leaned into the vulnerability of saying, ‘Hey, I don’t really know what I’m doing.’ … I lean into the vulnerability, and every time I do, I have amazing things happen. And this [Voice win] is just one more reinforcing experience. So, I want to encourage everybody to lean into their vulnerability, because most of the time you’re just saying what the next person wants to say about whatever they’re dealing with. But by you saying it, you give [other people] the courage to say it too.”

photo: Griffin Nagel/NBC

When Sofronio Vasquez won The Voice Season 26 this week, his reaction was one of the most genuinely touching displays in the series’ 13-year history — a stunning must-see-TV moment, as he fell to his knees and began sobbing as soon as host Carson Daly announced his name. It was the culmination of a harrowing and emotional journey for the 32-year-old Philippines immigrant, some of the details of which still remain private.

Two weeks ago, when Season 26 went live with the top eight, Vasquez’s supportive coach, Michael Bublé, implied that Vasquez was grappling with some sort of serious personal struggle, praising Vasquez’s show-must-go-on attitude and stating: “Nobody in the whole universe besides you and your family know what you’re going through.” Bublé insisted that viewers would be astounded if they “understood the strength” that Vasquez had tapped into to overcome “all of this adversity” and still “take the brass ring.” Vasquez did indeed seize that that ring — and the Season 26 trophy and $100,000 prize — on Tuesday’s finale, and the following afternoon, he opened up, slightly, about what was going on behind the scenes this season.

“Michael Bublé is very careful of telling everyone what’s my story. But I guess I want to say that story is not friendly as everyone could ever hear,” Vasquez stated cautiously. “I had the saddest and the weirdest story, but it’s very tragic. Very tragic. The only thing that I could say it’s political. But I am here, and now that I am able to win The Voice, people up above — I could say ‘people,’ because they are many and now they’re just angels — I know that they’re very, very happy with the situation, knowing the fact that I am able to bring a little justice for the family.”

Vasquez’s emotional reaction Tuesday seemed to be one of genuine shock, but almost nobody else was surprised by his win. Perhaps not since Season 9’s Jordan Smith had there been such a clear Voice frontrunner as this Team Bublé belter: From the moment his audition was uploaded to The Voice’s YouTube channel as a teaser for Season 26, he seemed like the man to beat. Vasquez admits that as the season progressed with the live shows, even his fellow contestants told him, “‘I feel like you’re winning the show. … Everyone has just been rooting for you.’” But he tried to ignore that chatter and “self-shield in my bubble,” in order to protect himself from more potential disappointment.

“I mean, I was hopeful and I was praying since Blind Auditions that I would make it to the final five, but I never really thought in my mind that it’s going to be possible,” a still-processing Vasquez marveled the afternoon after his victory. “So, yeah, me dropping on the floor was a relief and a happy moment — and a flashback moment, for all the rejections that I’ve got, that finally I made it. And it’s going to be me forever that I won The Voice.”

In the past, Vasquez was, as difficult as this may be to believe, a no-chair-turn on the Philippines’ version of The Voice, and he was rejected no fewer than seven times by another hugely popular talent show in his homeland, Tawag ng Tanghalan. “I really tried auditioning [for Tawag ng Tanghalan] every two months, just to get in,” Vasquez chuckled. “I could clearly see, every time I auditioned, people in the staff would be like, ‘Oh my gosh, you again!’”

Vasquez got in on his eighth try, in 2017. He “took it very, very gracefully” and was “very grateful” that the Tawag ng Tanghalan producers, with whom he was now on a first-name basis, gave him a shot, but he was eliminated during that show’s semifinals. In 2023, after the death of his father, he decided to give music another serious go and moved to the States, and now, to “finally hear it from Carson Daly that I won The Voice, wow — it’s emotional for me. And it’s a gift from God. It’s really Him. It is power.

“It’s really me saying that even if you’re rejected 10 times, your life’s going to be moving forward,” continued Vasquez, a fan of The Voice since Season 1. (He can still recall watching winner Javier Colon champ singing “‘Time After Time,’ sitting on a chair with his white cap.”) “It’s not the end of your journey, if you’re really manifested. … It’s really true that I would hear Carson Daly’s voice saying, ‘The winner of The Voice Season 26 is… Sofronio! And now, thinking about it, that manifestation is really powerful. Once you believe it in your heart, your heart really sends it to the universe, to God.”

It remains to be seen what’s next for Vasquez, but right now, he’s just savoring this hard-earned victory. “I’m just so blessed to be working with Michael Bublé, and I just want to end this conversation by saying to all who voted for me, who prayed and who supported me, thank you so much,” he said. “And America is just an awesome and great country to live in.”

Lainey Wilson might have been the real winner of Tuesday’s The Voice Season 25 finale, when coach Reba McEntire surprised an emotional Wilson on live television with country music’s highest honor.

“Lainey, I am so proud of you. I am thrilled to death if I had anything to do with your career, because you are blowing it up,” McEntire told Wilson. “I was so proud of you at the ACMs the other night, and I couldn’t be more proud to be the one that helps you to bridge the gap between our generations. So, I’d like to be the person who invites you to be an official member of the Grand Ole Opry.”

Mentioning that her family was in the Voice audience, Wilson then said, “They took me to Nashville when I was 9 years old, and we went to the Grand Ole Opry. … I knew that I wanted to play there. I wanted to do it.”

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Not too shabby for a woman who landed in Nashville more than a decade ago; was rejected by The Voice‘s rival show, American Idol, an embarrassing seven times; and who got her start impersonating another onetime Voice coach, Miley Cyrus.

“So, from eighth grade to 12th grade, I did birthday parties, fairs, festivals, St. Jude, you name it, and I impersonated Hannah Montana,” Wilson told Lyndsanity on The Voice‘s red carpet, laughing at the memory of giving early audiences her own version of the best of both worlds. “I would open the show — ‘Lainey’ would get up there with her guitar and do a few songs — and then I’d run backstage and put my wig on. And I had this little portable sound system and I’d put on a show.”

Wilson then joked, “There was a time after I hung the wig up and I quit being Hannah Montana, I thought about picking it back up, because I was like, ‘Man, I was killing it in high school!’ And then I got to Nashville and tried to be myself and for years — for 13 years — and I was broke.”

As Cyrus herself might say, it’s the climb. For many casual fans, Wilson might seem like an overnight success story, but her seven failed American Idol auditions were among the many rejections she faced before she broke through with 2022′s Bell Bottom Country, which won Best Country Album at the Grammys and Album of the Year at both the CMA and ACM Awards, and earned her the title of CMAs Entertainer of the Year. Like many of this season’s Voice contestants, including top five country singers Karen Waldrup and Team Reba’s Josh Sanders, Wilson has been grinding for a long time.

“I really do think that timing is everything,” Wilson, 32, mused. “In August of this year, I have been in Nashville for 13 years. In a weird way, I feel like I got there yesterday, and then I feel like I’ve kind of been there my whole life. I knew that a part of my story was just going to be time. I knew that I needed to live a little bit more life to tell the kind of stories that I needed to tell. And so, that was a pill that I swallowed a long time ago. And so, at the end of the day, country music is my life, and I was like, ‘However it looks, I’m just going to keep on going and we’ll see what happens.’”

On Tuesday’s Voice finale, Wilson performed her brand-new single “Hang Tight Honey,” but since The Voice is known for cover songs, Music Times had to ask her about her other latest musical offering: a duet with Wynonna Judd on “Refugee,” from the forthcoming tribute album Petty Country: A Country Music Celebration of Tom Petty.

“Just first of all, to be able to honor [Petty], because he’s had such a big influence on country music… I mean, a lot of the people that I write with, one of their big, main influences is Tom Petty. The way that they write, they’re like, ‘Man, what if it has this Petty feel?’ And then when I found out that I was going to get to do ‘Refugee’? First of all, it’s one of my favorite songs, one of my band’s favorite songs that we jam to. And when I found out I was going to get to do it with Wynonna? I mean, she’s one of my biggest inspirations. I remember being a little girl, trying to get that growl in my voice that only Wynonna can do. Yeah, it just made complete sense. So, I was very honored to do it.”

Petty Country drops May 31; Wilson’s much-anticipated fifth studio album, Whirlwind, comes out Aug. 23.

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Team Reba’s Asher HaVon made history Tuesday on The Voice Season 25 finale, when he became the first openly queer singer to win the show. While a couple of past champs have come out after competing on The Voice (notably Season 8′s Sawyer Fredericks, who in 2022 announced that he’s bisexual), and the GLAAD Award-winning series has featured dozens of LGBTQ+ contestants ever since Season 1′s Nakia, Beverly McClellan, and Vicci Martinez, it was Asher who blazed a new Voice trail this season… all the way to the winner’s circle.

Shortly before Carson Daly announced the finale’s results, a grateful Asher — who during this season’s Battle Rounds had first discussed his struggle to come to terms with his sexuality — told Reba that she had given him a “safe space” to be himself. After the finale, when the pair did their victory lap on the red carpet, they opened up about their bond and the significance of this moment.

“It meant everything, growing up in a culture where people just don’t make you feel safe,” Asher, who had a very religious upbringing in Selma, Ala., said as he reflected on his Voice experience and his coach’s unwavering support. “The moment I felt safe, I wanted to stay there. And I just pray that other LGBTQIA people can find their Reba McEntire, so they can feel safe and they can come out and be whoever they want to be.”

Asher confessed that before he met Reba, he was “broken” and “healing on TV,” and he questioned whether he “belonged” on the show at all. “I tried to leave a couple times! When I got here, I thought I wasn’t supposed to be here. I cried to so many producers. … I practiced for my Blind [Audition] and I was like, ‘I can’t set fire to the rain! I’m just so hurt and broken!’ But when she turned, I was like, ‘OK, let’s see. Let’s just see.’”

Gospel belter Asher, 31, only recently came out as a member of the LBGTQ+ community, hadn’t sung for two and a half years before appearing on The Voice, and didn’t even watch television or listen to secular music until he was “27 or 28.” (He sheepishly admitted that the first secular song he ever heard, “Bump & Grind” by the now-problematic R. Kelly, had him “fangirling out” at the time.) So, it’s understandable that when he found himself competing against seasoned pros like Team Reba’s Josh Sanders, Team Legend’s Bryan Olesen and Nathan Chester, and Team Dan + Shay’s Karen Waldrup (who respectively placed second, third, fourth, and fifth Tuesday), he felt insecure — even though John Legend, Reba’s rival, had repeatedly declared Asher the best vocalist of Season 25.

“But when I met [Reba] and I found my safe place, I felt unstoppable,” Asher smilingly told Music Times. “And so, if it wasn’t for this lady standing beside me, I don’t know…”

The enthusiastically voting LGBTQ+ fanbases of both Reba (whose “Fancy” has inspired countless drag-queen lip syncs) and Asher helped surely helped make this landmark victory possible — something that ally Reba said “means everything. I have had [LGBTQ+] fans all my career. … I love them. I respect them. God created every snowflake different. Why wouldn’t he create us different? And if we are different, it’s a challenge: What we’re supposed to do is love each other, love our God with all our hearts, and love each other as we love Him. Even though we look different, and have different beliefs, we agree to disagree and go on. Go play a game. Go have a cheeseburger together. Let’s just get along and be nice. It’s not that hard.”

“I want to give a shout-out to the LGBTQIA+ community,” Asher added, wearing his natural short hair but otherwise lavishly decked out in brocade and lace, piles of jewels and gold, and an opera cape, looking like a newly crowned member of Voice royalty. “Another part of why I wear wigs and makeup on this show is because I just represent my culture. I’m a part of this beautiful [queer] culture, and I want them to know that you can be authentically yourself and gifted and stand on a stage like this and sing your heart out. You don’t have to change. And so, thank you to NBC and The Voice for allowing me to have a platform where I can wear wigs and makeup. … I love my people, honey.”

And so, Asher seems well on his way to being healed, on and off TV. “Anything is possible if you just believe,” he declared. “I’m telling you, doubt is the poisoning to faith. All it took was me to believe. And sometimes I didn’t have the verbiage for myself, so I had to lean on somebody else’s [Reba's] verbiage for me. And thank God this woman loves God so much. Until I was able to stand on her foundation, I didn’t feel like I had my own.

“I feel like I know exactly who I am,” Asher summed up, looking to his bright future. “I know my sound. I know my voice. I trust my gift, and I’m ready for the next chapter in my life. I’m ready.”

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Exciting news, everyone! Kieran, dim the lights…

American Idol returns February 18, with The Voice returning February 26 and The Masked Singer on March 6. Y’all know I can’t quit these shows, after recapping them since Iam Tongi was practically still in diapers, so I am launching my new subscription-based Reality Rocks Substack for all you fellow diehards out there!

For a low-cost subscription (with a one-week free trial to start), you will get access to my recaps of all three series. I am considering also writing about So You Think You Can Dance (which returns March 4) and maybe some RuPaul’s Drag Race too. You can subscribe in the handy widget at the top of this post.

Subscriptions are just $8/month. There is also an $80/year option, but to be fully transparent, the monthly option is probably better for most since I will be taking blogging breaks when those three main shows are not on the air. I have a little free intro post up now that goes into my history of ‘Idol’-atry, but paid posts will start on American Idol premiere night, the 18^th!

American Idol Season 19 has come to an end, and my co-host, The Voice Season 9 finalist Jeffery Austin, and I are celebrating this great season with our own “The Day After” very grand finale… by welcoming the champion of one of the best Idol seasons ever, the one and only David Cook, to the show to share his thoughts!

We get into everything – Chayce Beckham’s win, Casey Bishop’s surprise defeat, Arthur Gunn’s sudden Comeback return (and even more sudden exit), how live voting has changed the game, the art of a proper cover song, etc. And of course, we get into lots of awesome Season 7 stuff — including memories of Mariah Carey, Dolly Parton, “Hello,” “Billie Jean,” “Hungry Like the Wolf,” David vs. David, working with Rickey Minor, and much, much more — and David’s upcoming tour with the winner of the other best Idol season ever, Kris Allen. David and Jeffery also compare notes about their respective reality-TV runs.

And then, since David is admirably “brand-loyal” to Idol, in the second half of this podcast Jeffery and I excuse him, so we can chat on our own about this week’s epic Voice Season 20 finale. Plus, of course, The Masked Singer and RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars 6 are briefly discussed, and we explore a magical, alternate, Sliding Doors-style universe in which Jeffery could/should have won The Voice.

Many, many thanks to David Cook for his wisdom, humor, and candor, and thanks again to our American Idol Season 6 pals Blake Lewis and Brandon Rogers for our funky “The Day After” theme song. Jeffery and I will be back in the fall to dish about The Voice Season 21 with new coach Ariana Grande; in the meantime, check out my American Idol, The Voice, Masked Singer, America’s Got Talent, and RuPaul’s Drag Race articles on Yahoo Entertainment here.

The Voice Season 20 and American Idol Season 19 are soon coming to an end; in less than a week’s time, either Cam Anthony, Kenzie Wheeler, Rachel Mac, Jordan Matthew Young, or Victor Solomon will be new Voice champ ,and Grace Kinstler, Chayce Beckham, or Willie Spencer will be the next American Idol. Sadly, my favorites Corey Ward and Casey Bishop are respectively out of the running on those two shows, but I am looking forward to both finales nonetheless.

My “The Day After” cohost Jeffery Austin is looking forward to one of those finales. If you’re one of our regular podcast listeners, then you can probably already guess which one.

But before the seasons wrap up, there’s a lot to unpack about the Voice top nine and Idol top four shows, and Jeffery and I are here to break it all down. See you next week for our own  “The Day After” spring 2021 season finale (which will also include a bit of Masked Singer discussion), and in the meantime, check out my American Idol, The Voice, Masked Singer, and RuPaul’s Drag Race articles on Yahoo Entertainment here.

And thanks, as always, to our American Idol Season 6 pals Brandon Rogers and Blake Lewis for our funky “The Day After” theme song.

Man…  my “The Day After” cohost Jeffery Austin and I go away for two weeks, and all hell breaks loose.

The Voice actually gets good in its last two weeks of Season 20, Blake Shelton throws shade at the show, and we find out that next year The Voice will air only once a year (best news EVER!).

And then over in the American Idol world, Arthur Gunn controversially comes back, Arthur Gunn controversially ruins Chris Martin’s song, Arthur Gunn leaves again, Caleb Kennedy leaves under controversial circumstances, Chris Martin does a great job mentoring, Grace Kinstler has her best week yet, Casey Bishop has her worst week yet, and we find out that old contestants will eligible try to try for future Idol seasons.

And on top of all that, Hanson were revealed on The Masked Singer… but we knew it was them when the first note came out of the Russian Dolls’ creepy-but-cute animatronic mouths.

Phew! It was a lot. And Jeffery and I are here to discuss it all. Sorry for the delay, but I assure you, we make up for lost time. And despite our flakiness, we will be back next week to discuss all these of these shows one more time before their finales. In the meantime, you can check out my American Idol, The Voice, Masked Singer, and RuPaul’s Drag Race articles on Yahoo Entertainment here, and thanks as always to our American Idol pals Brandon Rogers and Blake Lewis for our funky “The Day After” theme song.

Once again, there’s a ton to discuss this week. We had the RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 13 finale and disappointing “reunion” show, an even more disappointing (and unnecessary) “Comeback” show featuring a bunch of randos from American Idol Season 18 competing for a spot on Season 19, unnecessary post-performance meltdown from Idol contestant Hunter Metts, and even a Bobby Brown reveal on The Masked Singer.

So this week, my “The Day After” cohost Jeffery Austin and I discuss all of that, along with our usual sidebars about the greatest all-time Drag Race lewks; that time Jeffery forgot the words to a Taylor Swift song in front of Taylor Swift’s mom; that time Jeffery swallowed his pride and Fort Worth Pride; the hotness of Chayce Beckham and Hunter Metts; the uselessness of Bobby Bones; the mystery of Katy Perry’s supposed lazy eye; Jordan Matthew Young’s glorious head of hair; and Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga‘s Best Original Song chances at the 2021 Oscars,

Oh yeaaah… and we also get into the Knockout Rounds of The Voice Season 20, focusing as much as we can on the positive: Mega-Mentor Snoop Dogg’s fantastic coaching and Pia Renee’s fantastic rendition of “What the World Needs Now.”

American Idol is dark till May 2, Drag Race Down Under doesn’t start till May 1, and I can’t seem to get Jeffery to regularly watch The Masked Singer, so we will return when the Forth is with us again on May 4. Until then, you can check out my American Idol, The Voice, Masked Singer, and Drag Race articles on Yahoo Entertainment here, and  thanks as always to our American Idol pals Brandon Rogers and Blake Lewis for our funky “The Day After” theme song.