As Season 23 of The Voice neared its end, there was one last round of performances by the Top 5 contestants on Monday (May 22) with each performing two songs—one more upbeat and the other slow.
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To kick off her performances for the night, 18-year-old Sacramento, California native Gina Miles showed off her less intense vocals from previous takes on songs like Chris Isaak‘s “Wicked Game” and Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know,” with a more R&B-bent cover of Taylor Swift‘s 1989 hit “Style.”
“You are a superstar,” said Miles’ coach Niall Horan after her first performance. “You’re incredible. There’s nothing you can’t do. The fact that you wanted to do a pop song, we got to show another side of you.”
For her second, slower song, Gina took on the 1990 Sinead O’Connor version of the Prince-penned “Nothing Compares 2 U.” Behind Miles, screens played showing close-up footage of the singer’s face mouthing the lyrics, an homage to O’Connor’s own iconic John Maybury-directed video for the song.
Prince originally wrote and released “Nothing Compares 2 U” on the 1985 self-titled debut with his project The Family. When O’Connor released her cover of the song in 1990, it topped the charts worldwide.
Drawing back the original tempo of the song as it was originally recorded by O’Connor, Miles sang through each verse almost methodically, capturing the essence of the heartbreaking lyrics and leaving behind a truly atmospheric moment to close the finale.
“That was a special moment on ‘The Voice’ for me,” said Horan after Miles closed out the show. “I won’t be forgetting that one any time soon.”
Joining fellow Top 5 contestants NOIVAS and Grace West, (Team Blake), Sorelle (Team Chance), D. Smooth (Team Kelly), Miles is the only singer left in the competition from Team Niall.
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Photos: Trae Patton / NBC
