The Top 5 finalists of The Voice, season 22, were revealed on Dec. 6, representing three singers from coach Blake Shelton’s team and one each from Camila Cabello and John Legend’s team.
Videos by American Songwriter
In between live performances by coaches Blake Shelton and John Legend and special guest Carly Pearce, singers Parijita Bastola, Kim Cruz, and Justin Aaron were eliminated from the Top 8.
The Top 5 will compete one last time on Dec. 12, before the show finale on Dec. 13.
Here’s a look at the final five singers left fighting for the top spot on The Voice.
1. Bryce Leatherwood
Team Blake
It wasn’t surprising that Blake Shelton would turn around when Bryce Leatherwood auditioned with Conway Twitty‘s 1988 hit “Goodbye Time.” In fact, the Georgia native got Gwen Stefani and John Legend vying to get him on their team after his first performance. Leatherwood is all country and has already taken on Morgan Wallen’s “Sand in My Boots,” and Billy Currington’s “Let Me Down Easy.” He moved all the coaches with his heartfelt rendition of Justin Moore’s “If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away.”
“You just engaged the army of country music fans who watch this show,” said Shelton after his Moore performance. “I’m not just saying that. That is the kind of performance, and you’re the kind of guy they want to represent them in this genre.”
The 22-year-old is actually a Voice alum and was a contestant on season 6, first landing on Team Usher before getting stolen by Adam Levine. Eventually, Leatherwood was eliminated in the Playoffs.
“This whole ride has been the best experience of my life,” said Leatherwood in a pre-interview on The Voice. “Being one step away from the finale, I want to come out there with a fire in my chest and take these semi-finals by storm.”
2. Brayden Lape
Team Blake
Michigan-born Brayden Lape first earned his spot on The Voice by performing Niall Horan’s “This Town.” The 17-year-old’s smooth crooning recently brought Stefani to tears with his version of Brett Young’s 2017 hit, “Mercy,” during the final night of the Knockout Rounds. The following week, the 17-year-old also shared another emotional performance of Jordan Davis’ No. 1 hit, “Buy Dirt,” and entered the Top 10 with a rendition of Kane Brown’s 2021 hit, “Homesick.” To tighten his spot in the Top 5, Lape returned to Brett Young’s catalog, singing the 2017 hit “In Case You Didn’t Know.”
A high school sophomore in his hometown of Grass Lake, Michigan, Lape is scheduled to graduate in 2025 and is the quarterback of his school football team. The teen just started singing during the pandemic when he began teaching himself how to play guitar and sing by covering a few songs.
“I started performing in smaller gigs in the last two years,” said Lape. “I have written some originals on my own and also teamed up to write a couple more songs. I plan on recording and putting out music next year. Stay tuned.”
3. Morgan Myles
Team Camila
First featured in American Songwriter when she released her debut EP, Therapy, in 2020, Morgan Myles has remained a consistent presence on The Voice since her blind audition of Leonard Cohen’s 1984 classic, “Hallelujah.”
Throughout her time on the show, Morgan has performed a collection of songs, pushing her out of her country boundaries, including Beyoncé’s 2008 hit, “If I Were a Boy,” and the Jackie DeShannon classic “What the World Needs Now Is Love” to “Tennessee Whiskey” by Chris Stapleton and her most recent emotional rendition of Lady Gaga’s A Star is Born hit, “Remember Us This Way.”
The 35-year-old Pennsylvania native has been living in Nashville as an artist for the past 16 years and voraciously performs live—playing 117 dates in 2021, alone, before venturing onto The Voice stage.
4. Omar Jose Cardona
Team Legend
When 34-year-old Omar Jose Cardona performed Celine Dion’s mega-hit, “My Heart Will Go On,” for his top eight performance, coach Gwen Stefani joked that he was probably lip-syncing since his voice sounded so flawless. Throughout his time on The Voice, Cardona has only taken on “big” songs, from Journey’s 1983 hit, “Separate Ways,” which earned him a four-chair turn, to closing out a show with the 1984 Foreigner power ballad, “I Want to Know What Love Is.”
“I haven’t heard a voice like that since the ’80s,” said Stefani after Cardona’s Journey performance. “We never get to hear men sing like that anymore.”
Prior to The Voice, the Orlando, Florida native was performing for Disney, headlining on cruise ships, and singing background vocals for singer Jordan Fisher. Cardona was first encouraged to sing by his mother, a church choir director. At first, he was reluctant to perform until a girl he liked auditioned for the school play. He soon followed and immediately embraced theater.
“I just feel like you’re going from being an incredible singer to being somebody that connects with people’s hearts and with their emotions,” said coach John Legend after one of Cardona’s performances. “It feels spiritual when you’re singing. You talked about how much you wanted to uplift people and inspire people, and I feel that coming from you. It’s so powerful, so moving, so thrilling.”
5. Bodie
Team Blake
Southern California native Bodie was called a “visionary” by coach Blake Shelton after transforming The Proclaimers’ 1988 hit, “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles),” into a completely different song. A week later Shelton said Bodie gave possibly the “greatest performance” he’s ever seen on The Voice with his take on Jvke’s hip hop and R&B ballad, “Golden Hour,” effortlessly maneuvering from big soulful vocals to rapping, and back again.
Bodie released his debut EP, Love at First Fight, in 2018 and follow-up Me and You a year later, along with a number of singles in between, including “i think i like you,” “moonlight,” and “teenage love.” He released his most recent single, “GHOST,” in June 2022.
The 29-year-old singer has been married for seven years to photographer Royale Kuljian. The two share a son, Indie, and two daughters, Violet and Goldie.
Photo: Trae Patton/NBC
