Tessanne Chin on The Voice - file photo
Tessanne Chin made Monday night's performance on NBC's The Voice perhaps her most telling, doing an amazing rendition of Whitney Houston's I have Nothing.
Seen earlier in rehearsal for the performance, Tessanne confided to coach Adam Levine that she felt nervous about doing a song by the late great diva, and concluded that she would best approach it as a "tribute to Whitney."
Whichever label is ultimately attached to the performance, it matched the original, note for note, and then some, leaving the audience and her coach in ecstacy.
Lost for words
Levine, lost for words, initially, confessed that indeed he did not have "thoughts" for that performance, "just emotions", and then poured forth a torrent of emotional words, declaring that she deserved to be declared "The Voice" of season five, never mind the fact that in Will Champlin he has another contestant in the final three.
Champlin also acquitted himself well on the night, closing out with Do it for You while Jacquie Lee also ended strongly with Not Going, originally done by Jennifer Holliday and later by Jennifer Hudson.
It was a night of varied performances by the final three, which saw them each doing two solo pieces, a third with their respective coaches and a fourth song in which all three came together for the Jackson Five song I'll be there.
The evening started with each of the three contestants repeating the song they had performed for the blind audition at the beginning of the season. It was Tessanne's outstanding rendition of Pink's Try that caused all four judges to turn their chairs and compete to become her coach.
Buoyed by the confidence she had gained over the course of the competition, Chin was apparently more relaxed in this repeat performance, playing to the audience that had given her so much love. What had not changed however was the expertise with which she delivered the song, giving a timely reminder of her strong start to the competition.
Tessanne and coach Adam chose as their duet, the Beatles classic Let it be, with Adam taking the lead and showing his expertise on the guitar as well. And in a welcome nod, once again, to Tessanne's Jamaican roots, there was a brief, seamless transition to the reggae beat, giving the audience just that little dimension of enjoyment from the song.
Home support
At home in Jamaica, anticipation had been building all week ahead of Monday night's last show on which the performances would attract votes, the name Tessanne Chin seemingly the topic of endless conversations, talks shows, newspaper articles, blogs etc. Viewing parties were also being organized all over the island and contacts made with fellow Jamaicans in the United States to encourage them to "get out the vote" for Tessanne.
Television Jamaica, the dominant free-to-air broadcaster, reading the national mood, aired this final performance show live (instead of the delayed broadcast format which had been used previously, with the sister cable station, RETV, providing live coverage) thereby allowing real-time euphoria across the island.
Social media outlets were abuzz with excited chatter, following each performance, with loyal fans of the Jamaican singing sensation praising her every note.
Ultimately, however, the final standings to be announced on Tuesday night's results show will be determined by the number of votes each contestant is able to secure.
Early indications from iTune sales on Monday night, were that Tessanne Chin was doing very well, particularly with I have Nothing, which had reached number 1 on iTunes just after nidnight. But there were still hours to go before her loyal fans could relax, secure in the knowledge that they had done their best by their Jamaican star.
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