Liv Ciara stood on the season 29 finale stage of The Voice and sang Billie Eilish’s “The Greatest,” a performance that capped a run that began with rejection. The 16-year-old singer had once auditioned before and failed to earn a single chair turn. Her second try put her on Team Kelly and carried her into the finale.
That backstory gave the song its force. Before Ciara sang, Kelly Clarkson and Carson Daly discussed how far she had come, and Clarkson said, “The fact that she goes to such an emotional place at 16” and “She’s here to win.” Ciara said the first rejection stuck with her, but so did the urge to keep going: “When I didn’t get my chair turn, I kind of felt a voice inside of me that was saying, ‘Keep working,’” she said. “It obviously paid off.”
Ciara called “The Greatest” “the saddest song to ever exist,” and she said she wanted to show that youth did not keep her from going deep. “I want to show them that I’m young, but I can kind of dig down deep,” she said. Clarkson said the rehearsal hit hard enough that she was overwhelmed: “I balled uncontrollably in the rehearsals,” she said, adding, “I actually wasn’t breathing right.”
John Legend responded just as strongly after the performance, telling Ciara, “You took us through the emotions of the song so beautifully” and “It was so raw and honest.” Clarkson added, “You have such a vision for yourself,” then said, “I’m looking forward to seeing what you do after this show.” She finished with a simple verdict: “You’re really great.”
The finale was built around four acts: Ciara faced teammate Mikenley Brown, Team Adam’s Alexia Jayy and Team Legend’s Lucas West. Each finalist performed two songs and a duet with a coach. The winner was to be chosen by a live studio audience made up of Voice alums and superfans, with Carson Daly set to announce the result after votes were tabulated.
For Ciara, the night marked the payoff of a second audition that changed everything. She did not make it past the first try. She did on the second. That is the story of her run, and it is why her finale performance mattered before the votes were even counted.
