Season 28 of The Voice comes to a dramatic conclusion on Tuesday, December 15. The two-part season finale kicked off on Monday with performances by the top six contestants. A winner hasn’t officially been named, but fans of the singing competition are already livid over the “fake” finale. Keep reading to find out what’s going on.

Niall Horan Backs Out Of Performing With Finalist

One member from each coach’s team advanced to the season finale. The Voice finalists include Aubrey Nicole (Team Reba), Alden Ross (Team Niall), Jazz McKenzie (Team Bublé), and Ralph Edwards (Team Snoop Dogg)
‘The Voice’ Niall Horan/Credit: YouTube
The audience at home voted in two others for the top prize, Mic Drop winners DEK of Hearts (Team Niall) and teenager Max Chambers. The season finale typically includes a performance from each coach and their finalist. However, Niall Horan will be sitting on the sidelines.

The former One Direction member was ordered on vocal rest by his doctor after weeks of feeling under the weather. Reba McEntire steps up to perform in Niall Horan’s place. The unexpected change was one of several complaints viewers had about the lackluster first part of the two-part grand finale.

The Voice Welcomes Star-Studded Performances

The Voice Season 28 finale comes live from Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City, California. The star-studded finale welcomes Riley Green, Zac Brown, and Noah Cyrus to perform for viewers.

According to Billboard, Riley Green will perform his hit song “Jesus Saves” from his 2024 album, Way Out Here. Zac Brown performs “Butterfly,” his duet with Dolly Parton. But instead of performing with the iconic singer, Noah Cyrus will join him on stage.

Fans Livid Over Fake Finale

But there’s a catch. While the finale is live, the performances by Riley Green, Zac Brown, and Noah Cyrus were all pre-recorded. The reaction shots from the audience or coaches were filmed separately. “The performances will be completely pre-taped. They will be able to do multiple takes if the artist isn’t happy or there’s a technical error,” a source told The U.S. Sun.

Fans of The Voice were livid to find out the star-studded performances were “fake” and pre-recorded before the live finale. But maybe it’s a good thing. Fans took to social media after the first part of the finale to complain about the awful audio quality.

“There are always audio issues with The Voice.”
“The audio was awful sounding on tv. Every singer sounded muffled and was difficult to hear. Even the coaches sounded weird. I wonder if the accoustics at the location played a part.”
“The audio was affirmatively awful. Only Jazz’ first vocal was somehow unaffected. It’s really too bad for the performers.”
“I had a very hard time hearing Ralph Edwards.  Lousy audio and the background singers drowned him out.”
“I definitely always have to turn my volume all the way up watching the voice and I never get it”

Hopefully, the sound quality improves for tonight’s episode. Fans won’t have to wait long between seasons. Season 29 of The Voice with returning coaches Kelly Clarkson, Adam Levine, and John Legend premieres on Monday, February 23, 2026.