The Voice Season 28 Winner Revealed In Finale: Did The Right Singer Win?

Christmas came early for one lucky contestant on "The Voice," who was declared the winner of Season 28 on Tuesday after a three-hour live broadcast.

Heading into the live finale, 40% of TVLine readers believed that Aiden Ross (Team Niall) should win Season 28, followed by Jazz McKenzie (Team Bublé) with 25% of the votes. Ralph Edwards (Team Snoop) came in third with 16%, followed by DEK of Hearts (Team Niall) with 8%, Max Chambers (Team Bublé) with 6%, and Aubrey Nicole (Team Reba) with 3%.

Of course, this show is about more than just the contestants. Prior to the Season 28 winner being revealed, Michael Bublé had two wins under his belt (Sofronio Vasquez in Season 26 and Adam David in Season 27), as did Niall Horan (Gina Miles in Season 23 and Huntley in Season 24). Meanwhile, Reba McEntire has only one once before (Asher HaVon in Season 25), while Snoop Dogg has yet to end a season as the victorious coach.

Tuesday's finale gave the finalists a chance to perform live with their coaches, save for Niall, who found himself on vocal rest (doctor's orders!), which prevented him from singing alongside his team members. The finale also included special guest performances from classic rockers Journey, R&B king Khalid, Japanese pop group XG, country star Riley Green, and Zac Brown Band with Noah Cyrus, as well as Season 26 winner Sofronio Vasquez.

So, how did the actual results shake out compared to our readers' predictions? And which coach earned bragging rights for the next year? Read on for a complete breakdown of Tuesday's finale, then drop a comment with your thoughts on the winner of Season 28 below.

With Niall Horan (temporarily) out of commission, Aiden Ross — the clear frontrunner of the competition, according to TVLine readers — teamed up with Gina Miles, who won Season 23 for Niall back in 2023, for the live finale's first holiday-themed performance.

What resulted was a lovely duet of Wham!'s "Last Christmas." Despite Carson Daly's insistence to the contrary, the chemistry between Aiden and Gina was virtually non-existent, but we expected as much given the last-minute change of cast. (Follow-up question: Was Niall also going to sing "Last Christmas" with Aiden? Because that would have been a choice.)

Individually, Aiden and Gina both did what needed to be done, even if we would have appreciated a few more "moments" during the performance, especially since we've all seen what Aiden is capable of bringing to the stage. This one won't go down in the history books, but with all things considered, it was perfectly good.

TVLine Grade: B+

"It's beginning to look a lot like Jazz-mas," Michael Bublé crooned ahead of his performance alongside team member Jazz McKenzie — and who better to spontaneously create a new holiday than the man whose voice has become synonymous with the Christmas season?

And what a merry Jazz-mas it was! She and her coach took to the stage with a swingin' rendition of Bobby Helms' "Jingle Bell Rock," on which their voices melted beautifully together. Unlike the previous duet, the chemistry was alive and well between Jazz and Bublé, who have been working closely together all season. This added to the intimacy of the performance, which gave it that extra shot of holiday magic.

That said, "Jingle Bell Rock" was hardly the best vehicle to show off the many vocal tools we know Jazz has in her arsenal, making the whole thing just... fine. Fun, festive, and fine.

TVLine Grade: B+

Aubrey Nicole and coach Reba McEntire's relationship may be "cute as a button" (to quote Carson Daly), but there was nothing "cute" about their performance of the oft-covered "Mary, Did You Know?"

If you've heard any version of this song performed before — Pentatonix's famous cover leaps directly to mind — you'll know that it has the capability of going off. It goes harder than few Christmas songs have any right to. With that in mind, we were hoping for soaring vocals, tight harmonies, and solid chemistry. And while it brings us absolutely no pleasure to say this, we're not sure we got any of those things.

Most of the song was in a range too low to be impressive, and some of those harmonies were shaky at best, flat at worst. We're glad Aubrey was given one last moment to belt at the end of the song, leaving us with a decent taste in our mouths.

TVLine Grade: B-

You won't find a bigger fan of Ralph Edwards than his coach, and Snoop Dogg was determined to let his team member shine in their duet of Donny Hathaway's "This Christmas." In fact, he had a whole plan worked out: "What I'm going to do is turn my mic off, and you're going to sing 99.9% of the song, and I'm going to pull a Milli Vanilli," he said before their performance.

Snoop didn't quite bring that plan to fruition, with his mic staying on the entire time (and are we crazy for saying he sounded... good?), but he definitely surrendered the spotlight to Ralph, who was given all of the high, belting moments in the song — of which there are many.

The end result, while not nearly as good as some of Ralph's previous performances this season, was a fun finale moment that affirmed our affection for Ralph's voice, while also giving us a surprising appreciation for Snoop's sneaky vocals.

TVLine Grade: A-

Max Chambers is another contestant you can't help but root for, and his father-son dynamic with Michael Bublé only became more aww-inducing when we saw them in matching ugly Christmas sweaters.

Less ugly, however, was their duet of Elvis Presley's "Blue Christmas." These are two singers with two very different ranges, but by both keeping comfortably in their respective lane, their voices worked together beautifully. Bublé would croon his way through each line, then hand the reins over to Max, who belted out high notes as only he could.

Verdict: It's probably one of the better covers of the holiday classic we've ever heard.

TVLine Grade: A-

The final coach-contestant performance of the night came courtesy of Team Niall's DEK of Hearts. But because Niall Horan remained on vocal rest, it was up to Reba McEntire to step in as the unofficial fourth card in the DEK of Hearts. Frankly, we were surprised that this country trio didn't end up on Team Reba to begin with, so this felt strangely right.

The newly formed quartet took the stage with a fun performance of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town," and it was pretty much exactly what hoped for: the harmonies were strong, the energy was high, and Reba blended nicely with the group overall.

Like most entries in the Christmas songbook — and certainly the ones selected tonight — there wasn't anything terribly impressive about the performance, but it put us in the holiday spirit. And isn't that really all you need?

TVLine Grade: B+

With the finalists' performances behind them, it was time for Carson Daly to reveal the winner of "The Voice" Season 28. Would Aiden Ross or DEK of Hearts earn Niall Horan his third win, or would Jazz McKenzie or Max Chambers make it a three-peat for Michael Bublé? Would Reba McEntire gain a second win under her belt via Aubrey Nicole, or would Ralph Edwards finally make Snoop Dogg a winner?

The six remaining singers were called to the stage in the finale's closing moments, at which point Carson gave them one last chance to express their gratitude to their coaches. Then came the results, in the following (occasionally shocking) order:

6. Jazz McKenzie (Team Bublé)
5. Max Chambers (Team Bublé)
4. Aubrey Nicole (Team Reba)
3. DEK of Hearts (Team Niall)
2. Ralph Edwards (Team Snoop)
1. Aiden Ross (Team Niall)

Do you support Aiden Ross as the winner of "The Voice" Season 28? And what's your reaction to how the top six shook out? Drop a comment with your thoughts on the finale below.