Warning! The following contains spoilers for Fox's reality singing competition The Four. Read at your own risk!
Season 1 of The Four has concluded, and after weeks of singing showdowns and throwdowns, the reality singing competition has announced a winner. In the end, it was the sweet down home southern girl from Memphis, Tennesee, that will now have a huge boost in her career thanks to The Four. 20-year-old Evvie McKinney sang her way to the top. And in doing so she got a record deal with Republic Records, was named iHeartRadio's "On The Verge Artist," and got the full support of the show's judges in helping her become a star.
Evvie McKinney's winning The Four was a bit surprising, but not because her singing talent was anything less than spectacular. McKinney had only joined the show in the week prior to the finale, so her stint on the series was short-lived, but ultimately enough to take home the grand prize. McKinney's situation wasn't entirely unique, as TVLine notes another one of the final four contestants, Vincint Cannady, made his debut on The Four in the exact same episode as McKinney. Those two were joined by one of the show's frontrunner contestants Zhavia, who had unseated one of the original four at the show's beginning but was eliminated herself in week four. Zhavia managed to find herself in the finale after The Four's comeback episode, which ended up being the saving grace of the last contestant of the final four, Candice Boyd, as well.
Evvie Mckinney delivered some of the best performances of The Four finale, as she kicked things off with an absolutely electric rendition of Tina Turner's "Proud Mary." The crowd voted her first performance the best which meant McKinney got to choose who she would face off against in an elimination showdown that would knock the final contestants down to three. McKinney chose the popular and young 16-year-old Zhavia who had disappointed with her performance of Drake's "One Dance," earlier in the night. The showdown was the battle of the night as Mckinney took on her biggest competitor in the competition, and then mopped the floor with Zhavia with a rendition of Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine."
The Four had whittled it's four down to three, and the vote was now out of the audience's hands as the judges were left to decide who would win after one final performance. All three performers put on a good show, but once again Tennessee girl Evvie McKinney stood out with a stunning rendition of John Legend's "Glory." The judges gathered (sans one), and as we learned at the beginning of this article, crowned McKinney the first ever winner of The Four. McKinney shared a few words on her win on The Four's Twitter account and sounded a little beside herself following her victory:
The Four will return to Fox for Season 2 this summer. For a look at shows to watch until then, head on over to our midseason premiere guide.
