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'The Voice' final four perform: Can the winner find success beyond the show?

A new winner for the NBC singing competition will be announced on Dec. 13. Many of the winners of 'Voice' have struggled on the sales charts, though one, 2015 winner Jordan Smith, recently did better than most.

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Trae Patton/NBC
'The Voice' contestant Billy Gilman performs on the Dec. 12 episode.

The months-long wait to find out who will rise to the top of "The Voice" contenders comes to an end on Tuesday, but a bigger question will continue to loom for the final four contestants in the NBC reality competition: Will success on the show translate to success on real-world musical charts?

Currently in its eleventh season, "The Voice" has produced plenty of winners, but some industry watchers have noted that the show's finalists and winners haven't enjoyed the same level of chart success as the top contenders on other talent shows, such as "American Idol." This problem has been discussed in the past, with Entertainment Weekly writer Samantha Highfill, for example, writing in 2013 after the conclusion of the fourth season, “Maybe there is something missing from ‘The Voice’ formula. Why can’t singers successfully transition from selling cover songs to selling albums of original music?” 

Yet the story was different for “Voice” winner Jordan Smith, who won the program at the end of 2015. Mr. Smith released an album earlier this year and Yahoo writer Lyndsey Parker wrote of the album after it debuted on the Billboard album list at number two, “ 'The Voice' has caught flak for years due to its failure to launch a Clarkson- or Underwood-level recording artist. And while Season 9 winner Jordan Smith isn’t quite in that illustrious category, he has done what many other ‘Voice’ winners could not (or simply were not given the opportunity to do). He’s actually a sales success story.”

Smith’s first-week album sales were the biggest for any winner of the NBC reality competition, showing at least initial interest in the singer's original work. He also recently released a holiday album, “’Tis The Season,” which peaked at number 11 on the Billboard 200, which measures album sales.

This season's final four contestants, Sundance Head, Wé McDonald, Billy Gilman, and Josh Gallagher, are vying not only for "The Voice" crown, but for the chance to duplicate Smith's success.

Each contestant performed multiple songs, including duets with their coaches, covers of an existing song, and new songs. The four contestants are coached by country singer Blake Shelton, Adam Levine of Maroon 5, and singer Alicia Keys.

The season finale for “Voice” will air on Tuesday.

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