Entertainment

Ariana Grande + Christina Aguilera Gave Us The Duet We’ve All Been Waiting For

On ‘The Voice’ season finale

by daniel barna

If there's an heir to Christina Aguilera and the vocal acrobatics that became her staple, it's got to be Ariana Grande, whose powerhouse vocals stand alone in an increasingly crowded pop landscape. So it was only fitting when the two steel-voiced, iron-lunged singers joined forces to close out the latest season of The Voice. 

First, it was Grande who took the stage to perform "Into You," the infectious new stomper from her new album Dangerous Woman. Grande then transitioned into the album's title track and was joined on stage by Aguilera. The duet felt like a prizefight, with the two heavyweight singers trading elastic vocal runs instead of uppercuts. 

It was previously reported that Xtina was going to perform with a hologram of the late Whitney Houston, but the singer's estate pulled out at the last second due to concerns with the technology. Instead, what we got were two singers who very much exist in the mold of Houston. No doubt Whitney would have been proud of their performance. 

A Grande/Aguilera duet has been a long time coming, especially after Grande paid homage to Aguilera by nailing a spot-on impression of the singer on The Tonight Show. Aguilera meanwhile, couldn't contain her excitement for the performance, writing "Excited to share the stage with @ArianaGrande on tomorrow night's @NBCTheVoice finale." Grande responded that she was "beyond excited and honored."

It looks like there's no rivalry between these two divas. Could a duet album be next? 

Watch their jaw-dropping performance, above.